Queen's Jam - Raspberry Blueberry Jam (Drottningsylt)

This delicious Queen's jam recipe, also known as Drottningsylt, is a Swedish inspired mixed raspberry blueberry jam. Perfect as a frozen raspberry jam, I'll walk you through how to make it with or without pectin, without a thermometer and cheap ways of recycling jars.

I think the height of Summer is usually when most people make homemade jam and jelly. Me? It's almost always Christmas. I love cooking and baking cakes and sweet treats, but I know they're not always good for me. So I find having fun and passing on my enjoyment in Christmas food hampers is a match made in heaven.

Also, throughout the year, I hold back our used glass jam jars in case I have a glut of fruit, or find them cheap in the supermarket. (The latter in this case is the reason for raspberry blueberry jam. Or, family pass them on to me because they know I like to make Christmas gifts.

So, I'm going to show you how to make a lovely blue raspberry jam and it's so simple. You don't need any fancy tools apart from a jam pan that I swear by!

What Is Queen's Jam?

While making my raspberry and blueberry jam, I didn't even know it had an official name. Being me, I found bulk raspberries and blueberries on offer and froze them immediately. So, I'll explain what I now know about Queen's Jam.

Queen's Jam, also known in Sweden as Drottningsylt, is a popular mixed berry jam in Scandinavia. It's often made with an equal amount of 1kg of blueberries, raspberries and sugar as referenced in Hemmet's Cookbook, 1903. Although in my recipe, I have given it a 1:1 fruit to sugar ratio that I like.

Drottningsylt is also often enjoyed with Swedish pancakes (plättar), toast and other desserts.

Jam Making Equipment I Used

Note, these are my absolute jam making basics. If you want to make jam more than once or twice a year, then you might want to invest in some fancier jam making supplies, like funnels, strainers, etc.

• Jam pan
• Spatula
• Ladle
• 2 freezer plates or teaspoons OR a jam thermometer

Sterilizing Jars Equipment

• Baking tray
• Saucepan
• sterilized jars (how to sterilize jar video) (*see notes on what sizes you can use)

Note: you may also want to buy decorative jam lid covers, crimp fabric ones, print labels, etc.

Do I Need Jam Sugar For Homemade Raspberry Jam?

Technically, you don't need jam sugar which usually has added pectin to make this easy raspberry jam recipe. If you don't have access to it, then to make a no pectin jam, adding lemon juice to granulated will help it set. If you don't have lemon juice either, try to add some higher pectin fruits, such as apples, plums, etc.

The reason I used both is that I wanted to make a foolproof raspberry jam as sometimes it doesn't always set purely using jam sugar. Also, both blueberries and raspberries are low in pectin. So when making this as a jam gift, there's nothing worse than giving out unset jam.

If you want to understand the food science behind it, The Kitchn explains here very well on how lemon lowers the pH levels. The two together will give a slightly thicker jam. But if you want it looser and like it runny, try with granulated instead.

What Much Sugar Do I Need to Make Jam?

Really, this depends on the type of fruit and their pectin content when making jams, jellies and preserves. You'll find this is a tradition 1:1 sugar to fruit ratio jam.

However, some recipes you'll notice there's a quarter less sugar to the amount of fruit. Note, you may need to boil it slightly longer to set.

How to Make Berry Jam

For the full method and list of ingredients, head down towards the bottom of the page for my Queens Jam recipe. But the idea is to simmer the fruit and sugar together on low heat while stirring until all of the sugar has dissolved.

To test this, I always use a silicone spatula and push it around the base to see if I can feel any gritty textures. And continue to simmer until its no longer there.

Then, crank up the heat to boil hard for 5 minutes without stirring before testing to see if it's set. You can push the spatula on the base to check if it's catching, but stirring lowers the temperature and setting point.

How Do I Know My Jam Is Set?

If you have a thermometer, the sweet spot for jams to set is 105c (220F). But that doesn't mean you can make jam if you don't have one. I couldn't find my thermometer prong for this one, so I had to use the frozen plate method.

To test your jam, you'll need to have placed two small freezable plates or a couple of teaspoons in the freezer first. After you've hard-boiled the jam for 5 minutes, spoon some out with a frozen spoon or frozen plate.

Leave to cool for a minute, then push it with your finger. If you see any wrinkling as shown in the picture below, it's ready to ladle into hot sterilized jars. Place waxed discs on if you wish, although I've never found mold and screw the lids on right away.

Tip: I recommend oven gloves or a tea towel while screwing the lids on as it's very hot! Then let them completely cool and the compression button on the lid will naturally go down.

What Size Jars Do I Need For This Queen's Jam Recipe?

Before I delve into how to make homemade raspberry jam with blueberries, I want to answer a few common jam recipe questions I suspect I will get.

How Much Jam Does This Queen's Jam Produce?

This raspberry and blueberry jam made a total of 1.575kg of jam. So, it's safe to expect anything between 1.5-1.6kg of jam.

How Many Jars Do I Need?

Firstly, I always sterilize more jars than I need so I have them at hand. And also, because occasionally, the odd one has broken while sterilizing my jars in the oven.

But with this jam recipe creating up to 1.6kg, here's how many jars it fills, depending on the size you use. Note, I've rounded the numbers up, but usually, you'll almost always end up with half a jar, which I keep for myself:

• 4 x 400g (14oz) standard jam jars (technically, it's 3 and a half)
• 9 x 200g jars (7oz) - these are typically the size you can buy jarred condiments here in the UK, like mint sauce and mustard sauce if recycling

Obviously, the smaller the jars, the more jam recipes you can give away in peoples' Christmas food hampers!

Where Can I Get Cheap Jam Jars?

By branding brand new jam jars, it can start to outweigh the cost of a store-bought jar of jam. When I first made jams and jellies years ago, I bought hexagonal jam jars from Lakeland. As pretty as they were, £1 per jar is not cheap.

So, here's some ways I've reused and recycle jars for jam over the years:

• Ask friends and family if they have any (and you can give a full or back)
• Reach out on Freecycle types of groups or local Facebook groups
• I scored lots from a cook who worked in a nursing home one year
• Buy really cheap jars of condiments with a metal lid (ie, one year, Tesco Value mustard sauce was 17p) and poured the sauce into a jug so I could wash them immediately

Can I Rescue Hard Queen's Jam?

The only time I've ever had rock solid jam was when I'd overcooked a jam while I was trying to read a faulty digital thermometer. (I'd melted it on top of the grill and was playing around with a boozy jam experiment).

At the time, I never tried to save it. But a quick search online suggests you can place a jar without the lid in a microwave to soften. Then add to a pan with some water and more lemon juice to replace the pectin again and heat through.

If you can't get a jam out of it, you may at least be able to get a tasty syrup ideal for ice cream, desserts, etc.

Similar Recipes You Might Like

• Raspberry Chocolate Traybake
• Slimming raspberry smoothie
• Queen's Jam cupcakes (butterfly buns recipe)
• Healthy strawberry cupcakes
• Chocolate and strawberry blondies
• Gluten Free apple and blackberry crumble
• Strawberry and chewy chocolate chip cookie bars
• Healthy oatmeal scones
• Healthier oat blender pancakes

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