This past Saturday, I achieved a tremendous feat…I was able to make homemade blackberry jam from scratch…this time all by myself!  You may remember that it was only a few weeks ago that I learned how to make Strawberry Jam and look at me now…jammin and cannin all on my own!   Growing up in the suburbs in Tennessee, most of our fruits and veggies either came from the grocery store or our local farmer’s market.  Though for some reason, we were lucky to have wild blackberries growing in the backyard (probably the doings of some cute little bird dropping a seed).  Each summer,  I would gather berries and my mom would bake blackberry cobbler or some other amazing southern dessert.  Isn’t it odd to come to the realization that it was once my mother who made the scrumptious desserts and sewed my intricate Halloween costumes and now it is me who makes desserts from summer’s bounty and sews baby dresses?

Enough with the reflection; time to talk jam! This finger-lickin recipe that I used came from my favorite southern chef, Ms. Paula Deen. Her recipe says that you’ll get six 1-pint jars full, but mine came out to nine–more to share!

Just look at these juicy bittersweet berries! They are huge! After prewashing, I couldn’t help myself but to eat one…two…three…yikes, I had to make myself stop!  Eating blackberries always reminds me of those hot humid summers growing up!

While I’m pulsing the berries in the food processor, I’ve started heating up the canning lids.  They’re like the Snapple tops: you know your jars have sealed if you hear the “pop” of the heat compressing within the jar.

Mmm…now I’ve got this pot of berries to a rolling boil and I’ve added the Sure-Gel.  I’ve pre-measured my SEVEN CUPS OF SUGAR (not made for the girl on the diet, this recipe) and dumped it all in at once. The whole house fills with this sweet summer smell!

After ladling into the VERY HOT jars (compliment of the dishwasher), wiping rims with a clean damp cloth, and sealing the jars with heated lids and rings, I’m done!  If all of your jars, lids, rings, and jam are extremely hot, then it’s not necessary to go through the process of a boiling water bath.  They all sealed up and my jam was complete from start to finish in less than an hour!

Now, I couldn’t wait until the next morning to eat my jam with breakfast.  I wanted some right then!  There was no other option than to make some cake.  Recently, I had purchased a butterfly cake mold from Ruelala.com and saw this as the perfect opportunity to use it.  I found this recipe for basic yellow cake…I like it because it’s quick, easy to revise (I used 1/2 tsp almond extract & 1 tsp vanilla instead), and now I finally have a use for those yolks left over from egg-white only omelets (that I make each morning for Lewis).

How cute are these? So adorable and the cake was so moist, it practically lifted itself right from the mold.  Placed alongside my freshly made jam, I’ve got the perfect summer dessert!