Blackberry Jams
We rounded up six nationally available blackberry jams, both seeded and seedless, and headed into the tasting lab to see which performed best in our cake and on its own. Not surprisingly, we preferred jams that actually tasted like blackberries and listed this fruit first on the label, indicating that it is the major ingredient. Several jams lost points for tasting of other fruits. Why would this be? Manufacturers may add concentrates and pectin from cheaper fruit sources (such as pears and grapes) to stretch pricier blackberries. We also liked sweeter jams. Finally, our tasters rejected jams that were pasty or gelatinous or had too many seeds. Our favorite won for its pleasing, complex flavor that made our tasters berry happy.
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RECIPE
Blackberry Bliss Bars -
RECIPE
Blackberry Jam Cake
| Product Tested | Sugars | Seedless | Ingredients | Price* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recommended | |||||
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Winner Smucker's Blackberry JamWith blackberries as its first ingredient, this jam got high marks for berry flavor. We found its complex “winelike” flavors pleasant and balanced between “sweet and tart,” enhancing the overall “fruity, fresh homemade” taste. We preferred Smucker’s “dense and thick” texture to looser jams. |
12g per tablespoon | Yes | Blackberries, high-fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, fruit pectin, citric acid | $3.49 for 12 ounces |
| Recommended with Reservations | |||||
|
Hero Premium Blackberry PreservesWhile this jam had “real, concentrated blackberry flavor,” probably due to the doubling up of blackberries and blackberry puree, its seeds bothered our tasters. They made the texture “grainy and pasty, with hard nubs.” |
11g per tablespoon | No | Sugar, blackberries, blackberry puree, glucose syrup, pectin, citric acid | $4.39 for 12 ounces |
|
Bonne Maman Blackberry Preserves“Peppery, spicy, and prunelike,” this expensive jam pleased tasters with its “concentrated, complex” berry flavor, but we turned our noses up at the “crunchy seeds.” |
13g per tablespoon | No | Blackberry, sugar, cane sugar | $4.99 for 13 ounces |
|
Dickinson's Pure Seedless Marion Blackberry PreservesThis jam split our votes: Some tasters found it nicely balanced between sweet and tart, while others described it as too “grapelike, like a lollipop,” even “medicinal and sharp.” Similarly, the texture was either “delicate and light” or “cloying” and “gelatinous,” depending on whom you asked. |
10g per tablespoon | Yes | Marion blackberries, sugar, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, pectin, citric acid | $3.79 for 10 ounces |
|
Hero Delicia Blackberry Gourmet Fruit SpreadOnce again, while we liked the blackberry flavor, our tasters couldn’t get past the superabundance of seeds. “I like seeds, but the texture of this jam makes me feel like I’m eating a pomegranate,” said one, while another described the seeds as “complete overkill.” |
10g per tablespoon | No | Blackberries, sugar, pectin, citric acid | $4.69 for 11.3 ounces |
| Not Recommended | |||||
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Polaner All Fruit with Fiber Blackberry Seedless Spreadable FruitThe pear and grape concentrates outranked blackberries on the ingredient list, probably the reason the jam had scant blackberry flavor. Tasters noticed “artificial fruit flavor, like hard candy or Jell-O.” It also had the least sugar of any jam in our lineup and contained added fiber, giving it a “gummy,” “springy” texture. |
6g per tablespoon | Yes | Juice concentrate (pear, grape), maltodextrin (dietary fiber), blackberries, fruit pectin, natural flavor, citric acid | $3.35 for 10 ounces |
