Article 5 Small Batch Jams to Savour Summer’s Bounty
The best things to make with summer’s sweetest ingredients
July 03, 2024
As a family-owned and run bakery based in Abbotsford, BC—the berry capital of Canada—we love to pair the season’s finest local produce with our sprouted breads. So, we’ve gathered our favourite small batch jam recipes to celebrate the farmers in our community who help put wholesome, plant-based food on our table!
From late-June’s tangy red raspberries to July’s juicy high-bush BC blueberries, all the way to August’s wild blackberries, our easy one jar jam recipes range from simple chia refrigerator jams to a beginner-friendly stovetop stunner.
(And because berries are just the beginning when it comes to sweet and simple summer spreads, we’ve included a sunny surprise as a bonus 5th small batch jam recipe, too!)
Raspberry Chia Jam
Ruby red raspberries are an early summer delight, but their delicate disposition means their season is short and they don’t travel well when they’re bursting with sun-ripened juice. But don’t fret, raspberry fans. This easy 4-ingredient refrigerator jam recipe works as well with fresh-picked raspberries as it does with frozen—so you can spread summer raspberries on sandwiches and toasts all year long!
Sweetened with maple syrup and thickened with chia, this hardest part of this simple small batch jam recipe is waiting for it to set.
10-Minute Easy Peach and Blueberry Jam
Big, juicy, and bountiful, BC blueberries are hard to beat. But paired with peaches that share their peak season, this naturally sweet summer fruit combo needs no added sugar to shine! With a quick 3-minute blanch to peel your peach, a short, 5-minute simmer to marry the flavours, and a minute to mash it to the just-right texture for you, this one jar chia jam is ready in 10 minutes.
(And if you missed blueberry season or peaches don’t grow near you, frozen fruit works, too!)
Small Batch Blueberry Lavender Jam
As anyone who’s devoured a basketful in minutes can attest, antioxidant-rich blueberries are perfectly capable of holding their own. Perhaps that’s why they play so nicely with complementary flavours—like the crushed lavender in this sophisticated jam.
Fruity and floral, this simple recipe is thickened with pectin, but it takes little more skill than our chia jams for such a grown-up spread. And if culinary lavender is new to you, there’s plenty of room to make this delightfully adventurous recipe yours.
Blackberry Chia Jam
From late-July to early-September, wild blackberries are free and plentiful in BC to anyone willing to go for a hike and brave the brambles. With an intense pop of sweetness, sun-ripened wild blackberries tower above cultivated blackberries when it comes to flavour. So, if you’re willing and able to work for them—and you can resist eating every one you pick long enough to get 2 cups of these glorious berries home—a jar of blackberry chia jam is worth a few scratches.
Especially when the recipe uses the same quick and easy 4-ingredient base as our Raspberry Chia Jam!
Bonus:
Carrot Marmalade
Juicy berries and tree-ripened stone fruits aren’t the only source of summer joy you can save in a jar—carrots reach their sweet peak in mid-July, too! And while this humble root vegetable might not be the first summer fresh ingredient you’d think to try on toast, trust us when we say you’re in for a treat!
Unlike traditional marmalade’s bitter notes, this tender shredded carrot twist brings all the zesty texture and flavour with none of the aftertaste. Keep it in season with Valencias—summer’s only orange—and wake up your tastebuds with a sweet and sunny surprise!
(Spread it on our sprouted Multigrain toast with a bit of vegan butter to brighten your breakfast!)
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