Apple Blackberry Thyme Jam Recipe

2013-04-07-246718-preserved-apple-blackberry-thyme-jam-primary.jpg
Lucy Baker

This sweet, tart, herbaceous jam pairs well with hearty whole grain breads and bran muffins. It can also be used as a glaze for pork tenderloin. Pulse the blackberries in the food processor a few times to coarsely puree them.

By the beginning of April, I am so over winter food. I'm bored with braises and roasts, sick of hot chocolate, and entirely done with root vegetables. But here in New York, the farmers' markets and produce aisles are still bereft of the ingredients I crave: tender rhubarb, baby artichokes, and slim stalks of asparagus. Not to mention berries, which won't be here for what seems like eons.

Too impatient to wait, I conjured up this recipe. Apples, which are always in season and readily available, are matched with imported blackberries, along with big pinches of fresh thyme and lemon zest. The results are sweet, tart, herbaceous, and just enough to hold me over for a few more weeks.

Try this jam with hearty, whole grain breads, bran muffins, or use it as a glaze for pork tenderloin.

Recipe Details

Apple Blackberry Thyme Jam Recipe

Active 30 mins
Total 60 mins
Makes 4 half-pint jars

Ingredients

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 teaspoons Pomona's Universal Pectin
  • 2 cups finely diced apples (from about 2 medium apples)
  • 2 cups coarsely pureed blackberries (from about two 6-ounce packages)
  • Zest and juice from 1 lemon
  • 2 teaspoons calcium water (included in the Pomona's package)
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

Directions

  1. Combine the sugar and pectin in a medium bowl and set aside.

  2. Combine the apples and blackberries in a large, heavy bottomed pot. Stir in the lemon zest and juice and the calcium water. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Add the sugar-pectin mixture and return to a boil. Boil hard for one minute.

  3. Remove the pot from the heat and skim any foam from the surface of the jam with a cold metal spoon. Stir in the thyme. Ladle the jam into hot sterilized jars and process them in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.