Blueberry Jam, Two Ingredients
Blueberries and sugar cooked down in one pot until it sheets off the spoon. No pectin, no preservative.
- calories
- 210
- weight
- 3.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 60
- protein
- 1 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 40 min
- total time
- 50 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Breakfast
- Dessert
- Campfire coals
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Blueberries | 2 lb | wild ones are smaller and set faster than cultivated |
|---|---|---|
| Granulated sugar | 2 cups | roughly half the fruit weight |
| Lemon juice | 2 tbsp | optional, from a squeeze bottle; helps the set |
Method
- Put the berries and sugar in the pot, stir, and leave them alone for an hour. The sugar pulls juice out and you start with liquid instead of scorched fruit.
- Set the pot over a low flame or the edge of the coals. Stir until every grain of sugar is gone before the mix comes up to a boil.
- Boil it, uncovered, stirring often and scraping the bottom. Skim the foam off the top with a spoon and discard it.
- After about 30 minutes the bubbles get slower and wider. Drop a spoonful on a cold plate or a rock in the shade; if it wrinkles instead of running, it is done.
- Stir in the lemon juice, take it off the heat, and let it cool before you jar it.
This is a canning recipe, not a backpacking one, so treat it that way. It is a car-camping or basecamp project: two ingredients, one pot, and forty minutes of standing over a fire with a spoon. No pectin and no preservative means sugar and evaporation are doing all the work, which is why the ratio matters and why you cannot rush the boil.
The hour of maceration before heat is the part people skip. Dry sugar on the bottom of a pot over open flame burns before the fruit releases anything, and a burnt batch tastes burnt all the way through. Without a canner and sterile seals, this is not shelf-stable — keep it in the cooler and finish it in a week.
Packing
Carry the berries in a rigid container in the cooler and the sugar pre-measured in a bag. Bring a wide-mouth jar with a solid lid for whatever you do not eat.
Variations
- Half a split vanilla bean added in the last ten minutes.
- Cut the sugar to 1 1/2 cups if you are eating it within a couple of days and not storing it.
https://savoriurbane.com/dulceata-de-afine-reteta-traditionala