Also, I checked out the National Center for Home Preservation website and they have a blueberry pie filling recipe, but not blackberry. I already have ClearJel. Can I just substitute blacks for blues in the recipe?

Thanks!

Marcy

Canned Berry Pie Filling
This recipe is for one quart of pie filling. The amounts can be multiplied by the number of quarts needed ( up to 7 quarts at a time)
INGREDIENTS
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon Clearjel ( Use regular not instant Cleargel)
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon, optional
1 1/3 cups cold water
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon lemon juice
3 3/4 cups fresh berries( Marionberry, loganberry, blackberry, raspberry)

DIRECTIONS:
Wash one quart jar. Keep hot until needed. Prepare lid as manufacturer directs.
Combine sugar, Clearjel, and cinnamon (if desired), in a large saucepan. Add water. Stir mixture and cook over medium high heat until mixture thickens and begins to bubble. Add lemon juice and boil for one minute, stirring constantly. Fold in berries.
Ladle hot filling into 1 hot jar at a time, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Wipe jar rim with a clean, damp cloth. Attach lid. Fill and close remaining jars if making more than one quart. Process in a boiling water canner for 30 minutes. Yields 1 quart. Note: Frozen berries may be used. If they're sweetened, rinse off while fruit is frozen. Thaw and drain juice away from beries. Measure drained fruit, and use the juice in place of the water (adding enough water to measure 1 1/3 cups)

Recipe courtesy of Jan Roberts Dominguez adapted from the USDA.

Just an FYI, many of us find the recommended amounts of ClearJel makes a far-too-thick filling prone to overflow. You can cut back as much as half with good results.

Carol

I know what I'll be doing this weekend!

Marcy

I haven't canned berry pie filling for a long time, so I can't be more specific than that, preferring frozen. However, I like fruit-filled pies, and I do remember that I ended up using one jar of canned filling and 1 quart of frozen berries (partially drained) for a couple of pies because the original amount was just too viscous for my taste.

I hope this helps.

Carol

Other things I do with fresh or frozen blackberries and dewberries:

I will sometimes make a plain pound cake or angel food cake and defrost a couple of cups of berries. Add sugar to the berries (if frozen without sugar) and let them get syrupy. Spooned over the plain cake, it is delicious.

I have also made pineapple upside down cake, substituting berries for the pineapple and cherries.

Ive even made the traditional "dump cake" that usually calls for unmixed cake mix, pineapple and blueberries, substituting dewberries or blackberries. I prefer the combo of peaches with the berries instead of pineapple (as usually called for in the recipe).

I also can a lot of dewberry and/or blackberry juice. I think the recipe I use is from the Ball Blue book. We sometimes add the juice to iced tea for a very refreshing drink.

Hope that helps. As you can see, my skinny husband has a sweet tooth!

Jill in Texas

p.s. Here's the recipe for Blackberry (or dewberry) Bread.
The recipe is from: myrecipes.com; source: Southern Living October 2008. I love this recipe.

Blackberry Bread Prep: 10 min.; Bake: 1 hr., 15 min.; Cool: 1 hr., 10 min.

YIELD: Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blackberries
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350�. Stir together flour and next 3 ingredients in a medium bowl; stir in blackberries.

2. Whisk together sugar and next 5 ingredients in a medium bowl until thoroughly blended. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until blended. Pour batter into a lightly greased 8 1/2- x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan.

3. Bake at 350� for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan to wire rack, and cool completely (about 1 hour).