Makes 6 -10 assorted sized jars
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 35-40 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1.5kg/3 lb 2oz strawberries, hulled and halved or quartered depending on size
- 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, about 1 ½ lemons
- 1.5kg/3 lb 2oz preserving sugar with pectin
- 15g/ ½ oz butter
Method:
- Wash jam jars and place upside down in the oven at 100c to dry thoroughly.
- Place a small plate in the fridge for testing the jam later.
- Hull the strawberries and add half to a preserving pan and crush them roughly with a potato masher; add the rest of the fruit, the sugar and the lemon juice.
- Stir all the ingredients together well off the heat.
- Place the pan on the element and stir over a low heat until sugar has dissolved.
- You’ll know it’s dissolved as you won’t be able to hear the sugar scraping on the pan.
- Add the butter, which will help disperse any foam which is a natural part of jam making.
- The butter helps minimise this, and disperses any foam back into the jam.
- Bring to a rapid, rolling boil for four minutes.
- Don’t be afraid of the rolling boil, this is crucial to producing a jam that will set.
- Spoon a little jam on to a chilled saucer, as soon as it is cool, run a finger through the jam so that the saucer is visible, if the finger line remains the jam and the jam wrinkles it is ready, if not boil a little longer and try again.
- Ladle into the hot jars and fill until almost full to allow for shrinkage as the jam cools.
- If you’re sealing the traditional way, cover the surface of each jar with a waxed disc, with the shiny side downwards.
- Rinse a cellophane circle with a little water then put wetted side uppermost over the top of the jar and secure with an elastic band or add a screw topped lid.
Recipe and photo credit by Seasonal Berries
