Simple mixed summer fruit jam recipe
Get out your favorite canning mason jars – it’s time to try a new mixed fruit jam recipe!
Making mixed fruit jams and preserving them at home using canning mason jars is a great way to keep your pantry stocked and enjoy the sweet flavor of Summer throughout the year. This recipe can be applied to your favorite summer fruits. We love using strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and loganberries as well as peaches, plums, and figs.
Delicious over pancakes, waffles, and scones or topped over some homemade granola with yogurt at breakfast, these homemade jams are great gift ideas for friends for special occasions.
What you need for this mixed Summer Fruit Jam Recipe
Grab your fruits and prepare your canning supplies! For this mixed Summer fruit jam recipe, you’ll need the following equipment:
- Canning mason jars of your choice. We like to use our SYMPL Luna Preserving Jar.
- Large pot of water to sterilize your canning mason jars
- Medium saucepan to cook your summer fruits
- Funnel (optional, but helps for the clean-up!)
- A clean dishcloth
Prepare your jars and lids
The most important step when preparing this mixed fruit jam recipe is to ensure your canning mason jars have been cleaned and sterilised. Make sure that the sealing rings of your jam canning jars have been well sterilised also. This will prevent jam spoilage.
- Wash each of the jam canning jars and their lids in hot soapy water. Rinse thoroughly.
- Place the jars separately from the lids in a large vat. Fill with water to a level 2.5 centimeters above the top of the jars. Boil with the canner lid on for 10 minutes. Keep the empty jars in the water. The water should be kept hot (but not boiling) until they are ready to pack with jam.
- Meanwhile, place the lids in a small pot and cover them with water. Heat the water and let this simmer until ready to use
Top tip
When handling hot temperatures with your canning mason jars, pay attention for temperature shock. You can read more about this in our blog post about how to can soup in mason jars. (How to can butternut squash soup in Pearl mason jars)
Make your mixed Summer fruit jam
For this mixed fruit jam recipe, we combined blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries in a small batch recipe. This should fit into 2 medium-size canning mason jars.
● 190 grams of blueberries
● 190 grams of strawberries
● 190 grams of blackberries
● 1 whole lemon
● 570g of sugar
- Combine the berries with the sugar in a bowl. Gently stir them together. Leave to marinate for 15 minutes before transferring into the medium saucepan.
- In the medium saucepan, gently stir the berries and lemon juice. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat before reducing the heat to medium. Cook this, uncovered, stirring frequently and removing any foam, until the jam has thickened. Reduce to a simmer and continue stirring for about 20 minutes. It will continue to thicken as it cools.
- Bring the jam mixture to a rapid boil, stirring often to keep the jam from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Continue reducing the mixture until it reaches a consistency you like. This is usually the point at which the jam no longer falls off a spoon in drips but instead drips off.
Top tip
This volume of sugar, a ratio of 1:1 to the fruits you choose, is necessary to activate the natural pectin of berries. You can also choose to use pectin in low or sugar-free varieties to reduce the sugar quantity for a healthier mixed fruit jam.
Pack your mixed fruit jam in your mason canning jars
1. Take your funnel or very carefully pour the still-hot mixed fruit jam into the hot jars from the canner. Leave 0.65 to 1.3 centimeters from the top of the jam to the rim of the jar (head space). Gently remove any spillage on the rim with a clean cloth. Secure the lid on top of the jar, and close it tight with the ring. Unlike common jar brands, we do recommend closing the lid tight in order to create a seal. This is due to the stainless steel closure, which is different than standard tinplate closures.
2. Place the jars back into the vat of water, making sure there is at least 2.5 centimeters of water above the top of the jars. Cover the canner with a lid and bring it to a boil.
3. Allow the jars to remain at a full boil for 10 minutes.
4. Switch off the heat. After 5 minutes, gently remove the jars from the canner and set a dish towel to cool completely. This can take several hours, check the seal on the lids by taking off the ring and lifting the jar only on the stainless steel plate, if the jar doesn’t open then you have formed a good seal. repeat this test before consuming. Any jars that do not seal should be refrigerated and consumed within a few weeks. Sealed jars can last a year unrefrigerated and will maintain their flavor and color best if stored in a cool and dark place.
Mason Canning Jars for Sale
Wondering where you can buy canning mason jars for your mixed fruit jam delights?
For this recipe, we recommend our SYMPL Luna Preserving jar. Our Pearl SYMPL screw top canning jars are characterized by a minimalist, cylindrical design in order to comfortably access and remove the content of your glass jar. Discover the complete range of canning jars here.
