Strawberries are my absolute favourite fruit! Sweet, tangy, juicy and delicious! I can eat a whole lot just as is, but also love cooking with them (like this cake and galette).So when a friend taught me how to make jam without using preservatives, I knew I had to make a big batch and share the recipe with you 🙂
Growing up, I used to eat jam fairly often. Mixed fruit and strawberry being my favourites. Over the years, as my sugar consumption has reduced, so has the jam intake. But even now, this flavour remains my go-to.
Fresh strawberries make for the yummiest jam! When my friend, R, came to stay with me, she brought me a bottle of the jam she had made at home. I was in love! It was perfect! I ate it everyday till there were only a few little licks left in the jar 😂I asked her to teach me how to make this and one morning we made this luscious goodness and have been eating it since 🙂
The strawberries we got were a little tart-er than usual, so we added more sugar. But when you are making this, make sure you taste the strawberries first and keep tasting as you go along the cook so that you add sugar based on your taste preference and the sweetness of the berries.
The recipe is super duper simple – just needs three ingredients. Strawberries, sugar and cinnamon. And then a little patience 🙂
The strawberries are cooked down on a low flame for about 15-20 minutes, then cooked with sugar and cinnamon till the jam comes to consistency you like.
I prefer the jam to be a little thick, not really set, with some pieces of strawberry to bite into and of course, not very sweet.
Stir the pan every now and then to avoid the jam sticking to the sides. But apart from that you can leave it to cook on its own.
A trick to test if the jam is done is to drop a blob of it on a chilled steel plate and split it down the middle. If it starts to come back together or drip, it’s not done yet. When the split mostly stays in place, the jam is ready. Test this a couple of times through the cook to keep a check on how it’s proceeding.The cinnamon helps to balance the sweetness and adds a nice depth of flavour to the jam. You can also add orange zest or lemon zest if you like (if the strawberries are not too tart).
Once the jam is done, let it cool and then use it immediately or store it in an air tight container for the next week or ten days.
You can eat the jam by the spoonful as is. Trust me.
Or you can slather it on toast 🙂
Add it to ice cream, pancakes, yoghurt – makes it all better :)You can also use it in cake batter and cookies 🙂 Jam also makes for a great gift.So go on, make a big batch and enjoy the goodness in so many ways ♥️
Easy Strawberry Jam
Ingredients
750g strawberries100-200g sugar1/2 tsp cinnamonDirections
- Wash and dry the strawberries. Remove the leaves and quarter them. If the strawberries are very large, cut them in eighths. It is ok if all the pieces are not the same size, but try to keep them ballpark similar so they cook together2. In a large pan, start cooking the strawberries on low heat, stirring occasionally. Let them cook down for about 15-20 minutes so that they start breaking down and becoming jammy3. Add the sugar. Start with 100g, mix well and cook for 10 minutes. Taste to see if you need more and add accordingly up to 200g4. Put a steel plate in the freezer to use for testing. Whenever you want to check if the jam is done, drop a small spoonful of jam on the cold plate and split it down the centre. If it slides or starts to come together, it’s not ready yet. The moment it stays/moves very little, the jam is ready5. Add the cinnamon and mix. Continue to cook for another 15-20 minutes, testing every 5-7 minutes6. Remove from the flame and let the jam cool to room temperature. Store in an air tight container for up to ten days
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