I found my first round of canning to be quite a learning experience, with a lot of feedback!  I was so impressed with what I learned that I figured I should test my skills by taking it up a notch!

In comes Cherry Plum and Blackberry Jam.

I got a huge bag of cherry plum’s from my handy dandy farm hand.  They had sat in my garage for 3 days as I pondered what to do with them and after I noticed the stain they were causing on the bench I left them on, I decided Jam was the only option.

Simple plums didn’t seem exciting enough so I busted out my new canning book and searched for a blend that might work.  Blackberries were the only satisfying option and so I set out to the store as I wasn’t about to go picking berries for my weekend.  After all, half the recipe for FREE seemed to justify purchasing the second half!

As for these little plums, I found that cutting them in half to the pit, and then twisting them apart was the quickest way to chopping.  A good dig with my thumb seemed to set the pit free without seeming like an agonizing task.  The blackberries are good to go which was another perk of the choice.

With about 5 lbs of plums and approximately 15 cups of blackberries (because whose counting?!), I added a good pour of sugar and lemon juice.  For those counting, it was about 8-9 cups of sugar and 5 tablespoons of fresh squeezed lemon juice.  This mixture sat beautifully in a huge bowl in my refrigerator for the night.

The next evening, the canning began.  Due to the fact that I live at roughly 6200 feet in elevation, I have to increase my cooking times.  It took about 30 minutes for this mixture to cook to the point that it passed the ‘plate’ test.  The plate test says that if you can run your finger through a dollop of your jam once it has sat in the freezer on a plate for a few minutes, without it running back together, then you are good.  Got it?  Jam onto plate…plate into freezer….finger through jam….to part the red sea.

After three attempts too soon, I finally got it to where I felt comfortable canning it.  The blackberries had all broken down with the help of a potato masher and the plums had already reached ‘jam heaven’.  It passed the plate test.

I also have to increase my water bath time from about 10 minutes to 25 minutes…simply due to altitude.  I left about 1/4 to 1/2 inch headspace in each jar.

Needless to say, it was a total success and tastes like Heaven.