Blackberries are valued for their rich composition and many beneficial properties, while the low calorie content of the product allows it to be used even in dietary nutrition. The fruiting period of berries is relatively short, so many gardeners are starting ways to preserve them. One of the simple and affordable options is recipes for making blackberry jelly for the winter.
Where to start procuring raw materials?
To obtain delicious blackberry jelly, it is important to collect high-quality ripe berries.Fruit ripening occurs in August and early September. Regardless of which recipe is chosen, only fully ripe berries must be taken for cooking. Blackberries are different in that unripe fruits do not have the ability to ripen after picking, so you should not expect the appearance of taste from green berries.
Before using blackberries as an ingredient, some preparation is required. The main actions are as follows:
- remove debris in the form of leaves, twigs and insects;
- rinse under a gentle stream of water in a colander, as the berries are easily damaged by external influences;
- wait for excess moisture to drain;
- remove the tails.
Leaves with tails are torn off by turning them in a circular motion. At the end of the work, it is necessary to carry out a control check and remove damaged berries.
Options for making blackberry jelly
Today there are quite a large number of options for preparing blackberries, so everyone can choose the most suitable one. The main differences are in the proportions of sugar and berries.
Blackberry jelly for the winter - a recipe without gelatin
This recipe will allow you to get a dessert whose consistency is something between jelly and traditional jam. For preparation, take the following ingredients:
- blackberries - 1 kg;
- berry leaves - 100 grams;
- sugar - 1 kg;
- citric acid - 5 grams;
- water - 0.5 liters.
Instead of citric acid, you can take ascorbic acid. Boil the water with the leaves for 20 minutes, after which sugar is added and brought to a boil, making sure that the sugar is completely dissolved. After this, pre-sorted and prepared blackberries are immersed in syrup, leaving them for 2 hours. After this time, the blackberries will completely release their juices.Next, add acid to the mixture and cook for 10 minutes. The jam is poured into containers and covered with lids.
The seedless method
For this recipe, you will first need to juice the blackberries. This can be done using a blender or juicer. The resulting juice is carefully filtered through cheesecloth, excluding seeds and remaining berry pulp. The recipe will require the following ingredients:
- blackberries - 1 kg;
- sugar - 1 kg;
- water - 150 ml;
- citric acid - 5 grams.
Add sugar to the juice and cook for 30 minutes, periodically removing the resulting foam. The heat should not be too high, otherwise the mixture will start to burn and the dessert will have an unpleasant aftertaste. Add citric acid 5 minutes before removing from heat. The degree of readiness of the jelly can be determined in several ways:
- the volume of the mixture decreased by 2 times;
- large bubbles began to form on the surface;
- foam is formed in small quantities and is localized only in the center;
- When a spoon is lowered into liquid, it is covered in an even layer without dripping;
- a drop of dessert on a cold saucer does not spread and hardens, and does not spread across the surface of the dish.
The finished jelly, without removing from the heat, is sequentially poured into jars and sealed with metal lids. Jelly is considered to be well prepared if the finished dessert has a glassy sheen on the surface and its shade matches the color of the berries.
It is worth considering that for cooking it is better to choose dishes with a large bottom diameter and low sides, since in this case the mixture boils better and faster.You should not use enamel dishes with a too thin bottom for cooking, as in this case the jelly will burn.
The easiest way to jelly
The blackberries are placed in a blender and blended until smooth. After this, granulated sugar is added in the amount of 1 kg per 1 kg of berries. To get a less sweet dessert, you can add a smaller amount of sugar - 600 grams.
This ground mixture is placed in containers and placed in the refrigerator. The consistency of the jelly will resemble jam and immediately after preparation it can be eaten or used as an ingredient in the preparation of sweet dishes and baked goods. The dessert has a limited shelf life, so preparing it in large quantities is not recommended.
Recipe with whole berries
Whole berries in this “cold” recipe are used as a decorative element. Such desserts are mainly prepared as festive treats for guests at special events. To do this, pure juice is obtained from blackberries, carefully removing seeds and pulp.
For 1 liter of juice you need to prepare 800 grams of sugar, 15 grams of gelatin. Sugar is dissolved in juice and gelatin pre-soaked in water is added. The mixture is left for some time and the foam formed on its surface is removed. After this, the liquid is poured into small containers, whole blackberries are placed inside and put in the refrigerator for several hours to harden.
For decoration, choose whole berries without signs of damage. There are no restrictions on the number of fruits, so blackberries are added as desired.
From frozen blackberries
Frozen blackberry jelly is not inferior in quality and content of nutrients to fresh berries.For the recipe, the berries are thawed and placed in a blender. Next, add sugar in a 1:1 ratio. It is worth considering that the berries are defrosted only once, since repeated freezing leads to a loss of product quality.
Blackberry jelly with gelatin
You can use both frozen and fresh berries for this recipe. To prepare you will need:
- blackberries - 300 grams;
- water - 750 ml;
- gelatin - 20 grams;
- honey - 2 tsp.
Add 100 ml of water and gelatin to a small saucepan. Place prepared blackberries in a blender and add water. Beat the mixture thoroughly until smooth. Next, the process looks like this:
- gelatin is heated to 60 0C, that is, to a state close to boiling;
- add the beekeeping product and mix thoroughly;
- slowly pour in the liquid from the blender;
- mix the resulting mixture thoroughly.
The semi-finished dessert is poured into containers, which are placed in a cool place for several hours to obtain a jelly consistency.
When preparing, the amount of gelatin or pectin is calculated so that there are from 5 to 15 grams of product per 1 kg of berries. The greater the amount of gelling agent in the recipe, the more viscous in consistency the finished blackberry dessert will be. If you don’t have such ingredients on hand, you can use agar-agar at a rate of 9 to 13 grams per 1 liter of juice.
No-cooking option
The option without cooking makes it possible to preserve all the value and usefulness of the blackberry composition. This method is often called “raw”, since it does not involve any heat treatment.The main requirement for berries is that they must be fully ripe and unspoiled, although it is permissible to use bruised fruits in the recipe.
The cooking recipe is as follows:
- 1 kg of fresh blackberries;
- 1-1.5 kg of sugar, depending on the desired sweetness of the finished dessert.
Blackberries are placed in a container and sprinkled with sugar on top. Next, the mixture is thoroughly ground with a masher and left to infuse for 12 hours in a cool room. After the granulated sugar has completely dissolved, the berry mixture is mixed well and then placed in jars. It is acceptable to close with plastic lids if you plan to eat the blackberry dessert in the near future. For longer storage, the jars are sterilized and, after laying out the jelly, closed with a metal lid.
How to store?
Store the preparations in a cool, dark place. If the recipe involves a hot cooking method, then the container with the berry contents is turned upside down, placed on a flat surface and wrapped in a warm blanket. After the jars have completely cooled to room temperature, the containers or other place intended for storing preserves are removed.
Blackberry jelly is stored under a plastic lid in the refrigerator for no more than 4 months. The same shelf life is established for winter preparations after they are opened.
