Adventures with Blackberries

I spent a lot of time in my kitchen yesterday creating yummy treats with the blackberries we picked earlier this week. I made some blackberry preserves and blackberry leather.

First I rinsed my berries in about 1 cup vinegar and half a pot water.

Next, I added the lemon juice and 1 cup swerve sweetener.

Then I juiced 3 lemons.

I started with about 5.2 pounds fresh black berries.

Bring to a bubble and watch closely for 30 minutes. It is very easy for it to boil over, so keep the heat just high enough for it to bubble vigorously. Be careful when stirring, as it might pop up to bite you! After the 30 minutes reduce heat to a simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool thoroughly before storing in air tight jars.

I ended up with about 5 or 6 cups preserves. This was after I used some to make leather.

I followed these directions to make blackberry leather with my preserves. I used plastic wrap to line my pan, like she says, and it was just hot enough to melt holes through the plastic around, but not where the fruit is. I also flipped the fruit over and dumped it off the plastic after 6 hours and left it in the oven off overnight, since it was still wet on the bottom.