Whortleberry Jam

More wild food and one of my favourites. I have very happy memories of climbing on the local Quantock hills and picking these whortleberries as a child; scrabbling amongst the heather, gorse and bracken for this very subtle and tart berry. The whortleberry is generically known as the bilberry... an unassuming berry smaller than the blueberry but perhaps a little more charming.

It grows on moorland in little shrubby clumps. The season is quite short; dependent on the year's weather and location the season is from July to August. The berry has many great qualities; apparently it is high in vitamins C and D and according to the Whortleberry Tea Room second world war pilots would eat whortleberry jam to improve their night vision. Big claims indeed. So after some marathon 'berrying' sessions I decided to put all that great fruit to use in a jam so we could eat it all winter. (This hasn't happened as we have now given much away in a fit of good neighbourliness - have to go out again to pick more!). So after consulting many recipes for whortleberry jam I decided to go with a very ancient recipe from an old jam and preserve book with a little addition of a lemon. This is where I resort to imperial measurement just for convenience.

Makes about 3 * 225 g jars of jam

1 lb whortleberries (picked over for stalks and leaves, washed and dried)
1 lb preserving sugar (choose the one recommended for strawberry jam which is high in pectin)
1 juiced lemon

1. Firstly, gather your implements: one large saucepan or preserving pan (should be made of stainless steel and not aluminium), 2-3 saucers placed in the freezer, a wooden spoon, a heatproof jug, a plentiful supply of sterilised jars (you can wash the jars and place in a hot oven to dry off), some wax paper discs (you can buy these or cut them out yourself - but believe me it is easier just to buy them), and washed lids.
2. Ensure that the size of the pan is adequate to contain all the ingredients safely (jam does splutter a bit so only fill the pan halfway)..... I could only do a pound of fruit to a pound of sugar at a time but if you can manage it try and double the recipe. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes giving it a stir to ensure all the sugar is distributed in the jam. Whortleberries like strawberries are low in pectin which allows jam to set. To compensate for this it is important to use preserving sugar that is high in pectin. I also added the juice of a lemon (citrus fruit and apples are high in pectin) to ensure it set well.
   
3. Now comes the difficult part of assessing whether your jam will set or not. Retrieve a saucer from the freezer spoon a dollop of jam onto the saucer. Allow to cool and them gentle with a finger push the jam. If it wrinkles the jam should be ready.
4. Get a few jars ready with the wax paper discs and lids at hand.
5. Pour your jam into the jug to transfer to your jars easily.
6. Pour into the jars. Try to leave only about a 2 mm gap at the top.
   
7. Place a wax disc wax side down into the jar.
8. Seal with a lid and allow to cool. You can reuse your old jam jars but ensure that you have the right lid for your jar. When you put the jam in the jars and screw on the lid after it cools it should now be sealed. On most jam jars there is a little 'button' on the top. Once your jam has cooled you should not be able to push the button. If you can then use that jam straight-away and put in the fridge.
9. Produce some labels with the date of production and enjoy!