One of the more simple alternatives. This is a generic recipe.
- 2C sugar
- 2 quarts blueberries
- 2T lemon juice (1 medium lemon)
- pectin stalk, if you have it, but not necessarily
flavorings:
- lemon verbena
- ginger & vanilla
- cinnamon and kirsch
- Clean and remove any twigs and leaves from blueberries.
- Place blueberries in non-reactive pot with sugar and lemon juice on top. You could let them sit 0-24 hours. The maceration allows a shorter actual cook time.
- Add the extra fruit flavoring (lemon verbena or ginger) and bring up to a boil. It will take a while to cook them down to a thick consistency. I now blend my berries to get them to be stiffer.
- If the berries foam a lot, skim off the foam or add a dab of butter. You should be cooking 10 min to an hour, depending on the heat and the level of movement for the jam. I like mine rather loose at times. But be wary that blueberries can turn into a solid jam if over cooked.
- You can cook the fruit until it reaches 221°F to make sure it sets, or do it the old-fashioned way: Putt a couple small plates in the freezer and test if it is done by dropping the jam on the plate, put in the freezer, wait 2 min, then pull it out and see if it has thickened up. You want it to move a small amount.
- Add vanilla or kirsh and let it cook for a couple min before jarring.
- Place hot fruit in jars and water bath can. We do 6 min for quarter pints, 8min for half pints, 10 min for full pints.
Heavily adapted (and less sugar) from http://grist.org/article/2009-06-19-blueberry-preserves/