Hardcore Hobbit: Blackberry Jam

This tasty jam can certainly be enjoyed in a variety of ways. This is an ingredient recipe in LOTRO. According to the game it is made with blackberries, water, and mixed spice. This then goes on to be the ingredient for so many other hardcore hobbit recipes. I can’t wait! I have been anxiously watching our blackberry bushes all summer. You won’t believe how busy the bees were! Now we have oodles of blackberries and the first thing that absolutely had to be made was this blackberry jam. I like the tartness of the berry so I did not add much sugar at all. If you like a sweeter jam you may want to add more than I did. With the success of this basic jam I am definitely going back to make more. I think the next will be a blackberry lavender jam and a blackberry passionfruit jam. Num! Definitely harvest season around here.

• 4 cups crushed blackberries
• 1 cup unsweetened apple juice (I made my own by juicing a few fuji apples)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp light cooking margarine
• 1 pkg no sugar needed pectin (I call it insurance in case my apple juice doesn’t come through)
• 1 cup sweetener of choice (I used splenda but honey would be divine)
• 4 small canning jars

1. Boil the jars, lids, and seals to sterilize and prep for the jam. Keep them hot until ready for filling.
2. Strain 2 or 3 cups of the berries to remove the seeds. Blend the strained liquid with the remaining crushed berries in a pot.
3. Add the apple juice, margarine, cinnamon, and cloves to the berries.
4. Stir in the pectin until dissolved.
5. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Add the sweetner of choice.
6. Stir constantly while boiling for 3 minutes then remove from heat.
7. One at a time remove jars from the hot liquid, ladle in the jam, leaving about 1/2 inch from the top. Wipe the rim clean. Top with the sealing disk. Screw down the top. Repeat for the rest of the jars.
8. Return the filled jars to the boiling water, make sure the jars are covered by atleast an inch of water. Boil for 10 minutes or longer if you are at higher altitudes.
9. Remove the jars from the water without tilting them. Allow to sit upright and undisturbed for 24 hours.

Makes 4 250 ml jars. 1 tbl of jam sweetened with splenda is 7 calories, .1 gram fat, .5 gram fibre, 2.1 carb, and .1 gram protein. 1 tbl of jam sweetened with honey is 22 calories, .1 gram fat, .5 gram fibre, 5.7 carbs, and .1 gram protein. Contains all the num needed to last through winter for two hungry hobbits.