Homemade Blueberry Preserves in Syrup

These homemade blueberry preserves taste way better than store-bought and are simple to make with just blueberries, sugar and lemon juice.

These homemade blueberry preserves in their own syrup are made with one of the easiest methods of making fruit preserves. This is the method we use in Romania to make fruit preserves in syrup called dulceata.

Blueberry preserves in particular are a Romanian favourite (called dulceață de afine in Romanian) because they're the traditional choice to go with Romanian sweet cheese donuts called papanasi.

The nice thing about these blueberry preserves is that they're made with simple whole food ingredients and only take about 30 minutes to make.

A lot of store-boughs jams, jellies and fruit preserves are made with additives for stabilizing or preserving the mixture. So if you want to avoid additives in food, making your own homemade blueberry preserves is an easy way to do so.

Quick Summary

• Mix the blueberries with sugar and lemon and cook over medium heat (105 C / 220 F) for about 25-30 minutes or until the liquid reduces and any foaming subsides;
• Be careful - it gets very hot;
• The key is to only cook it until it's the right thickness. The right thickness while cooking is a bit thinner than honey - but you won't see the final thickness until it cools;
• Top tip: Once the syrup starts to coat a wooden spoon, take out a few teaspoons and allow it to cool (maybe in the fridge) to see if it's the right thickness. If not, continue cooking and checking.

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• Quick Summary
• Ingredients
• Equipment
• Instructions
• Serving Suggestion
• Related
• Recipe
• Comments

Ingredients

All you need to make homemade blueberry preserves is:

• White sugar: White sugar is best as it keeps the process simple. Brown sugar would make for a thicker and darker syrup which could require less cooking time.
• Blueberries: You can use fresh or frozen blueberries to make this recipe.
• Lemon juice: Fresh lemon juice squeezed right out of the lemon is best for flavor.

You can also make fruit preserves with other types of fruit, for example maybe you'll like:

• Homemade Black Currant Preserves in Syrup
• Homemade Raspberry Preserves in Syrup

Equipment

• Saucepan: A decent sized saucepan so there's no risk of splatter since the preserves gets very hot while cooking. I used a 2.5 liter / 2.6 quart saucepan.
• Instant read food thermometer: An instant read food thermometer helps to determine if the preserves are cooking at the right temperature. This is optional but helpful.
• Glass storage jar: A glass storage jar is helpful for storing the preserves after cooking. I used a Kilner clip top glass jar with a capacity of 500 ml / 17 oz which was just the right size for this recipe.

Instructions

It helps to first roughly mix together the blueberries with the sugar and lemon juice. You can do this right in the saucepan. No need to defrost if you're using frozen blueberries.

Heat over medium while stirring to move the dissolving sugar from the bottom and replace it with the undissolved sugar from the top.

During the first stage of cooking the sugar need to dissolve fully into syrup. It will also start to take on the color and flavor of the blueberries. This should take about 10 minutes.

Eventually the mixture will begin to lightly foam as the water evaporates out of the fruit.

During this stage the temperature should be around 105 C / 220 F. Be very careful as it's really hot. Don't give in to the temptation to lick the spoon!

About 15-20 minutes in, you will see it begin to reduce. The foaming will also begin to subside.

The liquid will also thicken and begin to coat a spoon. Once it does, you can check if the syrup is ready. All in all it should take about 25-30 minutes.

What's the right consistency for preserves in syrup?

If there's anything tricky about making preserves it's getting it the right consistency. You won't know the final consistency until the preserves fully cool.

It also isn't possible to set-it-and-forget-it for a given amount of time because it isn't just a matter of how long you cook but also how big or juicy the fruit is to begin with.

While cooking: The right consistency while it's hot is a bit thinner than honey. It should coat a wooden spoon and when you stir, you should see the spoon makes channels that stay in the syrup for a second.

After cooling: The right consistency after it's cooled is a little thicker than honey. It should still coat a spoon but pour easily off of it. It shouldn't gel or be hard. If the syrup is too thick after cooking, you can soften it by heating it back up (putting it in the microwave for 15-20 seconds is enough).

Serving Suggestion

Blueberry preserves are a traditional choice to serve with papanasi - Romanian sweet cheese donuts.

You can also do like I do and just spread them on toast, maybe with a bit of butter, cream cheese or ricotta cheese as shown below.

Related

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