Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Canning Blackberries

Part of adding excitement to life is trying things you've never thought of trying before! So, my mom and I experimented with this earlier in the month. We had a great time even though it took twice as long as expected and we yielded half as much as predicted! We made and canned fresh blackberry ice cream topping. It was so fresh and delicious! It can also be used as syrup over your favorite waffles.


First my mom bought TONS of fresh blackberries and we washed them all.

The most intriguing part to me was learning that the jars, seals, and lids had to be perfect. It is different than cooking. You must sterilize your jars using perfect precision with water temperature, time in boiling water, and checking for any deformed or dented equipment. This was the most difficult part for me since oftentimes I skim over details and just want to dig right in. This was my lesson in patience as we carefully sterilized everything.

We mashed those berries with all of our girl strength...

We left them to drain over cheesecloth for several hours
Later, we added the special ingredients to make it zing with flavor! And cooked our mixture until we saw rolling bubbles burst with rhythm in the pot.
We carefully poured them into jars and got ready to seal the deal!
These next steps were critical as well:



After we lifted the jars from the canner, they had to sit without being touched for 12 hours. As the jars are taken from the heat and placed on the counter, we listened for a small "pop" to assure us that our ice cream topping had been preserved correctly. We heard the "pop, pop" of each can! They were ready to sit on our pantry shelves!
But of course we reserved some to sample ourselves... ;)
SUMMER TREAT!


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12 comments:

caveman said...

I don't remember how it tastes.... Maybe I should get some more RIGHT NOW so I can remember!!! ;)

Dorey said...

so fun! I'm sure the fact that you made it yourself made it that much sweeter. =)

Summer said...

I like to can blackberry jam each year and make blackberry skillet cobbler. It is sooooo good!

Nancy said...

You and your Mom are both so amazing! I still remember having cooking lessons at your house and how precise your mom was with everything. I always had so much fun! It looks like you got her wonderful talent!

Mike said...

Looks like a great treat.


Mike
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Niki Jolene said...

If you freeze it you need not do all that canning prep work.

:)

theluckiestmrs said...

That looks so yummy!! & I'm so impressed with your canning skills! ;)

p.s. Swing by my blog...you're TAGGED!

Kristen Andrews said...

oh yummmy! The ice cream looks so good right about now.

Lynn said...

L, I would love the recipe for this! I went berry picking on Monday (for olallieberries, which I believe is a variation on blackberries) and made jam with it. But I have some left that I froze, and I'm going to pick again soon (because I'm THAT GREEDY ;). I'd love to make some of this sauce for ice cream. It looks heavenly. Will you consider posting your recipe? :) thanks

Jill said...

Right on! Looks delish!!

Martha@A Sense of Humor is Essential said...

Visiting for The Country Fair, this looks So Delicious!!!

Kat said...

Hi, girlie.

We got in last night and I am trying to visit everyone's fair entries and get their names in the drawing.

I love this post. I am crazy for canning and this looks so delicious. We do blackberry preserve for my hubby but I have never done ice cream topping.

Nice entry and great post!

Kat