Both blueberries and lavender are in abundance right now.; and together they make a tasty jam. This recipe calls for only four ingredients: blueberries, lavender, honey, and lemon juice.
Ingredients:
1 quart or 1 1/2 pounds fresh or frozen blueberries
3/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 tablespoon of lavender buds
Equipment:
Medium saucepan
3 half-pint jars w/ lids and screw tops
Cheesecloth or small herb bag
Potato masher
Large spoon
Food Thermometer
Directions:
Add blueberries, lemon juice and zest to the saucepan.
Place lavender in a piece of cheesecloth and tie off with string, or place it in a small herb bag.
Add the bag with the lavender to the saucepan.
Cook mixture on medium-high heat until it boils and let it cook for about 15-20 minutes.
As blueberries cook down, mash them with a potato masher or the back of a spoon.
As the jam cooks, it will start to foam. Scrape the foam off and set aside; but don't through it out because it's good enough to eat.
Check the temperature of the blueberry mixture with the thermometer. When the temperature gets down to 90 degrees, you can add in the honey and mix well. See my note below.
To test if it's done, put a spoonful of jam in the freezer for 5 minutes. Take the spoon out of the freezer; and it it doesn't pour off the spoon easily, then it's done.
Remove the bag of lavender; and ladle the jam into clean, sterilized, pint jars, and cover tightly.
The jam will last a few weeks in the refrigerator, or a few months in the freezer.
Note on Cooking with Honey:
High heat can destroy the nutritional benefits of honey. Temperature levels in a beehive can go up to about 95 degrees F, so cooking with honey at high heat is not a good idea. The higher the temperature the more key nutrients are lost. So in this recipe, I have you use a food thermometer and check to make sure that the blueberry mixtures is lowered to about 90 degrees F.
Resources:
https://beekeepclub.com/heating-honey/
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