Water Bath Canning Sweet Maple Cinnamon Blackberries
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Have you ever canned fresh berries in a syrup and ended up with sad, mushy, flavorless berries? Cause I have. Most berries don’t can well in my opinion just plain in a light or even heavy syrup. They get really soft and I just don’t use them. If you’re looking to preserve a lot fresh berries and have them useful and good, go check out my dry pack canning berries recipe! IT IS THE WAY and how I normally preserve most of my berries now because I don’t have the freezer space for them and frozen fruit just isn’t good. It loses its flavor, is mushy and sad, and not good.
The only canning recipe with a syrup and berries I will can is these maple cinnamon blackberries. THEY ARE AMAZING and mostly because the homemade blackberry syrup made in the jar is delectable, refreshing, and has several layers of flavor. I canned up several jars of these last summer and we only have 2 left that I’m saving for when I really need them :D They’re also very versatile. From popping and eating with a spoon, making an exciting lemonade or mixed drink, topping ice cream, pouring over angel food cake, or even mixing into a cobbler, these blackberries will hit the spot and provide amazing flavor and color to drinks and desserts. My favorite? Dumped over stuffed french toast. Have mercaayyyyy.
This recipe uses 5 simple ingredients and comes together very quickly. Start by making the syrup, simmering and thickening, then heat the berries, slap into jars and can them! When packing berries in a syrup, it is most desirable to heat the berries first instead of raw packing due to the oxygen content within the berries. By heating them, you are removing that oxygen and shrinking the berries before putting them in the jar. Only thing this cooking process does is makes the jar as full of berries as possible. If you want to raw pack the berries, be my guest, just expect about an inch of liquid on the bottom of the jars where there will be no berries. It’s not a big deal at all!
What Size Jar To Use
You can process this in pints or quarts, depending on how much you’ll want to use when you open them. I choose to do pints. This recipe makes 2 pints or 1 quart of blackberries. You can also use half-pint jars and can for pint times. Blackberries are considered high acid and can be processed in a water bath canner or steam canner, your choice! The times for both are the same.
Let’s can some blackberries!
Equipment You Might Want:
- Stock Pot
- Pint or Quart canning mason jars
- Lids and Screw bands
- Jar funnel
- Jar Lifter
- Steam Canner
- Water bath canning pot
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 pounds fresh blackberries (4-5 cup blackberries ish)
- 1 cups water
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 2 Tablespoons molasses
Step 1: Prep
Wash 1 1/2 pounds of fresh blackberries in cold water. Place in a colander to drain.
Wash canning jars (1 quart or 2 pint jars per batch you are making; I always clean an extra jar just in case) and new lids in hot soapy water. Scrub the inside of the jar and top of each jar very well and rinse. Rinse well and set aside on a clean dry kitchen towel for canning.
Step 2: Make the Syrup
Into a stock pot, add water, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, and molasses. Stir together and place sugar syrup over medium heat.
Heat water and sugar mixture to a gentle boil, stirring frequently to dissolve sugar and prevent burning.
Allow syrup to simmer until thickened slightly like a light syrup.
Step 3: Heat Berries
Add berries to syrup and heat for about 5 minutes, covered. Stir a couple times for even heating.
Step 4: Canning
Using a slotted spoon, fill clean jars with hot blackberries, keeping below 1/2 inch headspace. I don’t try and pack the berries tight because the syrup is the best part!
Ladle hot syrup over top of the berries to 1/2 inch headspace, remove air bubbles and add more syrup if needed to maintain headspace.
Wipe jar rims and add clean lids and secure with screw bands.
Place jars in a boiling water bath or steam canner and process pint jars for 15 minutes and quart jars for 20 minutes, adjusting time for elevation if needed.
Once processing time is completed, remove jars to a heat proof surface lined with a clean kitchen towel and allow the jars to cool undisturbed for 18-24 hours.
Step 5: Storage
After cooling, removing bands, test for a good seal, wash jars, label, and store jars in a cool dark place away from direct sunlight. Room temperature is fine as long as the jars are not exposed to extreme temperatures.
Shelf life is ’til you eat them. I am to rotate my canned goods out every 2 years but they’ll last much longer than that if needed. If the seal is good, they’re good.
Notes:
Allow jars to sit for 4-6 weeks to full flavor and meld before using for best flavor results. The longer they sit, the better they get!
If you don’t have molasses on hand, just substitute the raw unrefined sugar for brown sugar.
Equipment
- stock pot
- Pint or Quart canning mason jars
- lids and screw bands
- jar lifter
Ingredients
Instructions
- Wash 1 1/2 pounds of fresh blackberries in cold water. Â Place in a colander to drain.
- Wash canning jars and lids in hot soapy water. Rinse well and set aside on a clean towel for canning.
- Into a stock pot, add water, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, and molasses. Â Stir together and place sugar syrup over medium heat. Heat water and sugar mixture to a gentle boil, stirring frequently to dissolve sugar and prevent burning. Allow syrup to simmer until thickened slightly like a light syrup.
- Add berries to syrup and heat for about 5 minutes, covered. Â Stir occasionally.
- Using a slotted spoon, fill clean jars with hot blackberries, keeping below 1/2 inch headspace.
- Ladle hot syrup over top of the berries to 1/2 inch headspace, remove air bubbles and add more syrup if needed to maintain headspace.
- Wipe jar rims and add clean lids and secure with screw bands.
- Place jars in a boiling water bath or steam canner and process pint jars for 15 minutes and quart jars for 20 minutes, adjusting time for elevation if needed.
- Once processing time is completed, remove jars to a heat proof surface lined with a clean kitchen towel and allow the jars to cool undisturbed for 18-24 hours.
- After cooling, removing bands, test for a good seal, wash jars, label, and store jars in a cool dark place away from direct sunlight. Â Room temperature is fine as long as the jars are not exposed to extreme temperatures.
- Shelf life is 'til you eat them. Â I am to rotate my canned goods out every 2 years but they'll last much longer than that if needed. Â If the seal is good, they're good.
I love the flavor of blackberries, but to eat the whole berry in any fashion is a turn off to me because of the hard center. When you can these, do the centers sort of melt away or are they still hard? Recipe sounds yum.
I guess I don’t find the centers to be hard after they’re canned, but I eat them raw and enjoy them, so maybe just try a single small batch and see if they work for you. If they don’t, no harm, just drain and use the juice to sweeten tea or a lemonade :)