Blackberry Jam and Biscuits

Every July, mountain families took buckets and picked wild blackberries from the sunny edges of logging roads and fence rows. The scratches were worth it — blackberry jam put up in mason jars lasted all year. Spread thick on a cold biscuit, blackberry jam was the sweet reward in many a lunch pail. The ritual of berry picking was as important to mountain culture as the jam itself.

Ingredients

Jam: 4 cups wild or cultivated blackberries

• 3 cups sugar
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• For lunch: cold biscuits (see Cold Biscuits with Sorghum), blackberry jam

Directions

1. Make the jam: crush blackberries slightly with a potato masher.
2. Combine berries, sugar, and lemon juice in a heavy pot.
3. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly.
4. Once boiling, cook hard for 10–15 minutes, stirring frequently. Test for set: drop a spoonful on a cold plate — it should wrinkle when pushed.

Skim any foam from the surface.

1. Pour into clean mason jars while hot. For shelf stability, process in a water bath canner 10 minutes.
2. To use for lunch: spread a generous layer of jam on split cold biscuits.
3. Wrap in wax paper — the jam will hold the biscuit together in the lunch pail.

Notes

Wild mountain blackberries are smaller and more intensely flavored than cultivated varieties. The seeds give mountain blackberry jam its rustic texture — mountain cooks almost never strained them out. This jam, along with apple butter and wild grape jelly, was mountain currency — given as gifts and traded with neighbors.