Huckleberry Jam
Feel free to use other sweeteners that measure like sugar or honey in this recipe. For example, you can use Stevia in the Raw or another Stevia product that measures like sugar, or Splenda that measures like sugar. You can also use a different liquid sweetener, like agave or maple syrup. Pomona’s Pectin contains no sugar or preservatives and jells reliably with low amounts of any sweetener.
Servings 5 cups
Ingredients
- 4 cups mashed huckleberries
- 2 teaspoons calcium water see step #1
- ¼ cup lemon juice bottled
- ½ cup up to 1 cup honey or ¾ cup up to 2 cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons Pomona’s Pectin mixed with sweetener
Instructions
- Before you begin, prepare calcium water.To do this, combine ½ teaspoon calcium powder (in the small packet in your box of Pomona’s pectin) with ½ cup water in a small, clear jar with a lid. Shake well.Extra calcium water should be stored in the refrigerator for future use.
- Prepare boiling water canner. Heat jars in simmering water until ready for use. Wash lids and bands and set aside.
- Measure mashed huckleberries into sauce pan.
- Add calcium water and lemon juice, and mix well.
- Measure sugar or room temperature honey into a bowl. Thoroughly mix pectin powder into sweetener. Set aside.
- Bring fruit mixture to a full boil. Add pectin-sweetener mixture, stirring vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve the pectin while the jam comes back up to a boil. Once the jam returns to a full boil, remove it from the heat.
- Remove hot jars from canner and fill jars with (marmalade/jam/jelly), leaving ¼ inch of headspace. Remove trapped air bubbles, wipe rims and put on lids and screw bands, tightening bands only to “fingertip tight” (until resistance is met, and then just the tiniest bit more).
- Place jars in the hot water, on the rack inside the canner. (Make sure jars are upright, not touching each other or the sides of the canner, and are covered with at least 1-2 inches of water). Place the lid on the canner, bring the canner to a rolling boil, and boil for 10 minutes. (Add 1 minute additional processing time for every 1000 feet above sea level.)
- Turn off heat and allow canner and jars to sit for 5 minutes. Then, remove jars from canner. Allow jars to cool undisturbed for 12-24 hours. Then, confirm that jars have sealed, then store properly. Eat within 1 year. Lasts 3 weeks once opened.
Hi, I was wondering how the huckleberry/peach jam turned out? Do you remember what ratio of huckleberry to peach you used, 1:1, 2:1?
My husband and I went picking a few days ago and are going back out soon. So far we have two cups of now frozen berries. I’m debating on how best to utilize them, do I stretch the harvest by adding peaches, or do I go full berry for a smaller intense batch. So many options, thought I’d ask.
Thanks in advance for any input!
I was thinking of making a huckleberry/ peach combo jam. Thoughts? I have wild huckleberries foraged recently and peaches from a friends’ tree.
That sounds like it would be truly wonderful!
Can I combine huckleberries with fresh peaches? Since the amount of lemon juice, pectin, and calcium water are different for each of those jams separately, how much should I use for a combined jam?
You sure can! We would recommend following our Peach Melba Jam and simply substituting the raspberries for huckleberries. Feel free to omit the vanilla if you’d like.
This may seem like a dumb question. But I’m mashing the huckleberries and including the peel In the jam, , not putting them thru a strainer. Is that correct?
Hello Julie,
That is correct 😊 Happy jamming!
Can I use frozen, defrosted fruit?
Hello Denise,
You sure can! It’s best to use unsweetened frozen fruit. Defrost, but don’t drain, frozen fruit before using. Generally you use the liquid from the frozen fruit along with the fruit unless you notice that there is an excessive amount of liquid, in which case you would ladle off some of the excess liquid before measuring your mashed fruit. If you are going to juice the fruit for jelly, then you would use all of the liquid.