Matriarchal Preserves

Collecting wild fruit bounty and preserving for winter is built into my genetic memory dating back many generations through the matriarchy of my farming/subsistence heritage. Back in the day, before mass global produce imports, it was done to ensure there was a source of fruit in the winter. Opening a jar of cherries or chokecherry syrup or crab apple jelly for me was like unearthing the taste of the summer sun to warm the coldest of prairie winter days.

For more than a decade now mom has utilized her west coast home to harvest the blackberries that grow so abundantly here. She makes a traditional jelly preserve to give away as Christmas gifts. I always get recruited as her picking partner, armed with shears and long sticks or canes and our jeans to try and avoid the fierce razor sharp tentacles of thorns that I swear reach out and grab us, digging in, drawing blood. We never walk away unscathed, making the jelly all the more precious since we had to fight for it!

INGREDIENTS & METHOD

  • At least a large ice-cream bucket worth of berries (to juice for 3 3/4 cups of liquid)

  • Carefully rinse and put in large saucepan, add enough water until you see it about an inch or two below the surface of the fruit. Heat to a gentle boil. Mom then uses a potato masher to break it up.

  • In a clean damp cheese cloth or cotton bag or cotton pillowcase (mom has used the same bag for a few years for this purpose only- it has handles, making the drip process easier) pour the mashed cooked fruit in, and find a way to suspend it to let the juices pass through the cloth. Blackberries are loaded with seeds, so jelly is a nice way to enjoy them! Grandma and great-Grandma used to let it hang overnight. Mom hangs it from a cupboard door handle for a couple of hours, then hand squeezes.

  • Wash 8 250ml mason jars and snap lids. Before you start the next step, turn the jars upside down in a shallow pot of water over the stove (mom uses her turkey roaster) to let them sterilize. Leave them in the heat steaming while you prepare the jelly.

  • Measure out 3 3/4 cups of the liquid into a deep soup pot (it needs a lot of room so it doesn’t boil over).

  • Measure in 7 1/2 cups of sugar. (I was shocked too, but it’s necessary, and sugar substitutes don’t work for a jelly as it won’t gel or set. This is fine if you’d like syrup though!)

  • Add 2 TBSP of lemon juice.

  • Bring to a rolling boil, continuously stirring. (Mom’s secret tip at this stage is to add a TBSP of butter as it significantly reduces the amount of foam you have to skim off before jarring.)

  • Add in two packets of liquid pectin. Either Certo or Bernardin brands work well. Mom finds the liquid form is far superior to the powder. Stir for precisely 1 minute then get it off the heat.

  • A slight slick of foam will start to form and it needs to be skimmed off the surface (kids like me like to lick this like icing on beaters, so keep the yummy foam for tasters!).

  • Gently pour into mason jars while still quite hot. It’s best to pour and seal one at a time, as you pull each jar and lid out of the hot water.

  • Set aside in one spot and let set overnight. You’ll hear the lids start popping as they seal.

    SERVE WITH

  • A teaspoon on warm fresh baked bread or scone. Heaven.

  • Use for jam filling in your thimble cookies or a thin layer in a sponge cake.

  • If it failed to set, or you deliberately made syrup, drizzle on some yogurt, a waffle, or make a gorgeous cocktail like a blood vodka martini or gin blackberry sidecar.

Lara Hill