Strawberry Tayberry Jam
Making homemade strawberry jam that is simple and delicious is so easy to do but making strawberry tayberry jam is ever better!
We’ve been expanding our strawberry production and I figured making them into jam would be a way to keep those delicious summer flavors around all year long. Well our strawberry patch didn’t quite produce the quantity of berries that really required processing, a large portion of what was produced never made it inside due to a very hungry two-year old and an even hungrier Newfoundland.
It turned out I was lucky that we didn’t grow enough berries ourselves. I hit a local farm stand to supplement what we had managed to collect, and discovered they had a berry that I had been wanting to try.
What is a tayberry?
A tayberry is a cross between a blackberry and a raspberry. It is much sweeter and larger than other blackberry crosses and incredibly aromatic. It reminded me of garden roses with a sweet raspberry smell. These fruits are incredibly delicate and because of that they aren’t available for transportation. But you can grow them at home, something that I’m sure Ale will cover more later.
We loved these berries so much that we spent several times a week driving up the coast to purchase tayberries. There was something so lovely about sitting outside listening to the ocean waves and birds flying overhead as we ate these delicious summer berries. We just knew that we had to bottle up that wonderful essence. However, they were at the end of the tayberry season and didn’t have enough berries for a jam recipe so we had to improvise.
Changing up our strawberry jam recipe and adding tayberries turned it into a delicious combination. They added an extra bright flavor note that made for a super well-rounded jam. The only problem is that I didn’t make more and I don’t think this batch is going to last through the fall.
How to store homemade jam?
Store it in your refrigerator for up to 1 month.
Store it in your freezer for up to 1 year. Allow jam 3/4 of an inch headroom in the freezer container. When you thaw the jam it will keep in your refrigerator up to 1 month.
Store it in a cool dark pantry after it has been processed in a water bath canner.
There are so many ways to store homemade jam. Growing up my mom would make large batches of jam and store it in Cool Whip containers in the freezer because she didn't have the time for canning everything she made. We ate freezer jam, as we liked to call it, all the time. It also made for a delicious cold treat during the hot summers. Ale on the other hand, grew up with little freezer space so her and her grandma canned everything they preserved. There is no one way so do what works best for you!
How to make strawberry tayberry Jam
Strawberry Tayberry Jam
Ingredients
- 3 lbs strawberries (cleaned, tops removed)
- 1 lb tayberries (cleaned)
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 1/2 lbs sugar
Instructions
- Put berries and lemon juice into a large bowl
- Sprinkle sugar over the top
- Rest for a few hours, the sugar will start to pull the juice from the berries
- Add berries to a large, non-reactive pan (pan should be no more than 1/3 full to prevent overflow)
- Put onto medium heat, stirring frequently for about 40 minutes or until desired set is reached
- For long term storage, store using hot water bath canning, otherwise store in fridge for up to 2 weeks
If you are new to canning I highly recommend checking out some resources over at the Ball Canning website (click here to be directed).
Whether you are new to canning or have years of experience I hope you you enjoy preserving your harvest this year!
