Awesome Jan, my husband has been asking me to make this again so I may do that soon and put one in the freezer for Christmas:-)

In reply to Camilla.

Yes.. I Can’t Wait to make this for Christmas Eve. Hubby Swedish / Norwegian Me Dutch Foody upbringa! I have had it before look forward to making it myself. Thx. For sharing. New Subscriber to your recipes. Jan from West Vancouver BC.

Hi Heather,
I have a juicer, and this sounds like it saves a step. So you don’t have to cut them in half if you juice them? I may try it this way and save in freezer like you mentioned until I’m ready to go to the jam making part! Thank you!

Hi Doug, no, this is how jam is made in most of Europe. You can, of course, choose to do so if that is your preference.

In reply to Kaitlynn McKee.

Do you not do a water bath

Thank you, Jenna. Perhaps I should have been a psychologist, but my daughter is planning to be one, so perhaps it skipped a generation:-)

You handled that so eloquently!!

Awesome, Mary, thank you for your lovely feedback:-)

This is probably my favourite jam recipe. Made a batch earlier in the season…all gone so I decided to make another lot using the rhubarb I’d frozen a few months ago. It worked very well indeed. Thank you for the recipe.

Hi Martin, yes, the timing is very dependent on your ingredients and the intensity of the heat, so always use the visual cues and not the clock:-) Glad you like the recipe. I wouldn’t have peeled the tomatoes, as chopped up they would have been fine:-)

Excellent Rob, glad you like the recipe:-)

Hi Jaci, glad to be of help:-)

Sounds fab:-)

In reply to Margaret Ewles.

After reading some of the comments about it falling apart, I added a beaten egg to the recipe. Had it in the oven for 40 minutes, and let it sit for just under 10 minutes before slicing. It was still a bit crumbly, but absolutely delicious and our family of 3 loved it. Had just over half left,which when fully cooled stayed together completely, so that’s went into the freezer for a future meal.

I’ve been on the lookout for a blackberry cake filling and this just might be the solution. There’s no doubt it’s delish, though I might cut back slightly on the sugar in the future. That said, I’m excited to see how this will do as part of a cake filling with alternate layers of Bavarian cream. It thickened nicely too. Thank you for providing a possible solution!

I added dates and preserved pears topped it with walnuts and gave it a maple syrup glaze.
Spectacular result

Awesome, Josie, so glad you like the jam. It might be worth investing in a rotary mill if you’re going to make a lot of this jam. Also, do try my latest Seedless Blackberry & Raspberry Jam (1st prize winner), which I’m sure you’d also love: https://www.fabfood4all.co.uk/seedless-blackberry-raspberry-jam-1st-prize-winner/

In reply to ALISON SMITH.

1st time making this jam nut it won’t be the last. Nice and easy and it tastes fabulous. Only downside is the strong if the seeds but it’s well worth it. I doubled the quantities and it turned out great. Lovely texture and taste. Thumbs up from everyone . I’m going foraging again tomorrow so I can do it all over again

In reply to Rubina.

Try adding a sprig of rose geranium for a wonderful aromatic flavour.

I have experienced more than my fair share of partially rotten or insect-damaged damsons, which looked OK to the naked eye. I wouldn’t want those damsons in my jam, and so that’s why I make my jam this way. I hope you can understand now:-)

Awesome food memory, Mark. The nearest I got to Melbourne in the 90’s was watching Neighbours:-)

Hi Lindsay, if you look through the comments, many people have used home-grown grapes. Putting them through a rotary food mill would probably be the best option.

Hi Les, glad you found the solution, and thank you for sharing the setting temperature for fruit curd. It’s not something I’ve ever needed, as my curds have always set, but in the future I should share it with readers, so thank you:-) PS: I just found your earlier comment where you say you made a much bigger batch, which is the reason it was runny as it would take much longer to boil and when readers want to increase my preserve recipes I always tell them to use a thermometer to check for set point as my timings are for the quantity of ingredients published:-)

Hi Fay, the answer is yes to both questions; just proceed with the rhubarb as if it’s fresh – no need to thaw.

Can I use frozen rhubarb and bottled lemon juice?Thank you

In reply to Montanna.

Put a small amount in the fridge as a test if it jelly’s up its ready to pour the rest in the container

In reply to Camilla.

Okay After having a really runny batch after „prolonged“ time of whisking, I googled and found out the curd had to reach 175 f (which mine probably never did). So popped them all into the pot again this morning and sure enough, I had to crank my stove to medium high (7 out of 9) and whisk for maybe 10 minutes (I used a hand mixer) until it reached the temperature but then it finally thickened.

I am using home grown grapes which are quite small so there will be more skin. Do you think y this will work?

