Jammin' It

We haven't expanded our garden to include any fruit yet, but my husband's aunt and uncle have lots of property and tons of blueberry and blackberry bushes.  They invite any willing members of the family to come and pick berries any time since they can't possibly eat them all.  My husband and I took them up on their offer and I decided to make some jam with the gallons of blueberries and blackberries we'd picked.

Though this was my first attempt at making jam, it proved to be really easy.  I decided to go the old fashioned route, avoiding the need for added pectin.  This left me with just two ingredients: berries (9 cups) and sugar (6 cups).  The first step was to squish the berries, which I did with a potato masher.

Next, I dumped them into a big pot and mixed in the sugar.  You can see, at left, that I started using a large soup pot with the blueberries.  I later ended up dumping the blueberry mixture into one of my water bath canners because boiling fruit makes A LOT of foam and everything was about to spill over.  So, if you attempt this, be advised you need a BIG pot with several inches of space beyond the height of the fruit.

Because I was making pretty big batches, the berry and sugar mixtures took quite a while to boil and thicken up.  I think it took nearly an hour of constant boiling before the desired consistency was reached. During this time, it was really important to keep stirring periodically because the fruit can become stuck on the bottom of the pot and scald.

Once the mixtures started to thicken, I had to keep testing it to see if they had reached the jellying point.  I decided to go with the cold plate method because I didn't trust my assessment of whether the jam was properly sheeting off the spoon since this was my first time.

Once the jam had reached the jellying point, I immediately removed it from the heat and funneled it into half pint jars.  I processed them for ten minutes and all sealed successfully.

I gave some away and we still have 14 jars in our pantry, so I am sure we'll be enjoying blueberry and blackberry jam for a long time!

Fresh Fruit Kuchen

If you're like me, you can't resist buying way too much fruit at this time of year.  Despite my best intentions to eat yogurt and berries three times each day, at some point the amount of fruit I purchase exceeds the amount I am able to consume and some of it woefully ends up in the compost bin.

Enter the solution: Fresh Fruit Kuchen.  This is a simple cake, adapted from Joy of Cooking, which welcomes fruit at its prime or even slightly past.  It's a great way to use up those slightly soggy blueberries you overzealously purchased two quarts of despite being the only one in your household that will eat them.

Joy of Cooking suggests putting the fruit on the bottom, but I put mine on the top.  Here is the recipe:

Fresh Fruit Kuchen
Position rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350.  Grease a 9 x 2 inch round cake pan.  Prepare streusel topping below and set aside.


Streusel Topping: 
1/3 cup sugar or brown sugar
2 Tablespoons melted unsalted butter
2 Tablespoons all purpose flour (if using brown sugar, increase flour to a total of 4 Tablespoons)


Whisk together in a bowl:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt


Beat in a large bowl until fluffy:
1/2 cup (1/2 stick) softened unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar


Add to the butter/sugar mixture 2 large eggs, beating in one at a time until blended.
Stir in the flour mixture until incorporated.


Scrape cake batter into the pan and top with fresh fruit, distributing it evenly over the batter. This could be peach slices, cherries, apricots, berries, or any combination.  Use a fork to break up the streusel topping and distribute it over the fruit.  Bake 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.  Allow to cool to room temperature on a rack before serving.

This week I actually made three of these cakes, one with blueberries, one with peaches and blackberries, and one with just blackberries.  It goes well with vanilla ice cream for dessert or even with coffee for a light breakfast or as part of brunch.  The best thing about this cake is that it really highlights the flavor of the fruit without being overly sweet or sugary and it is really easy to make.  Enjoy!