....YUM!
Strawberry Jam Recipe (Makes 2-3 medium jars)
Cooking time: 1 hour
500g fresh strawberries
500g granulated sugar / caster sugar
1/2 lemon, juice only
small knob of butter
A) Preparation the day before making the jam
1) Hull and halve the strawberries (or smaller if you do not want too chunky in your jam). Check for soft spots (which must be removed) and discard any with bruises/that are overripe.
2) Place the strawberries into a large bowl with 250g of sugar. Turn carefully to mix and coat well, then cover with cling film and place into fridge overnight.
This is how it'll looked after overnight soaking in the fridge. When you remove the cling wrap, you can just smell the sweetness of the strawberries :) .
B) Day of Jam making
3) Place a small plate into the freezer to chill - this is to test the setting point of the jam.
4) Sterilise the jam jars - wash in soapy water and rinse in clean warm water. Allow to drip-dry, upside down on a rack in the oven set to 140C. Leave them there for at least 1/2 hour while you make the jam.
5) Pour strawberries, their juice and any residual sugary juices into a very large pan (remembering that the mixture will rise a fair bit as it boils, and add the remaining 250g sugar and lemon juice.
6) Stir over a gentle heat until the sugar has completely dissolved.
7) Bring the strawberries up to the boil then boil hard until jam reaches setting point - Check the setting point every 10 minutes, although it may take up to 1/2 hour to reach setting point.
8) To test, remove pan from heat, take plate from freezer and place a drop of jam onto cold plate. After a few seconds push the jam with your finger.
9) If jam surface wrinkles then it has reached setting point and is ready. If it slides about as a liquid, then it hasn't reached setting point and should be returned to the heat and boiled for a few more minutes before testing again.
10) When setting point is reached, turn off the heat. Stir in the butter and skim off any scum on the surface of jam in a large spoon.
11) Let the jam cool and thicken in the pan for 10 minutes. So that the strawberries don't all sink to the bottom in the jam jars.
12) Carefully removed the sterilised jars from oven - try to avoid touching the insides of jar.
13) Stir the jam, then ladle into jars. You can use a jam funnel if you have one.
14) Cover the top surface of the jam in each jar with waved paper disc that have been cut to size - they should cover the entire surface of the jam. Press wax disc down to create complete seal.
15) Cover with a lid while still hot, label and store in a cool, dark cupboard for up to 1 year.
Once it is cool, when I have the opportunity, I'll test out the jam :) and maybe make some scones :)
Happy Jam-ming!
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