A Concentrate of My own! Blackberry Lemonade!

I took inspiration from Pj and the amazing jars she has shared doing her "concentrates" and it gave me the idea to do a blackberry combination with lemon for a Blackberry Lemonade Concentrate. Since I wasn't sure how the final product would turn out I wanted to do a half batch for 3 pints. The recipe is very straightforward and found the adaptation from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving for a half recipe is a great way to experiment with different fruits. Other ideas for me are cherries, boysenberries, and maybe a tri-berry version. If you have inspiration and ideas for a concentrate give me a comment. Enjoy!

Blackberry Lemonade Concentrate
(Yield: About 3 pint jars)

3 cups blackberries
2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice or bottled
3 cups sugar

Use a blender or a food processor and purée the blackberries until smooth and strain through a fine mesh strainer to remove seeds,  put in a large pot. Add lemon juice and sugar and stir to combine. Heat to 190° F.  using medium-high heat. Stir occasionally and do not boil. Remove from heat and skim off any foam.

Ladle into hot jars, leave ¼-inch headspace, clean rim, place lids and screw bands.
Place jars in prepared canner, with jars completely under water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to maintain gentle boil and process for 15 minutes. Turn off heat and remove canner lid. Allow jars to sit in canner for 5 minutes before removing. Set jars on rack or towel out of drafts and allow to cool. Remove screw band, label and store.

To reconstitute, mix one part concentrate with one part water, tonic water or ginger ale. Adjust concentrate to suit your taste.

**If you do not want to process this concentrate in canning jars, freeze the concentrate in 1 to 2 cup portions.