Strawberry Jam
I feel relieved to say that I've finally found the formula for the ideal strawberry jam - after several attempts to make a decent jam with no store-bought chemicals or gelling agents, I succeeded!
This jam is wonderful - aromatic, thick as strawberry marmalade, it goes straight to the soul and to the taste papillae. It's for sure the best fruit jam ever made at home. It gets along well with any dessert, ice cream, cake, cookie because it won't lose the intense strawbery flavour and it's got the perfect consistency...
It comes with a little secret, but be patient - it will be revealed in the steps below. I made jam using 1 kilo strawberries in about an hour and a half and I had four 300ml jars. My husband ate half of one after he tried a teaspoon of jam.
Put the washed and hulled strawberries into a big bowl and toss through the sugar.
Crush with your hands, then let the sugar dissolve for half an hour.
Meanwhile, wash, dry and sterilize the jars - I kept them in the oven at 100 degrees C for 15-20 minutes.
Now we start the more specific part of this recipe:
- Fill a glass with strawberry and sugar mixture.
- And tip into a 700 ml - 1 litre pot - about the volume of a kettle.
Set over heat and stir often.
- When it comes to a boil, bring the heat to medium, simmer for 5-7 minutes, mix often.
- After this time you will notice that the jam is getting thicker, the liquid is evaporating and it looks as if caramelized a bit.
Bring the heat to low and cook for 1 more minute.
- When you bring the heat to very low, foam will diminish and the jam is ready for the jars.
Test the jam and spoon a little onto a clean plate - on the right, jam has reached the setting point, on the left, it needs to boil for 2-3 minutes more.
Spread a little lemon salt on the bottom of the jar, as a preservative - for the future, I will try to skip this, the jam will be sweet enough to last even without the lemon salt.
Or, add 0.5 tsp lemon salt to the strawberry and sugar mixture, this will make the colour more intense.
Spoon the first part of jam into a jar, which won't be filled yet, put the lid on and keep adding next prepared jam until the jar is full - now seal the jar.
Keep boiling the whole strawberry mixture in small 1 glass portions.
You might find this too hard-working, but the result is so amazing and it's worth all the patience and effort.
You can boil the jam in 2 pots at the same time, once you've got it.
The jam will set better and quicker when it's boiled in smaller quantities - and it won't lose any of its flavours and colours.
When it's still hot, it's a bit more runny, like preserve - but once it's cooled, it becomes like a thick and dense marmalade - a delight!
I think the photo speaks for itself, too bad you can't taste it :)
Enjoy!
