Raspberry Jam and Mixed Berry Jam

Raspberries and blueberries are a family favorite in the summer and I love picking them myself. Combined with some leftover strawberries from when we made strawberry jam we ended up with quite a few pints of summertime goodness for when the snow leaves us wanting the reminder of sunshine.

Our family generally has a hard time having enough raspberries to make jam with as we eat them very quickly. Knowing this I decided we should take our umpteenth trip to Jacob’s Farm and spent an afternoon picking berries specifically for jam. We came home with enough to try several different raspberry jam recipes as well as my own special mixed berry jam.

Making the Jam

Making raspberry and mixed berry jam is far less time consuming then making strawberry jam as the berries do not need to be hulled, only washed. Once again my daughter was happy to help me mash the prepared berries and taste the mixtures to make sure it was delicious.

Once the mixtures were mashed I cooked them on the stove following the directions for the low/no sugar pectin. While these were cooking we warmed pint sized mason jars and lids in the canning pot. Once each batch of jam was done cooking I added it to the jars, wiped the lids, and used a tiny spatula to get rid of air bubbles. Much like our strawberry jam I left about 1/4″ of head space and processed the jars in a rolling boil for 15 minutes. Finally I transferred them to cooling racks to dry overnight.

 Recipes for Raspberry Jam and Mixed Berry Jam

Once again I decided to experiment with a few different recipes for our jam to see what tasted best. Keep in mind my family likes our jam a bit tart/low sweetener content. These were the recipes used.

Mixed Berry Jam

• 1 quart strawberries
• 1 pint blueberries
• 1 quart raspberries
• 2 granny smith apples (cored and food processed)
• Juice from 1/2 a lemon
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 tablespoons low/no sugar pectin
• 1 cup water

Made about 3 pints

Raspberry Jam 1

• 2 quarts raspberries
• 3 tablespoons low/no sugar pectin
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup water
• Juice from 1/2 a lemon

Made about 2-3 pints

Raspberry Jam 2

• 2 quarts raspberries
• 3 tablespoons low/no sugar pectin
• 1 cup water
• Juice from 1/2 a lemon
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup blue agave nectar

Made about 2-3 pints

Raspberry Jam 3

• 2 quarts raspberries
• 3 tablespoons low/no sugar pectin
• Juice from 1/2 a lemon
• 1 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups blue agave nectar