Makes about 5 to 6 half-pints
Summer in a jar. Plump blueberries cooked down until thick and spreadable, kissed with just enough culinary lavender to turn something familiar into something a little magical, and brightened with a touch of lemon. It mounds soft on a knife and settles beautifully onto warm toast, a buttered biscuit, or a spoon headed straight for the jar (we won’t tell). Fold it into muffins, layer it into a thumbprint cookie, or swirl it through yogurt. Made in small batches, one pot at a time, right here on the farm. 💜
Blueberry Lavender Jam
Ingredients
Instructions
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Prep your jars and canner first. Get your water-bath canner heating, and wash your jars, keeping them hot. Wash lids and bands (clean, not boiled, just like with the apple butter). Jam moves fast once it boils, so have everything ready before you start cooking.
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Infuse the lavender. You have two easy options here. The gentle method: tie your lavender buds in a small square of cheesecloth or a tea ball so you can fish them out later, which gives a cleaner look and controls intensity. The rustic method: grind the buds very finely and stir them right into the jam so they stay in, giving little flecks and a stronger presence. For selling, I lean toward the cheesecloth sachet, because it lets you taste-and-remove so the lavender never goes soapy. Start with 1 teaspoon; you can always sense more.
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Crush the blueberries. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, crush the blueberries one layer at a time with a potato masher until you have 4 1/2 cups of crushed fruit. Leave some texture if you like a chunkier jam.
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Add acid, lavender, and pectin. Stir in the bottled lemon juice (use bottled, not fresh, for canning, because it has a consistent, reliable acidity that keeps the jam safe). Nestle in your lavender sachet. Add the powdered pectin and the optional 1/2 teaspoon butter, and stir well.
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Bring to a full boil. Over high heat, stirring constantly, bring the mixture to a full rolling boil that can't be stirred down. This is the boil that won't stop bubbling even while you're stirring.
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Add sugar all at once. Pour in all 7 cups of sugar at once, stirring to dissolve. Return it to a full rolling boil, then boil hard for exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Set a timer; this minute matters for the set.
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Remove from heat. Take it off the heat. Fish out the lavender sachet now (or, if you ground it in, taste and move on). Skim off any foam with a spoon. Give it a quick taste-check for lavender: it should read as a soft floral note, not perfume.
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Fill the jars. Ladle the hot jam into your hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Slide a chopstick around to release air bubbles, wipe the rims clean with a damp cloth, center the lids, and screw bands on fingertip-tight.
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Process in the water bath. Load jars onto the rack, covered by 1 to 2 inches of water. Bring to a full rolling boil, then process 10 minutes (at sea level). For most of Missouri's elevation, add 5 minutes for a total of 15 minutes. This applies to both half-pints and your quarter-pints; the small jars use the same time.
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Rest and cool. Turn off the heat, let jars sit in the water 5 minutes, then lift them out onto a towel. Leave them undisturbed 12 to 24 hours. Don't touch the bands. Listen for the pings.
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Check seals. Press each lid center: sealed lids are concave and won't flex. Remove bands for storage, label, and store cool and dark for up to a year. Any unsealed jar goes to the fridge.