Summer

Blackberry Mulled Wine Jam

by:
March 17, 2011
5
1 Ratings
Blackberry Mulled Wine Jam
  • Serves 12 halfp pint jars plus extra for the fridge
Author Notes

This is one of those recipes that popped into my mind at 3:30 am when my stupid brain decided that thinking about food was a better idea than sleeping - in this case I am glad it did because the jam is darn tasty ... I think it would fit right in with Mrs Larkin's ricotta trio (muscling in on her recipe :-) —aargersi

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 2 cups merlot (something rather fruity)
  • 4 cinnamon sticks
  • 15 whole cloves
  • 3 whole star anise
  • 10 cups fresh washed blackberries
  • 3 tablespoons minced candied ginger
  • 1 cup orange juice
  • 2 boxes NO SUGAR NEEDED fruit pectin (1.75 oz each)
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Directions
  1. If you are canning - sterilize your jars and get your canning station ready. Put a couple of spoons in the freezer.
  2. Pour the wine into a large pot and bring it to a simmer with the cinnamon, cloves and star anise. I put the cloves in a tea egg which makes it easier when you fish them back out. Allow this mixture to simmer on very low heat for 10 minutes.
  3. Remove the spices, then add the blackberries, orange juice, and ginger. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil. Meanwhile whisk the sugar and pectin together - this will keep the pectin from lumping up. When the berries are boiling, stir in the sugar, pectin and butter. The butter will keep the mixture from foaming up too much and butter makes things better in general. Once the jam has reached a rolling boil again you can turn down the heat and keep it at a low boil for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Now look at a spoonful - do you want all whole berries or some mashed? I like some mashed so I run through the jam (gently) with a potato masher. Do the jam test - pour a little down the back of a frozen spoon. Run your finger through it. It should make a path that stays open. If not, boil a few more minutes and test again. Your jam is done!
  4. If you are canning - carfully ladle jam into the jars, clean the rims, place the lids on top and secure with the rings. Boil in the jam pot for 10 minutes then remove and leave them alone until they have cooled completely and the seals have set. Please research before canning - safety first!!!
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aargersi

Recipe by: aargersi

Country living, garden to table cooking, recent beek, rescue all of the dogs, #adoptdontshop

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18 Reviews

Ashley G.
Ashley G. July 25, 2016
This recipe looks great! In reference to your last comment on the post, have you actually canned this recipe before? I have a fair amount of experience canning and know that certain recipes are not fit to can regardless how much canning knowledge/experience you have. Thank you! Ashley
 
Sam
Sam September 27, 2013
Hi there, This looks reat! I am about to make this but with sugar with added pectin (i live in the UK). How much sugar should I use as I won't be adding any extra pectin?
Also I don't really like the seeds in blackberry jams, so i have deseeded them and squeezed all the juice out. How many cups of squeezed blackberry juice do you think I should use for your recipe? Huge thanks for your help :)
 
aargersi
aargersi September 27, 2013
Hi Sam - hmm that's a good one! I do grape jelly the same way - juice only no solids - I use Ball brand no sugar needed pectin and I use their online pectin calculator to determine the amount:
http://www.freshpreserving.com/tools/reference/pectin.aspx
If you are using another brand I would see if they have something similar. This looks like 2 1/3 c juice to 2 tbs pectin. Let me know how it comes out!
 
Sam
Sam September 27, 2013
Thank you so so much for answering so fast! I use another brand, but will check if they make any recommendations...
As for the actual fruit, you say 10 cups of blackberries for 2 cups of sugar (that doesn't seem very sweet to most recipes that seem to add equal amounts of fruit and sugar??), how many cups of de-seeded blackberries would you use for 2 cups of sugar? Thanks again and sorry about my ignorance! :)
 
aargersi
aargersi September 27, 2013
Honestly I would use even less for straight juice - one of the reasons I started making my own preserves is because I find most to be MUCH too sweet. I recommend starting out with less because you can always add sugar but you can't take it out! So add some, taste, and add more if you'd like. That's what I do with all of my jams and jellies!
 
foo
foo September 23, 2012
Geez, I had an idea to try making mulled blackberry jam, but I improvised. I used Trader Joe's mulling spices and brewed blackberry juice with it before adding it to the jam recipe. However, my jam came out smelling and tasting like pickles!!! It turns out that many of the ingredients in the mulling spices are the same ones used in pickling brine: cinnamon, clove, orange peel and allspice. That was educational. =l

I wonder if this recipe actually tastes more like mulled wine and not like pickles?!

Thank you
-foo
 
aargersi
aargersi September 24, 2012
Hi Foo! No this definitely does not taste like pickles - it's like spiced berries with a hint of wine. Your description made me laugh though! I hope that you like this one if you try it!!!
 
foo
foo September 23, 2012
Geez, I had an idea to try mulled blackberry jam, but I improvised. I used Trader Joe's mulling spices and brewed blackberry juice with it before adding it to the jam recipe. However, my jam came out smelling and tasking like pickles!!! It turns out that many of the ingredients in the mulling spices are the same ones used in pickling brine: cinnamon, clove, orange peel and allspice. That was educational.

I wonder if this recipe actually tastes more like mulled wine and not like pickles?!

Thank you
-foo
 
nannydeb
nannydeb December 18, 2011
I just made a batch of this for gifts and, though I'm not really a big fan of berries I thought it was quite tasty! The last of the batch was somewhat berrylesss so I scraped it into a jar for myself (since it's the berry seeds that I'm not fond of...). Another winner Abbie!
 
lapadia
lapadia August 9, 2011
Yes!!! I can't figure out why I missed this the first time, but glad I found it :)
 
checker
checker March 24, 2011
My maternal grandfather made wine jam, and to this day it is something I always have in the house. But I have never thought to make a mulled wine jam - what a great idea!

And I sympathize with your 3 AM food wanderings. A few weeks ago I awoke to the vision of coddled eggs. Moments later my boyfriend came staggering into the living room to find me at the computer, buying egg coddlers. What ever the muse says, right?
 
aargersi
aargersi March 28, 2011
How funny - yes! Resistance is futile! I bought one egg coddler on ebay awhile back - because I didn't have one and that just felt wrong ... we are all obsessed (in a good way)
 
AntiquarianCooks
AntiquarianCooks March 18, 2011
This is the jam of my dreams! I can't wait to try this.
 
aargersi
aargersi March 18, 2011
Oh I hope you do, and that you like it - I am pretty pleased with the results - am thinking over other fruit and wine jams as spring is HERE in Texas and summer just around the corner.
 
mrslarkin
mrslarkin March 17, 2011
Oh, very nice, aargersi! Plenty of room on my trio for your yummy jam.
 
aargersi
aargersi March 18, 2011
We are having a picnic lunch next week - I think your trio and some jam will be included!
 
hardlikearmour
hardlikearmour March 17, 2011
Wow, aargersi, you are the Jam Master! Will save this for blackberry season in the PNW.
 
aargersi
aargersi March 18, 2011
Oh with the berries and wine in your area it will be really tasty. You know the nice thing about being jam-obsessed is that you always have a hostess gift or last minute birthday gift on hand.