The best Blackberry & Gin Jam recipe!
Aug 11, 2023
When blackberry season gets into full swing, we love nothing more than heading out to the hedgerows to pick buckets full of those shiny, juicy black jewels.
But what do you do with all of those blackberries once they’ve been picked? Well, after you’ve put some aside for a Bramble cocktail or two, we think the best way to use up and preserve lots of blackberries at once is to make our gorgeous Blackberry Gin Jam!
In the UK, blackberry season runs from July to the end of October, with its peak month being August. This is the best time to make blackberry jam because you need to use the freshest, most ripe blackberries possible.
It’s important to use ripe blackberries for this jam recipe, not only because they are at their sweetest and most flavoursome but because they will contain the most pectin too (pectin helps the jam set).
Yes, you should wash blackberries before making a jam, especially if they are wild blackberries picked from hedgerows.
Washing the blackberries helps to remove any dust, bugs, stray farming chemicals (if picked at the edge of farming land) and any other nasties that you don’t want in your jam.
Blackberry jam should set as it cools and should be fully set by the time it is cold.
It should take around fifteen minutes of cooking to get the jam to the point that it will set properly.
This blackberry jam does not need any added pectin because the natural pectin from the blackberries and the acid from the lemon juice are enough to set the jam to a texture that is spreadable and delicious.
We recommend using either a homemade blackberry gin for this recipe - find a great homemade blackberry gin recipe here! - or a craft blackberry gin from the Craft Gin Club online shop. Shop for amazing blackberry gins here!
500g blackberries
400g granulated sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
100ml blackberry gin
Add the sugar to the blackberries and stir them together. Leave to macerate for at least two hours, ideally overnight.
In a saucepan on low heat, stir the blackberries and sugar with the lemon juice until any remaining sugar has dissolved and the berries begin to break down. Bring to a rolling boil until the mixture reaches 105c/220F on a sugar thermometer.
Pro tip: If you don’t have a sugar thermometer then you can test if the jam has reached the optimum temperature by adding a small spoonful to a chilled plate - do this after around 10 minutes of rolling boil. Allow the jam to cool, then run your finger through it. If the jam on the plate wrinkles, the pan is ready to be taken off the heat.
Take the jam off the heat and stir in the gin. Leave the jam to cool for 30 minutes and then pour it into sterilized jam jars. Only add the jam jar lid when the jam is completely cold.
Blackberry jam is sweet, luscious and brimming with the complex, rich, tart flavours of fresh blackberry.
Our Blackberry Gin Jam also has an added base of earthy juniper from the gin, which further enriches the flavour profile of the jam, giving it extra depth and delectable complexity.
You do not need to remove the seeds from this blackberry jam.
Whether you leave the seeds in or not is a personal choice. You may want to remove them because of their texture but this isn’t a necessary step in our recipe.
Bramble jam and blackberry jam are often the same product with a different name.
In the UK, “bramble” refers to the thorny bush that blackberries grow on. Blackberries are the fruit of the bramble bush.
So it is accurate to call the jam a “bramble jam” or “blackberry jam” - it’s completely down to personal preference.
While homemade jams won’t include synthetic colourants, additives or preservatives that shop-bought jam might, they still have a lot of sugar.
So you could definitely argue that homemade jam is better for you than shop-bought jam, however, no jam should be considered a “health food” or eaten as such - especially our gin-laced version.
We like to think of blackberry jam as a sweet treat.
“Jelly” in this context is an Americanism that refers to a jam-like product often used in place of jam.
The main difference between the two products is the texture. Jelly normally has a smooth, glossy texture, whereas jam contains pieces of fruit.
You can use blackberry jam or blackberry jelly in the same ways. Choosing one or the other is down to personal preference.
