Ginger-Orange Blueberry Jam

I know, it's another oddly flavored jam.  But since you can buy pretty good "normal" jam pretty much anywhere, I feel like there should be something more complex, more interesting about the jam if I'm going to put the time and effort into making and canning it.  And really, this stuff is good.  The orange and ginger are pretty strong here, but not so much that the tart blueberry flavor is lost.  It's not so sweet that it would be out of place as a condiment on a cheese plate, but would still be excellent on a morning scone.  I'm especially looking forward to swirling some into oatmeal this winter.

I started with a recipe on Serious Eats, but since I was using regular pectin instead of low-sugar, I used the berry and sugar amounts on the guide that came with the pectin.  My blueberries were on the tart side, so using the regular pectin and more sugar helped balance the flavor here for me.  If you've got very sweet blueberries, you may want to check out the low-sugar version.  Also, if you're new to canning, the Ball website has a lot of helpful information and recipes.

Ginger-Orange Blueberry Jam

What's in it:

4 c granulated sugar
3 pints of blueberries, washed and crushed (about 4 c of crushed berries)
1 1.75 oz package of powdered pectin, like Sure-Jell
Zest and juice of one large orange
1 Tbsp freshly grated ginger (try freezing your ginger- it makes it much easier to grate)
Pinch ground ginger
1/2 tsp butter

If canning, 7-8 half-pint jars and lids
Boiling water canner (stockpots with pasta inserts also work well)

How to make it:

Prepare canning jars and equipment. 

Measure sugar into a separate bowl and set aside.  Combine everything but the sugar in a large pot and bring to a full rolling boil.  Pour in all of the sugar at once, stirring until it's dissolved.  Bring jam back to a rolling boil, and let it boil hard for one minute.

Turn off heat and ladle jam into warm jars.  Wipe the jar rims, and secure lids, just turning the bands to finger tight.  Process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes, then let sit in the water for a few more minutes.  Remove jars from water and allow to sit at room temperature until they are cool and the lids have sealed.  Refrigerate any jars that did not seal properly.