It's blueberry season! Although native to America, blueberries are grown in Britain, so you can pick them up really cheaply between June and September. And when you have lots and lots of fruit on hand, what could be better than making jam?
Jam has a bit of a reputation for being tricky, for needing lots of special equipment. Luckily for you, this recipe couldn't be simpler.
Blueberry Jam
500g Fresh Blueberries
375g Granulated Sugar
Zest and Juice of 1 Lemon
1. Coat your blueberries in the granulated sugar in a pan and add the lemon zest. Then squeeze as much of the juice as possible out of the lemon and start to heat, stirring as you go.
2. Your blueberries will go through stages. For a good five minutes they'll be bobbing about in the lemon juice and you'll be absolutely convinced that there's no way it could ever become jam, not if you left it for a thousand years. But it'll start to bubble more violently, and then, after about 15 minutes, you want to take it off the heat. As well as the bubbles starting to die down a little bit, the jam will quite thickly coat a very cold spoon.
3. Pour your jam into a jar with a decent seal on it and pop it into the fridge, where it'll last for about a month.
4. You can enjoy your jam in sooooo many ways; on toast, on ice cream, or my favourite, on crackers with goats cheese. The sweet blueberries and the tangy goats cheese are the perfect combination, and it's a great little afternoon snack.
