3-minute frozen blueberry jam: recipe
Quickly done well done ! here is an excellent blueberry jam cooked in 3 minutes from frozen blueberries, which is well worth the so-called “artisanal” jams sold at a high price. Of course, this recipe is also possible with fresh fruit.
List of ingredients
- frozen blueberries (or not, if you’re lucky)
- regular sugar: an amount equivalent to the weight of fruit
- lemon juice: 1 lemon for about 500 g of fruit
Recipe
Let the blueberries thaw
Add sugar (a weight equivalent to the weight of fruit)
Add the lemon juice
Roughly mash (some chunks will remain) or grind if you prefer a smooth texture.
Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring until it comes to a smooth boil.
As soon as it boils, stop stirring, lower the heat to medium and time for 3 minutes precisely.
Once the stopwatch rings, stop cooking, mix everything once to loosen the bottom if necessary and immediately pour into the jar of jam, filling almost to the rim.
Tighten the lids and let cool. It’s finish !
Leave for 24 hours before checking the setting.
Note : the smooth version, with a crushed preparation, is an excellent base for making blueberry desserts: mousses, bavarois, or simply mixed with fromage blanc.
Tips for a successful recipe
Good blueberry jam, artisanal, the real one that has taste is sold at a high price: and that’s normal, since it’s a somewhat rare fruit that requires work during the picking. However, you can make your own blueberry jam, 100% fruit and sugar, so all natural, with a simple and quick recipe and simply using frozen blueberries.
Because, of course, most people don’t have a blueberry spot to pick them from.
And then, frozen blueberries are less expensive than fresh blueberries, and present on the shelves in all seasons, even if they are American blueberries (with a slightly larger diameter), they are also excellent. Even made from frozen fruit, your homemade jam will be far superior to any industrial jam. In addition, this short cooking recipe is very quick to make.
In addition to saving time, this quick cooking preserves vitamins and give a more intense and fresh flavor.
Conservation
The jars are filled with a jam whose temperature is between 80 and 95°C and closed immediately: this allows pasteurization. If the lids are hermetic, the long conservation is ensured as long as they are not opened.
The sugar level then allows good conservation once the jar is opened.
A little chemistry of blueberry jam
Rapid cooking involves a molecule of pectin naturally present in blueberries: highly methoxylated pectin or HM. HM pectin binds to “take” between 3 and 4 minutes of boiling, but breaks down if boiling exceeds 4 minutes. That’s why you have to stir to even out the boil (that it starts all over the pan at about the same time) and time the cooking so precisely.
This chemical reaction, the binding of the HM pectins which make the jam set, only takes place in a very acid medium, hence the addition of lemon juice, and in the presence of sugar molecules. We can therefore hardly reduce the amount of sugar to “reduce” this jam in calories, or perhaps only by 10%. Already, the blueberry is quite low in sugar naturally for a fruit.
If the boiling time exceeds 4 minutes another type of pectin can take over, but with a longer cooking time: then, as with usual jams, the preparation must boil gently until it thickens (drop test on the cold plate).
The importance of lemon juice
Lemon juice is important in helping to gel the HM pectin, but it also very nicely enhances the taste of the blueberry, enhancing its flavor and offsetting that of the sugar.
But this lemon juice has another important role: by increasing the acidity, it helps to better preserve the blueberry’s vitamin C.
On the other hand, this recipe for short-cooked blueberry jam also retains more vitamin C simply because it is cooked for less time.
American blueberries and French blueberries
The French (and even European) blueberry, Vaccinium myrtillusis present in France, sometimes
still abundant in some mountainous regions. However, it has greatly regressed due to land use planning, deforestation, and the transformation of natural forests into softwood forests.
Its preferred medium is a slightly acid soil.
Vaccinum myrtillus has a status of “near threatened”, which has become very rare in certain regions, its collection is regulated:
The picking of wild blueberries is generally limited to 4 kilos or 5 liters per person, sometimes on specific dates depending on the department. The use of blueberry combs is generally prohibited.
American blueberries are cultivated and are the source of most frozen blueberries.
Some species may grow in our gardens if your soil is slightly acidic to very acidic and a little humid:
- Vaccinium corymbosusthe great American blueberryvery good and which can make shrubs of 2 m.
- Vaccinium asheiFlorida blueberrymore southern (-8°C) and later, of which a few well-chosen cultivars make good blueberries.
The benefits of blueberries
Blueberries are rich in vitamins. It contains Vitamins C, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin E, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B1, Vitamin K, Vitamin A.
it is very rich in antioxidants (one of the richest among many fruits and vegetables)
It also brings a lot of Iron and Zinc.
From a medicinal point of view, this fruit is a rich source of anthocyanosides, which plays a role in circulation problems, while other scientific studies show that it has a beneficial role in memory.
Consuming it regularly also improves night vision, accommodating more quickly when it is dark.
You will therefore do yourself good by having fun.
Thank you Vronique MACRELLE
