Boysenberry and nasturtium jam

Boysenberries take me back to my childhood growing up in Melbourne. I had never come across them in the UK until I was driving home from a weekend in Sussex and passed a sign for a pick-your-own fruit farm. I’m so happy I stopped that day as I finally found someone growing my treasured and nostalgia-filled boysenberries. This delicious berry is a cross between a blackberry, a raspberry, an American dewberry and a loganberry. They lean more towards a blackberry and are much plumper and sweeter, the sweet and tart flavour making them perfect for jam-making.

MAKES FIVE 220g JARS

1kg boysenberries

1 cup of small nasturtium leaves

600g of caster sugar

Juice of 1 lemon

1 Put the boysenberries and nasturtium leaves in a heavy-based saucepan and set over a low heat. Cook for 5 minutes to release the juices and the peppery flavour of the nasturtium leaves.

2 Slowly add the sugar and the lemon juice, bring to the boil and cook for 10 minutes or until the jam reaches setting point – 105ºc/220ºf on a sugar thermometer. Pour into warm sterilised jars and seal immediately. Store in a cool dark place.

Tip: Seeking out boysenberries might be a trial but that’s the fun, isn’t it? Your best bet is checking in with your local PYO farms. Boysenberries aren’t generally grown for retail as they don’t have a long shelf life. If you have the space, they’re very easy to grow and are less invasive than raspberries and blackberries. As a bonus, the stems are also thornless.