Hawthorn Berry Jam Recipe: A Unique and Flavorful Preserve

Discover the charm of homemade Hawthorn Berry Jam, a traditional preserve packed with rich, tart flavor and natural goodness. Perfect for spreading on toast, pairing with cheese, or enhancing your desserts, this jam transforms the often-overlooked hawthorn berry into a culinary delight.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe:

Unique Flavor: Its tangy-sweet taste makes it a standout addition to any pantry.

Health Benefits: Hawthorn berries are known for their heart-healthy properties and high antioxidant content.

Simplicity: With just a few ingredients and easy steps, this jam is beginner-friendly.

Forage for:

Hawthorn berries (dont worry about collecting too many to have over 1kg which most recipe call for, just pick what you find as you stroll around a park leaving plenty behind for wildlife on each bush)

Forage time: Late Summer/Early autumn -when berries are ripe and juicy

Foraging Site: Field edges – very common

Patience required: ** ( the berries do that some time to collect)

Ingredients

Berries ( wash and weigh them – this is your lot 1)
Sugar – most recipes call for equal amount of sugar to berries on kg, I believe this kills the natural flavor. I only add 1/3 to half the weight of your lot 1 )
Water
Lemon
Pectin (to help jam thicken)- add to sugar

To do

1) Harvest the berries.
2) Weight your berries and measure 1/3-1/2 of the weight in sugar.
3) Put berries in the pot with small amount of water – just to start simmering.
5) Keep simmering until you have a “slosh”
6) Leave to cool and process via muslin bag. dont squeeze if you want clear jelly – I squeeze mine as I want to real flavor in as much as possible
7) Dispose the pips and put the clear berry “slosh” back to the pot
8) Add pectin to your sugar – read package for instructions. (Can be substituted with crap apples – boiling them in with berries – they add pectin but change flavor a little)
9) Bring to quick bubble through, taste a little to make sure your sugar was added enough so you like the taste. Add more if you prefer.
10) Test on the cold plate, 1 spoon of jam- does it still run too much? you may need to keep going with the simmering. I give up quickly and have my jam a little running.
11) Pour to sterilized jar
12) Sterilize the jar for 20 min/80 degrees or eat soon 🙂

This is a lovely jam with very unusual taste, so well worth a try. Why not try making a Twister with Hawthorn twist.

Want to learn what is edible and what you can forage for near you. Book onto our foraging courses.