marionberry lavender jam

It’s berry time in the Pacific Northwest and what am I doing about it? Making jam and syrup and scones and muffins. This recipe uses another of my favorite type of berry – Marionberry. If you’ve never heard of them, it’s because they grow only in Oregon (thanks mom and dad for moving when I was 5 so I could enjoy Marionberries!)

They are a cross between Chehalem and Olallie blackberries. Even these berries are crosses between other types of berries. You got a whole family tree you can research if you want.

This year I did a pre-sale of three types of berries from a local farm. I had never done it like this before. I always go to the u-picks, or pick the blueberries I grow in my own backyard. But this year, I wanted large quantities to experiment with, without the anxiety that I was wasting good produce. I bought 30 pounds of strawberries, 15 pounds of raspberries, and 15 pounds of marionberries. I was not impressed with the strawberries. And it was probably because I wasn’t expecting them to come to me basically looking like jam already. I had images of strawberry shortcake dancing in my head. What I ended up making, was a strawberry jam that I hated the consistency of (dumped every last half pint jar of the stuff down the garbage disposal), and about 12 half pint jars of strawberry syrup. I’ve given a few of those away and haven’t heard of any deaths yet. So we’re good.

I also made raspberry jam using a different pectin than I used above. And the marionberries. Oh those marionberries. They needed something special. I spend a lot of time on King Arthur Flour’s website. Their resources are amazing. Their products are top quality. And it just gives me inspiration to make something new. I’d been looking for a new pectin and heard good things about their ClearJel. I know people use this for making pies, so I thought it would work for jam. It was heavenly. I’ve been seriously cutting back on my sugar. You can tell, right? From all these recipes I post here.

So, what to add that would make this jam soar? Lavender. Yep. Culinary lavender. Don’t shy away from this. The flavor is so subtle, but you know what it is. I buy my lavender from a store in Portland, Oregon called Pelindaba Lavender. And you guys – shipping is free! I love free shipping. I’ve been spoiled with Amazon Prime for so long, I’ve forgotten how great it is when small companies offer free shipping. This isn’t a huge business. It’s like a mom and pop store. But with lavender. So many wonderful lavender products.

Hope you love this as much as I do! Drop me a fist-bump by commenting if you’ve tried it or plan to make it. And subscribe to my newsletter that will inform you whenever there’s new content on my blog.

Marionberry-Lavender Freezer Jam

★★★★★ 5 from 1 review

• Author: heidi
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: n/a
• Total Time: 20 minutes
• Yield: 8 half pint jars 1x
• Category: marionberries
• Method: freezer
• Cuisine: jam

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Ingredients

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• 5 heaping cups of marionberries (fresh)
• 1 1/2 cups|8 ounces white sugar
• 4 tablespoons King Arthur Flour ClearJel
• 2 teaspoons dried lavender, crushed using a pestle
• squeeze of fresh lemon juice

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Instructions

1. Combine sugar and ClearJel in small bowl.
2. Put marionberries in a large bowl and crush with a potato masher. Feel free to leave some chunks if you like chunkier jam. Add lavender and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Add sugar mixture and let sit for 15 minutes to thicken.
3. Meanwhile, wash jars and lids in hot, soapy water. When berries are ready, use canning funnel to scoop jam into jars. Fill to about 1/2″ from the top. The jam will expand in the freezer. Screw lids on, label, and place in freezer. Once opened, the jam should be used within a week. Since there are no preservatives in this jam, the shelf life is shorter. They will last in the freezer up to a year.

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Notes

This recipe made about 8 half-pint jars for me, but I filled them a little too full. I would say don’t be as generous as I was adding the jam to the jars. You might get 9 or 10 jars, depending on how full your jars are.

Keywords: marionberries, jam, lavender, freezer jam

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