I Made Mulberry Jam
My whole family went mulberry picking about a week ago and we picked around three kilograms of mulberries. Two of which I used for making jam.
All our hands got covered in juice. As we started picking, my dad and I at least tried to only use one hand to pick them, but after a time it is so easy to forget and we ended up with juice all over both hands.
My brothers climbed deep into the tree to find the mulberries. We also ate a lot of them....
Ann, my littlest sister, had a lot of fun, eating and smearing mulberry everywhere. Mostly she kept it all over her face... arms and clothes.
"Mul Mul"
Oh look, dirty hands.
Mosquitoes also happen to like living near mulberry trees, and they happen to like my blood more than mulberries, needless to say everyone else in my family was glad I had come. I kept all the mozzies from biting them. When we had picked well over enough berries to make some jam we went home. The day after that I made the jam.
I even succeeded in scalding my fingers while heating up the jars to put the jam in. I used 2kg of the berries, even though I only had enough setter for 1.5, that could have been a mistake..... since in the end the jam never set properly...
So I spent ages de-stalking the mulberries and since I had nothing better to do I counted how many I put in the jam. Just before I was half way through, I made a guess that there would be 600 mulberries. As it turned out I guessed very close. Also after splattering mulberry juice over my shirt as I snipped the stalk off the 200th mulberry I decided to get an apron...... kinda too late, but it did collect some later splatters.
I also ended up sitting on the bench because I could reach things easier and, well, when one is sitting, one is not standing up!
The total number of mulberries in the jam is 602. Though when I made my guess there would have been about 612.... but some got eaten as I was doing it, mostly by other people not me. Mostly by my Mum who took these photos with me in them.
2kg of sugar looks like a lot, but it all went in. As did some lemon juice and the not-enough-amount of jam setter.
I felt rather short standing there mixing the jam in that huge pot.
Finally I scooped it into jars. Most of the jam went inside the jars..... and the rest of it ran down the side or landed on my fingers. Which if you have ever made jam, will see as a painful situation. As there is no choice but to put down the ladle and the jar before being able to get the boiling hot jam off your finger.
The 2kgs of mulberries made 7 jars full of tasty jam.
And one other bad excuse of a jar full..... empty..
Have you ever made jam?
Did yours set?
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10 comments
That looks really good! I try jam every now and again, but I make mine with dextrose instead of sugar, so I think that might have an effect on how it sets... or doesn't set, however you look at it. It always tastes pretty good though, so that's a plus! XD
ReplyDeleteWell the taste is the important part after all!
DeleteI've made jam many times! It is a lot of fun. :D Is this your first attempt? Did you use any sort of pectin? That's what really makes it set up. It looks like you had a blast though! I can't believe you get summer now that we are going into..winter............... :P Enjoy the fruits of your labor! ;)
ReplyDeleteI have made jam once before..... years and years ago... I don't even remember what kind.... Apricot.... strawberry.... plum??? But last year I helped my grandmother make some mulberry jam, and we got a jar of that which I liked a lot! The pectin was the active ingredient in the jam setter I used, but I did kinda not use enough, but I couldn't really help that as we didn't have anymore than that ;D
DeleteIt looks good Clare, even if not set up. I've never made jam by myself so though your product wasn't perfect you've still earned my respect. ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lydia, if you ever have an over abundance of any fruit you should try making some too.
DeleteMM! Looks Yummy Clare! We made Strawberry jam once, it turn out to be a very yummy pancake syrup! LOL!
ReplyDeleteSorry I have not gotten a letter out to you get, things have been VERY CRAZY!
Oh, on pancakes that's an idea! Life does get crazy sometimes.
DeleteAwk, this looks SO delicious and YOUR LITTLE SISTER IS SO EXTREMELY ADORABLE. XD Such a cheeky smile too. XD We used to have a mulberry tree and we used to always climb it and just devour mulberries. The tree was SUPER sour though, so I don't think we ever actively cooked with them? I can't even remember it was a million years ago. haha. XD And my mum makes jam a lot! Raspberry is life for me basically hehe
ReplyDeleteYour photography is GORGEOUS as always, Clare!! :D
These mulberries are so sweet. I have never seen enough Raspberry to make jam, but of course I have eaten bought Raspberry jam, but every one knows that is never anything like home made stuff!
DeleteThanks :D