Blueberry jam on a slice of old cheddar. Yes, it may sound positively disgusting, but it is one of my most favourite things. Unfortunately, I had to give both up a few years ago because of health reasons- the jam because of the sugar and the cheese because of, well, because it was cheese.
Having recently discovered the deliciousness that is raw sheep milk cheddar, my mom Patsy and I decided to take on the fall harvest and make our own all natural, no sugar and no powdered pectin, blueberry jam. It turned out amazingly well. The recipe called for three cups of sugar which we substituted with one cup of unpasteurized honey and one cup of sucanut (non-refined cane sugar). For pectin we used whole apples, though you could always skip the apple sauce making-step and buy some ready made unsweetened organic apple sauce.
Blueberries are little anti-oxidant powerhouses. They are obviously going to be a bit more active when consumed fresh and raw, but this jam is a wonderful treat. Though the raw sheep milk cheese is a rare indulgence, I have been enjoying the blueberry jam on a slice of my from scratch sourdough bread with a little almond butter. Deeeeeelish.
All Natural Blueberry Fruit Jam
5 Tart Apples: peeled, cored and coarsely chopped
2 Limes: unpeeled, finely chopped
Water (about 1/2 cup)
4-5 cups of Blueberries
1 cup Sucanut
1 cup Honey
Note- you can replace apples and limes with 2 cups of unsweetened apple sauce- this makes the recipe way quicker/easier
Directions if making own apples sauce
In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine apples and limes and enough water to prevent sticking. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat, partially cover and boil gently, stirring occasionally for 20 minutes, until mixture is very soft. Working in batches, transfer mixture to a sieve or colander. With the pack of a spoon, press mixture through sieve to yield 2 cups of apple sauce.
Directions is using ready made apple sauce
Measure out 2 cups of unsweetened natural apple sauce (see much easier)
For both version:
In a clean, large stainless steel saucepan, combine applesauce, blueberries, honey and sucanat. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly to dissolve sucanut. Boil, stirring frequently for about 30 minutes, until mixture thickens and mounds on a spoon. Ladle into sterilized jars. Seal tightly and store in cool dark place. If you are wary about your canning skills, the fridge always works well for a cool dark place.
[...] Megtelpner first collected Added 29 Sep 08 from meghantelpnerblog.com [...]
Ha! Love it!! The giggling Meg-and-Patsy outtakes at the end are just priceless… always makes me laugh.
I just bought a whole bunch of peaches and vanilla bean and was thinking of making different batches of peach-vanilla, peach-ginger, and peach-cinnamon jam… but are you sure the applesauce won’t make it taste weird? I really don’t want much of an apple flavour in there. And does it have the same jelling effect of pectin? I want that thicker consistency and I feel like there’s no option but using something a bit processed.
We made it with peaches too. But for the peach we used two cups of apples sauce and 8 cups of peaches (will confirm that amount) with 1 cup of honey and 1 cup of sucanat. Turned out perfect! And no apple taste at all.
Loved the Blueberry Jamming video. However, I think it’s so unfair that you included your mom in the video and not your dad. Next time you do a video with your mom cooking in the kitchen, I think you should do a follow up video of your dad washing the dishes.
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