Why I love this...
This jam is absolutely worth the hours of picking blackberries in the fields! It is the perfect friend to your breakfast toast or pancakes, a game-changer on your cheeseboard and even delicious in a rich gravy to go with game later on in the year. It also makes the perfect little gift as it's hardly your average supermarket jam - in fact I have been looking for it in delis since I came up with the recipe and have yet to find it. It's far easier than it seems, the only tricky bit is picking all the spices out ;-)
Ingredients
800g Blackberries
150 ml Ruby port
3 Star anise
10 Cloves
1 Cinnamon stick
800g Jam sugar
Equipment
Medium bowl with cover (plate, silicon cover, clingfilm)
Fork
Large-Medium saucepan
Wooden spoon
Saucer
Scale (to measure your ingredients)
Jars with lids
Appliances: Kettle, Hob, Oven, Freezer
Preparation
Wash your blackberries, add to a bowl with the port and spices and lightly mash with the fork. Cover and place in fridge for two days
On the day, place a saucer in the freezer and sterilise your jars (I wash them, rinse with boiling water and then place in a warm oven to dry out)
Use the fork to pick out the spices (make sure you get all of the cloves as they're not a nice surprise when you bite on them)
Add berries, the juices and sugar to the pan and dissovle the sugar
Bring to a rollicking boil and leave for 12 minutes removing any foam that bubbles to the top, then test the jam on the frozen saucer to make sure it's set. If not, boil a little longer and then test again
Fill the jam into warm jars (from the oven), seal immediately and leave to cool
These will easily keep for a year, but I doubt they'll last that long!