Salmonberry Huckleberry Jam
Every weekend for the last few weekends we have been heading out into Stanley Park to pick Salmonberries and Huckleberries. They are in season now and the park is full of them. Once the salmonberries have gone the blackberries will be ready so there is months yet to pick berries in the park.
We find that not only does it give you great satisfaction to pick your own fruit but it also gives us even more of an appreciation for this beautiful park that we live so close to. It gives us our daily walk and exercise we jog and rollerblade the sea wall and at these times of the year it can give us berries for smoothies, jams, pies, or just eating off the bush. So I thought I would share a simple recipe for Salmonberry Huckleberry Jam Recipe. In another post I will cover the process of canning.
Salmonberry Huckleberry Jam or Wild Stanley Park Jam Recipe
- 5 cups Salmonberries
- 1 cup Huckleberries
- 2 cups Sugar (more if you want your jam sweeter)
- 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon Cardamon
- Deseed 3 cups of the salmonberries. Salmonberries contain a lot of seed if you do not mind them just leave them in otherwise you will want them out. Simply mash through a strainer. It is a bit of work but well worth it.
- Add deseed salmonberries, sugar, zest and juice of the lemon, and the cardamon to a pot and bring to a boil. Stir to devolve the sugar. Once boiling reduce heat to med low and continue cooking for about 20-25 minutes. Stir occasionally and skim off any foam that comes to the surface.
- Add the remaining two cups of salmonberries and continue to stir and skim foam for another 20 to 30 minutes. At this point you are looking for the jam to thicken so this will vary on time depending on the temperature you are cooking your jam at. You can always do a jam test by having a cold plate in the fridge, spoon a 1/2 teaspoon of jam on to it and pop it back in the fridge. After 5 minutes take it out and tilt the plate. If the jam does not run it is done.
- Once the jam is thickened and the cooking is done stir in the huckleberries. You are done. You can now go about canning the jam or just put it in the fridge and use within a reasonable amount of time. The cooking/reduction/sugars in the jam will protect it in the fridge for a couple couple of months. At least I have never had trouble…..
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