In the mid-90’s in Melbourne, there were a couple of very cool cafe’s called Bluetrain and Automatic respectively. They used to do this dish and I ate it all the time on my break when I was a waiter at Automatic.

I cannot understand all this about the stones. For years I have counted the damsons into the jam pan then when cooked I count out the stones they rise to the top of the pan after the sugar has dissolved much easier all round

Hi Emma, that’s so lovely to hear. I totally get it, as I thought similar to you until I found my granny’s recipe!

Hi Nick, yes, my damsons were also slightly underripe, so the flesh clung to the stones, which is why I added the separate stone-boiling step. Glad you like my recipe; enjoy the fruits of your labour:-)

Hi Pauline, I like my jams to have some nice fruit texture in there unless they’re seedless jams. The only time I take a blender to a jam is for my grape jam, where you want to pulverise the skins, as the ratio of skin to fruit is very high. But it’s your choice. One last thing is that having some texture in there gives your digestive system something to work on, and there’ll be more fibre with the pieces of skin. Otherwise, you’re getting an instant hit of glucose since it becomes like fast food that doesn’t need your body to process it.

Just wanted to say I’ve never made lemon curd, always put off by the horror stories of egg whites and sieving it and what not! Found this recipe a year or so ago and have been hooked on the simple wholesomeness of making this in such an easy way and having a reason to keep my spare jars! Have just today tried the lime version of this so we will see how that goes once it’s cooled! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!

The damson tree I harvested was a week short of fully/over ripe. I find jam sets better if the fruit is just short of ripe, and there’s less bird and insect spoilage if the sugars haven’t fully developed. It also makes it easier (if more laborious) to pare the flesh off the stones before starting to cook. The stones and clingy flesh were simmered and the liquor added to the fruit and sugar. I tend to use approximately 25% less sugar than the recipe suggests but that’s my personal preference to highlight the lovely sharp slightly bitter taste of damson. But a lovely recipe to follow, thank you

Hi. The Nectarine jam recipe looks yummy. Haven’t tried it yet, but plan to very soon. I note from the recipe instructions that you mash the fruit after cooking the jam. I’m wondering if running the fruit through a blender whizzy thingy prior to cooking would work, or do you recommend not for best results.

Hi Sarah, glad you like the recipe. The sugar is what preserves this jam and makes it shelf-stable, so as you reduced it by half I’m not sure this is jam anymore but more of a spread and so the fridge would be the best place for it.

In reply to Camilla.

I made this today but I only had half the amount of elderberries this recipe called for and I only did 125g of sugar because I knew I would just put it in the fridge. It was very sweet with that amount still! I’ve only ever made elderberry syrup until this year I tried a pie and now this. The jam is SO yummy. Thank you!
Side note: I’m in the US and was so confused about storing this at room temp without water bath. But I see from the comments it’s a thing! I would be too scared to try it but that’s good to know it can be done!

Hi Chris, Strong flour is used for bread-making where you want long, stretchy fibres of gluten to make your bread spongy and airy. The opposite is required for a crumble topping, which you want to be crumbly. But if that’s the only flour you have, then go ahead and try it, I’m sure it won’t be a disaster. It’s just not the best type of flour to use. I’d also advise working it quickly, as you don’t want to develop those gluten fibres!

Hi Rosamy, so glad you like the recipe. Hopefully you’ll find some more of my jam recipes useful too:-)

Thank you, Le. So glad you like it:-)

Hi CarolAnne, so glad you like the recipe, which is one of my early ones:-)

Hi Alison, so glad you love the jam and that it’s your favourite. Would I be right in thinking you used wild blackberries? I used cultivated ones in this recipe so the sieving time was around 5 minutes, as they have fewer seeds and more flesh. I have edited the recipe to say 5 – 10 minutes of sieving now. I know that my latest Seedless Blackberry & Raspberry Jam which made twice the amount of jam, took 15 – 20 minutes to sieve as I used wild blackberries. If you haven’t tried it yet, I’m sure you’d love it too: https://www.fabfood4all.co.uk/seedless-blackberry-raspberry-jam-1st-prize-winner/

Which is another way of saying 7/8 ths of a cup:-)

I messed up. I used 4 fluid ounces 🙁
¾ cup + 2 tablespoons for those who use cup

This is a wonderful tasty jam and by far my favourite. I have made it three years running now and my family just love it. The only thing I find is that it takes a lot longer to push the pulp through the sieve than it says but its certainly worth it!

This jam is so tasty. I always find raspberry jam a bit mediocre. It’s good, but it’s not super flavorful (for me). Adding the blackcurrant gives it the right amount of tang and brightness. I made 2 batches this year, one with whole blackcurrants and one with just the juice (worked it through a strainer). Both are delicious, so I’ll have to see which one works better with cookies, cakes, toast, yogurt…all the things. Thanks for a great recipe!

Wonderful recipe.