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Blueberry Vanilla Lavender Preserves

Blueberry Vanilla Lavender Preserves are a low-sugar cooked preserve made with Pomona’s Pectin. Pomona's Pectin contains no sugar or preservatives and jells reliably with low amounts of any sweetener. See below for where to buy.
This recipe was developed and contributed by Marguerite Riker of Jammin’ with Marguerite in Holland, Michigan. She says: “One of my favorite and very popular blueberry recipes.”
Servings 7 cups

Ingredients

  • 10 cups blueberries fresh or frozen
  • ½ cup water
  • 4 teaspoons calcium water see step #1
  • ¼ cup lemon juice bottled
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • 2 Tablespoons vanilla bean paste see note
  • 3 Tablespoons Lavender Tea see note
  • 1¼ to 1½ cups sugar
  • 4 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 blueberries into sauce pan with ½ cup water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes, covered. Remove from heat and use a potato masher to smash the plump ones.
  • While blueberries are simmering, zest the lemon and put the zest aside for now.
  • Make Lavender Tea according to directions above.
  • After smashing blueberries, measure 6 cups of smashed blueberries, saving any extra for another use, and return measured quantity of blueberries to the sauce pan.
  • Add calcium water, lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla, and the 3 Tablespoons of Lavender Tea, and mix well.
  • Measure sugar into a bowl. Thoroughly mix pectin powder into sugar. Set aside
  • Bring fruit mixture to a full boil. Add pectin-sugar 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, cook for exactly one minute and then 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.

Notes

Vanilla Bean Paste: Equivalencies are approximate and may depend on the product you are using, but generally 2 Tablespoons of vanilla bean paste would be equivalent to 2 Tablespoons of vanilla extract or 2 whole vanilla beans. If using Tahitian vanilla beans, 1 would be enough. When using whole vanilla beans, open them up and scrape the seeds into the fruit mixture. Then add the pods to the mixture. Be sure to remove the pods before jarring.
To make Lavender Tea: Steep 1½ Tablespoons of fresh organic lavender buds (or 1½ teaspoons dried lavender buds) in ½ cup of boiling water for 5 minutes. Strain out lavender buds and you have Lavender Tea. You will be using only 3 Tablespoons of the tea in the recipe, so save the rest for another use, or enjoy drinking a little Lavender Tea with honey.