Wild Blueberry Preserves with Vanilla and Cardamom

If you have access to fresh or frozen wild blueberries, you have to try this recipe for homemade blueberry preserves, made with wild blueberries, and spiced with vanilla and cardamom. This adds warmth and complexity to your traditional wild blueberry jam, a flavour of home for many of us in the north. 

Here in Northern Ontario we are blueberry rich! It's been a good year so even if you don't have time to process them right away we recommend getting some wild blueberries in the freezer if they grow near you! 

(The bottles pictured are a wild Elderberry Cordial, find that recipe in our previous blog post). 

Recipe 

You will need:

• 2 lbs wild blueberries, fresh or frozen
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• ⅛ tsp ground cardamom
• ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, 1/8 tsp)
  
• 2 tbsp powdered pectin (up to 4 tbsp may be needed to set the jam, depending on the brand)
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Remove any stems you find and add your berries to a large stock pot. Combine the blueberries with the lemon juice, cardamom and salt. Over medium heat, bring the fruit to a simmer, and simmer for a few minutes until soft.

Sprinkle the pectin over the surface and stir it in, then add the sugar. 

Once the fruit is boiling hard enough that the bubbles can't be stirred down, continue to boil and stir for 1 full minute. This process activates the pectin to "set" the jam so don't rush it. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

Immediately ladle the hot jam into clean jars. Wipe the rims of the jars clean, and screw on the lids. 

Storage

Leave to cool to room temperature. Store the jam in the fridge for up to 1 month or the freezer for up to 12 months.

If you want to store the jam in a pantry or use as gifts, can the jars of jam in a hot water bath, according to standard canning procedures.