I fell in love with this jam when I was a kid! Make it every year since I can remember! Going strawberry picking with the family is something I love to do….driving out to the country and looking at the beautiful scenery makes you wish you had a house out there!
The farm I go to doesn’t use pesticides, all natural…you can just eat them while picking! They are small and sweet….perfect for making jam!
I love this jam on toast with butter, I use it as a filling in my vanilla cakes, and crepes….its really fresh tasting and nothing like store bought! In fact you won’t go back to store bought after you try this! Its super easy too!
First off, I clean all my jars in the dishwasher, (since this isn’t the cooking jam you don’t have to sterilize the jars) or by hand is fine. I do clean the lids by hand because they can get rusty in the dishwasher.
You can store this in the freezer which is great. If you don’t have jars, you can use freezer safe plastic containers with tight lids.
I usually make this jam with 10 cups mashed strawberries, and use 4 packages of pectin crystals, and of course I add more sugar (4 cups for every 2 and 1/2 cups fruit). You can double, triple or make as much jam as you want! Just make sure to follow directions and use the correct amount of each ingredient. Using less of anything can mess up a batch quite easily! I once used less sugar and instead of jam I got a lovely strawberry syrup!
A really important tip! Make sure you use a good quality sugar, one that is fine and dissolves easily, nothing is worse than a sugar that doesn’t dissolve! Make sure to use real cane sugar and not sugar made from sugar beets!
What you will need:
- 1 pint of strawberries = 2 cups mashed strawberries for strawberry jam ( I actually use 2 and 1/2 cups of strawberries)
- 4 cups fine granulated pure cane sugar
- Package of 57 g powder not liquid pectic crystals ( like Certo)
Pull stems out of strawberries, rinse and dry with paper or tea towel. In a large bowl mash the strawberries with a potato masher. Combine with sugar, let it sit for 10 minutes. Meanwhile combine the packet of pectin crystals and 3/4 cup of water, stirring constantly bring to a boil and allow to boil for 1 minute.
Stir in the pectin mixture into the mashed strawberries and stir for 3 minutes. Pour jam into jars with a laddle, cover with lid and allow to set up to 24 hours. I usually make this in the late afternoon, and allow it to set in a cool room over night and put it in the fridge in the morning. Store in refrigerator for 3 weeks or in the freezer for a year. Enjoy!
[…] 2-3 spoons of raspberry or strawberry-freezer-jam […]