Strawberry Jam - Homemade And Heavenly

 

This is the best way to use strawberries at the peak of their season and you will instantly fall in love with the extraordinary fresh taste of this beautiful jam!

You will be delighted to see how the natural red colour of strawberries will turn into a shiny ruby red shade and taste heavenly when the jam is made.

I was careful not to use pectin or any other chemicals in this recipe but the humble lemon juice and white sugar, a combination that will bring out an addictive natural taste. The natural sweetness of strawberries along with their subtle sour taste is incredibly enhanced and more pronounced by lemon juice and at the same time acts as pectin.

Also, I personally like the homemade touch of this gorgeous jam and the utter simplicity of the whole process of making it. The combination of strawberries, lemon juice, and white sugar makes magic!

Tips:

• Remember, never exceed the boiling time
• 5 mins to dissolve sugar
• 15 minutes of boiling in a high flame
• Let the jam rest in the same pan to cool off. The heat in the same pan will gradually make the syrup thicken and turn it into the right consistency of jam!

        

 Ingredients needed:

800g of Juicy good quality strawberries washed and dried (stem removed) 700g of white sugar Juice of 1/2 a lemon

Change the quantities proportionately if you are taking a different weight of strawberries

Important tips – timings

• 5 min – low flame – to dissolve the sugar
• 15 min – high flame – to boil the syrup
• Rest in the pan until completely cooled off

Let’s make:

• Cut the strawberries into small pieces. You can leave a few small whole strawberries or a few chunks. For no bits of jam, crush them with your fingers or a potato masher but do not use any blender as it will dull the natural red shade.

• Now drop sugar, lemon juice, and strawberries into a wide, heavy bottom pan

• Heat the pan under low flame for 5 mins allowing the sugar to dissolve
• Give a good stir and increase the flame to high
• Rapidly boil the syrup for exactly 15 mins while stirring now and again
• Remove the scum from the top while it is boiling
• Immediately after 15 min, give a good stir and switch the flame off
• Let the jam sit in the pan until completely cools off.
• Finally, empty the jam into prepared jars and let them cool off completely before storing them in the fridge
• This jam can last up to 6 months in the fridge

 Troubleshooting

• If you feel the syrup has boiled a little thicker, do not worry. immediately, transfer the jam into glass bottles instead of letting it cools off in the pan.
• If the jam is too runny when completely cooled off, you can boil it again for 5/10 mins to thicken it.
• The above two incidents could be resolved easily but if you boil the syrup too long, (over 20mins) the jam will be rock hard and nothing could be done to rescue it.