Strawberry Jam

I made some strawberry jam with the first of the Scottish strawberries today.

They looked and smelled very nice – I chose slightly under ripe ones because they make the best jam.

Strawberries are notoriously low in pectin which makes the jam difficult to set.  In the past I have used either lemon juice or an apple core, but today I was fancy and used jam sugar (which is just sugar with added pectin).

Simmered them gently until all the sugar melted.  I used a 1 to 1 fruit to sugar ratio because this jam is for the church coffee morning so I want it to be firm and keep well – if I had been been making it for myself I would only have used three quarters of the sugar – that would make a nicer tasting, looser jam but it would need to be kept in the fridge after opening.  I brought it to a hard boil until my thermometer read 105C and then immediately took it off the heat.  A small knob of butter can be added to it at this point to remove any froth and make the jam glossy.  I left the jam in the pan for 15 minutes or so to let it cool – this makes sure the strawberries stay suspended once it is put into jars.  And here it is.

Just needs some fancy labels.