Home Grown and Wild: Home Grown in Grantham (Jostaberry Jam)

OK so this post comes from my new weekend abode in Grantham and I admit its been a long time since I posted but I just had to share my latest Wild Foodie find.

I have been watching the berries outside the house grow with interest and not really known what was going to be the end fruit.

Initially we thought we had a gooseberry bush but as the fruits started to show, it was clear that not only were they too small but also starting to turn a pinkinsh red colour. As the months have gone on, the berries have finally turned a deep, almost black colour. Testing the fruits, I was delighted to taste a delicious sweet, sharp flavour almost that of a Blackcurrant. Turning to the mighty Google, I finally discovered that what we have is actually a Jostaberry, which is a hybrid comprised of the blackcurrant, black gooseberry and European gooseberry.

So armed with a big bowl I finally succumbed to the branches heavy leaden with fruit and started picking! The final result, two large bowls of ripe, juicy plump Jostaberrries.

Now what do do with them? Again, scouring the internet I found a few recipes including jams and jellies. As we are not a huge fan of seeds in our jams, I decided to use these babies to make a clear, tasty jelly to be used as a conserve. Loosely following a recipe by Mary Margaret Briggs on Fruit Forum, I let the jam making commence.

I started by washing the Jostaberries and draining in a colander and adding to a large heavy bottomed pan with a small amount of water and set them to come to a boil, then simmer slowly for over 30 minutes.

The smell that filled the kitchen was divine! A rich blackcurrant smell and a large pan of softened jostaberry compote.

At this stage, I have to add that the mix looked so good I decided to split some of the fruit and make into a fruit filled jam so I could compare a Jelly and Jam.

The next step was to scald my jelly bag and start the straining of the softened fruits. While that was straining I set about sterilising the jars in Milton fluid for 15 minutes, then drying off in a warm oven.

While the jars were drying I started on the jam making by adding the sugar to the fruit pulp and stirring over a medium heat until the sugar dissolved, then boiled the mix for about 10 to 12 minutes. After this time, I tested the jam had reached setting point by putting a small amount onto a clean plate. After about 1 minute, push the jam with your finger. If it has reached setting point, the surface of the jam will wrinkle slightly.

It seems Jostaberries must be quite high in Pectin as the jam seemed to set very quickly. So time to jar up the first batch.

I have to say this jam is probably the nicest I have ever made. The rich purple/black colour is impressive and tastes like a high quality blackcurrant jam.