One of this quarter's projects (see Notebook page)  is to try to make jelly or jam.  Freezer jam is a perfect baby step toward that goal.   

I tried the Blueberry Pomegranate Twists recently at Starbucks, and was really taken by that combination and wanted to apply it to freezer jam.  And just to be EXTRA ambitious, I wanted to try a recipe with no lemon or processed sugar. 

Ingredients:
3 cups of  fresh blueberries
2 1/2 cups of pomegranate seeds
3/4 cups honey
2 tsp. ginger powder
1 (0.6-ounce) sachet Ball Instant Pectin

Instructions:

1. Wash and pick through blueberries and pomegranate seeds. All of the berries should be firm and ripe.

2. Mix berries with honey and ginger, let sit 2 hours.

3. Put honey-berry mixture in pot with the pectin. Boil on medium heat for 30 minutes, scraping sides of pot and stirring bottom as you go. The berries will burst and the jam will get thicker as you go. You can taste the mixture at this point, if you want sweeter jam just add more honey. Once the jam "sheets" of the back of a spoon, it is done.  (I use a spoon, take a shallow scoop of jam and hold it above the pot, tip the spoon and let it slide off. When it stops falling in plops and begins to sheet, then it's ready.)

4. Ladle jam intocontainers, leaving at least 1/2 inch of space. Let stand 30 minutes, then refrigerate or freeze.  Note: My jam took 12 hours to set.

I love blueberries.  Maybe because my father was a blueberry farmer and we incorporated this fruit into all kinds of food experiments.  He even made blueberry wine! 

I made a blueberry cake recently, and had heard from friends that rolling the blueberries in flour before incorporating them into the cake batter would keep them from sinking.  I gave it a try, and still ended up with blueberries on the bottom.  I welcome your suggestions and stay tuned for Experiment #2.

Don’t get me wrong: The cake was still delicious and our family and friends hoovered it in a matter of days.  I topped it with my new favorite summer frosting – half cream cheese and half whipped cream.  Light and perfect for this summer cake.  Recipe follows.

Whipping Cream & Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
3/4 cup white sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
   
Directions
1.  Beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form; set aside.
2.  In a large bowl combine cream cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla. Beat until smooth, then fold in whipped cream.