Black Raspberry Freezer Jam

And finally the berries come to an end...late Sunday afternoon, I put several bags of blueberries, raspberries, and black raspberries into the freezer for later berry exploits. But before I did that, I tried my hand at freezer jam. After letting the jam sit for the requite 24 hours needed for set, I had some tonight for dinner (on a PB&J sandwich) and found the jam to be quite thick and very mild in flavor - delicious!

This recipe comes from inside the Sure-Jell pectin package and uses less sugar than traditional jam recipes - if you make it, be sure to get the "pink box" of Sure-Jell (for less and no sugar needed recipes), not the regular "yellow box." The recipe calls for red raspberries, but based on my trial with black raspberries, it works just as well for those!

Black Raspberry Freezer Jam (~ 6-8 cups)
4 cups crushed black raspberries (about 3 pints before mashing)
3 1/2 cups sugar
1 box Sure-Jell for Less or No Sugar Needed Recipes Fruit Pectin
1 cup water
clean plastic or freezer-safe glass containers with tight-fitting lids

1. Crush raspberries using a potato masher, about 1 cup at a time, until amount of crushed berries measures 4 cups. Do not puree berries - there should still be some chunks of fruit.

2. Combine sugar and pectin in a large saucepan and stir until thoroughly combined.

3. Add water to sugar and pectin and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute and remove immediately from heat.

4. Quickly stir crushed berries into hot sugar and pectin mixture until thoroughly mixed.

5. Pour jam into prepared containers, leaving about 1/2 inch space at top for expansion during freezing. Cover containers.

6. Let containers stand at room temperature for 24 hours, until jam is set. Refrigerate for up to three weeks or freeze for up to one year (thaw in refrigerator).