Gently heat the berries in a pan until the fruit have changed colour, and there is a fair bit of juice in the bottom of the pan.
I also like to mash them with a potato masher to extract all the juice.
Pour the blackberries plus the juice into a sieve over a large pan with a heavy base.
Use a spoon to press the berries and extract as much juice as you can.
Throw away or compost the seeds.
Add the sugar to the juice and, stirring continuously, gently heat until the sugar has dissolved.
Once the sugar has fully dissolved, stop stirring, place the jam thermometer into thepan and let it boil.
It becomes quite ferocious at this point, and if you get splashed it will burn so please be careful.
As soon as it reaches the 'Hard Crack' stage (146-154°C or 295-309°F) take the pan off the heat and stand it in a sink of very cold water to stop it cooking.
Carefully drop teaspoon size blobs of the mixture onto an oiled marble slab, or silicone baking sheet.
Working quickly, lay a lolly stick (I got mine on ebay really cheap) into the centre of the sweet.
Then add a little more syrup on top to seal the stick in.
When cool, gently lift the sticks up and peel the lolly away.
Wrap in lolly bags, foil, greaseproof paper, cling film or cellophane.
And that's it!
If you give it a go, do let me know how you get on.
And why not try other berries, such as strawberry or raspberry too?
Please enjoy my recipe! Jane | hedgecombers.com