The real strawberry season – the time when strawberries actually stop you in your tracks with their perfume – is so short that I barely get beyond eating them straight from the punnet, but the pleasures of these fruits doesn’t have to be so fleeting. If you’ve been a bit too enthusiastic at the pick-your-own, and they’re spoiling more quickly than you can eat them, the answer is jam.
Prep 15 min
Cook 20-30 min
Makes 4 x 200ml jars
1kg small ripe strawberries
675g white sugar, caster or granulated
Juice of 2 lemons
1 A note on the strawberries
This recipe is intended for overripe strawberries that smell better than they look – mushy they may be, but they’re still at peak sweetness. You can use harder, more acidic fruit, but the results won’t be quite as tasty, so you may wish to add another flavour to the pan, too – a vanilla pod and seeds, say, or a teaspoon of rosewater.
2 Prep the fruit
Hull the strawberries – and do take the time to do this properly, using a small sharp knife to cut around the cone-shaped white flesh under the leaves; simply slicing off the top is not only wasteful, but it doesn’t root out the hard core. Discard any fruit that’s beyond saving, and cut off any rotten bits from the rest.
3 A note on the pan
Halve the strawberries or, if they’re on the large side, cut into quarters (very small fruit can be left whole). Put the fruit in a large, wide, heavy-based pan (too thin a pan makes it easy to burn the jam; too small, and the jam will bubble over), avoiding anything made from (unlined) cast iron or aluminium.
4 Cook the strawberries
Set the pan over a low heat and leave to cook until the fruit begins to exude juice. Put two saucers in the freezer. (I’d also advise using a jam thermometer, but even if you have one, this belt-and-braces approach is reassuringly failsafe and, if you don’t have a thermometer, should give you an idea of the set required.)
5 Add sugar and lemon juice
Stir in the sugar and lemon juice – this recipe makes a fairly loose-set jam, because I like to keep the sugar content relatively low. The lemon will bring out the fruit’s natural acidity, and also activate its pectin content, which will help the jam to set. If you want a firmer set jam, you might prefer to use jam sugar instead.
6 Bring to a boil
Slowly bring the mix to a boil, stirring occasionally, then leave to bubble away vigorously until the jam reaches 105C (or slightly higher) on a sugar thermometer. If you don’t have a sugar thermometer, keep an eye on it and start testing once it’s started to thicken and look syrupy; the exact timing will depend on your pan and hob.
7 Test for setness
Turn off the heat while you test for setness. Put a small spoonful of the jam on one of the saucers from the freezer, leave it for 30 seconds, then push a finger through it: if a skin wrinkles on top and the jam doesn’t immediately run back into the line left by your finger, it should set; if not, bring the jam back to a boil, cook a little longer and repeat the test with the second saucer.
8 Cool, then jar
Once the jam is ready, skim off as much froth as possible from the top (perfectionists can vanquish any remaining foam by stirring in a fingernail-sized piece of butter), then leave to cool, stirring occasionally, for five to 10 minutes. Pour into clean jars (see step 9) and top with the lids, but don’t tighten them until the jam has cooled completely. Once sealed, keep in a cool, dark spot for up to a year. Once open, store in the fridge and eat within three months or so.
9 A note on sterilising
To sterilise jars, heat the oven to 140C (120C fan)/275F/gas 1. Wash the jars and lids thoroughly in hot, soapy water, then put in the oven for about 15 minutes, until dry (if your jars have rubber seals, boil these for a couple of minutes in water, then air dry).
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