Raspberry Preserves- a Berry Jam Recipe
Homemade Raspberry Preserves
The Beautiful Raspberry
This is one of those jelly recipes that I really don't make very often because of the amount of sugar that it takes. Thing is, when you bite into anything that holds this beautiful raspberry preserve, you would swear that you were biting into something straight from heaven. It is not overly sugary sweet like you would expect. The taste of this jam is very berry and very nice.
Raspberries are in season generally from the end of August to the beginning of October. This is when they are at their peak of flavor at the grocery store. If you are making these preserves, they always taste the best when the berries are in season so please keep that in mind.
Raspberries are packed with fiber and nutrition. One cup of these beautiful reddish berries will give you 38% of the RDA of fiber, 54% of the vitamin C that you need for the day and 41% of your RDA of manganese. Not to mention that when they are in season, they taste fantastic mixed into yogurt, oatmeal and are even added to some savory dishes to add a new type of flavor profile that is absolutely out of this world.
These preserves can be used for more than just an addition to biscuits or toast. Try them on pancakes or french toast for a sweet zing at breakfast. The classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich can be taken up a notch by using homemade raspberry preserves. Thumbprint cookies are given just a tiny bit more love in their flavor when the little preserves dot in the middle was also created in your kitchen. These are just a few ideas and suggestions on what you can do when you make your own preserves at home. The possibilities are truly endless.
Cook Time
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 pounds fresh raspberries, enough to make 5 cups of mashed berries
- 1 box pectin
- 7 cups white sugar
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
How to Make Raspberry Preserves Step by Step in Photos
Click thumbnail to view full-size
How to Make Raspberry Preserves
- Fill your water bath canner with water until it is at least 1 inch above the jars. Put the canner on the stove and turn the burner heat to high. Place clean jars into the water. This will sterilize them.
- Put the berries into a large bowl and mash them to your liking. You can mash them as much or as little as you want. Less mashing will result in more berry pieces in the preserves and more mashing will result in less berry pieces.
- Pour the mashed berries into a pan, add the lemon juice and put the pan on the stove. Turn the burner on to medium heat. Add the pectin and stir until dissolved.
- Turn the heat up to medium/high and constantly stir the mixture until it boils. Once it reaches boiling, add all of the sugar at one time.
- Keep stirring. The sugar will completely dissolve in a few minutes.
- While still stirring, bring the preserves up to a rolling boil. This means that you can't get it to stop boiling no matter how fast you stir. Set the timer for 1 minute and keep stirring.
- Once the minute is up, turn off the heat.
- If any foam has developed on the top, skim it off with a spoon.
- Remove your sterilized jars from the waterbath canner and set them on a towel next to the preserve mixture.
- Fill the jars with the preserves leaving about 1/2" headspace.
- Using a clean paper towel dampened with hot water, clean the rim of the jars. This helps to make sure the jars will seal once they are finished.
- Put the top and the band on the jars and tighten until just finger tight.
- Put the jars back into the water bath canner. Return the water bath canner to a full boil.
- Allow the jars to process in the canner for 15 minutes.
- Once the 15 minutes is up, remove the jars and place them on a towel to cool and seal. You should start hearing the "ping" of the lids sealing sometime in the next hour or so.
- After the jars have been sitting for 24 hours, gently remove the bands and check to make sure they have all sealed. Any that didn't seal can be placed in the refrigerator to be eaten first.
Have you ever had a batch of jam, jelly or preserves fail?
Who Can Resist a Homemade Treat?
Tips for Canning Jellies, Jams and Preserves
There are a few things to remember when you are canning these sweet treats that will help you be more successful with waterbath canning.
- Be prepared to stay at the stove the entire time you are making your preserves. You have to constantly stir and walking away can ruin the batch.
- Never try to double a batch of preserves, jam or jelly. This can lead to failure.
- Always place hot jars on a towel, trivet or a warm surface and never directly onto a cold counter top. Cold surfaces can cause the jars to break.
- Always check the jars before you use them to make sure they do not have any chips around the rims, cracks or any other signs that they may not stand up to the heat.
- Never re-use metal lids. You CAN re-use the metal rings but lids should only be used once. Used lids may not properly seal or may only provide a temporary seal that won't last.
- Always "sniff test" home canned foods before using or consuming them. If anything smells off, throw it away. It is better to be safe than sorry!
Hopefully those small tips will help you become a successful jelly, jam or preserves canner. Canning can be fun, help you preserve the harvest and the food really does taste better. Once you start, you just can't bring yourself to stop.
Growing Raspberries for Making Preserves
Raspberries are a fairly easy berry to grow in your yard at home. There area few different varieties to choose from to suit what you want. Why not grow your own and make your preserves out of your raspberries from your yard? It really is a simple, easy to learn berry for the home gardener.
