Triple Berry Jam
Recipe Source: Cara Haskey

When I was growing up, summer was never complete until the pantry shelves were stocked full with a year’s supply of homemade berry jam. My friend Matt would lead a troop of kids and moms through the woods, up and over fallen trees, and around old stumps to perfect patches of wild berries he had scouted out. We’d fill as many buckets as we could haul back over the logs and would venture home to convert the berries into batch after batch of homemade jam. We were purists then. It was all single variety jams packed with sugar. I’ve since found great pleasure in mixing things up a bit and creating small, low-sugar batches of various combinations of fruit and berries, such as this trio where the reduced sugar allows the wonderful, naturally sweet berry flavors to shine through.

Directions:  

• Place a small plate in the freezer to chill.
• In a large skillet or sauté pan bring the berries, sugar and lemon juice to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally.
• Once the size of the bubbles decreases, reduce the heat to medium.
• Cook 8-10 minutes*, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens slightly.
• Remove from the heat and test for set-up by taking the chilled plate from the freezer and dropping 1 tsp of the hot fruit mixture onto it. After 30-60 seconds tip the plate. The Jam should move slightly. If the mixture runs the jam needs to cook longer so return the pan to the heat and cook the jam 1-2 minutes longer and then repeat the test.
• Ladle hot jam into sterilized jars and process in a water-bath canner for 10 minutes.
• If you plan to use the jam immediately, cool to room temperature before serving. Unused jam should be stored in the refrigerator or freezer to prevent molding. It should keep refrigerated for 2+ weeks.