Mixed Berry Jam

I was cleaning out my freezer recently and found a couple bags of berries - strawberries, raspberries & blueberries to be precise. I freeze these when we get them in abundance & typically use them to whip up smoothies... But now that the cold weather is upon us, smoothies are the last thing on my mind and so I decided to make a jam using them instead. It came together really easily and now i look forward to my breakfast of toasted whole wheat bread, jam & scrambled egg with a mug of ovaltine/boost. Btw, I owe the colour to the addition of blueberries - gave it a nice, deep & intense look.

MIXED BERRY JAM


Ingredients:

Strawberries - about 1.5 cups, chopped
Raspberries - about half cup
Blueberries - about half cup
Apple - half, peeled, cored & chopped into small cubes
Sugar - 1.5 cups (adjust based on sweetness of fruit)

Method:
1) In a fairly deep pot, combine the strawberries, raspberries & sugar and put it on the stove on medium heat until it comes to a boil.

2) Add the chopped apple & blueberries and continue boiling the mixture for about 20 minutes or so, stirring often until it reaches 220F on the candy thermometer. I like a bit of texture in the jam so mashed the fruit a bit with the back of the spoon and didn't make it smooth.

Allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight (glass) container/bottle and refrigerating.

NOTE: I would highly recommend buying/using a candy thermometer because it's inexpensive (approx US$4) and takes out a lot of the guesswork about the right time to pull things off the stove.