Strawberry-Apple Jam
Well, 'tis the season for strawberry sales! We consumed 2 strawberry pies in April, one with a Jiffy crust, one with a made-from-scratch crust. I was told the buttery made-from-scratch crust really made a difference. Uh-oh! Now there is a new standard for my crusts. What have I done?!
My local grocery had some strawberries for $.99/lb last week and I kept putting off using them. I finally found (made?) the time yesterday to use them and glad I did since some were going bad! Whew! I rescued the good ones before all were contaminated. I decided to try making some jam yesterday and since I had apples on hand as well I found a recipe online for strawberry-apple jam. I modified the recipe and here is what I did.
Strawberry Apple Jam
Ingredients
2 pints strawberries, rinsed and halved (do I need to mention cutting off their green "hats"?!)
3 apples, peeled, cored and sliced thin
3 Cups water
juice from half a medium lemon
2 Cups Sugar, warmed (the recipe I found said 4 C. and this seemed like a lot of sweetness to me. My 2C. turned out perfect - not too sweet, not too tart. I hadn't heard of warming the sugar before, but since I'm not a jam expert I obeyed this recipe note and all turned out well.)
Directions
Combine fruit, water and lemon juice in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and then simmer until fruit is tender. Add warmed sugar. Increase heat and stir at frequently, but not constantly. Here comes the tricky part. You just kind of have to eye the jam while it cooks and determine if the consistency is right. The term I read often is "setting", if the jam is set. Well, after a good hour enough liquid had boiled off and I thought I had my perfect jam. You just have to make your personal guess at this, but if in doubt, meaning your jam seems too runny, I suggest you continue letting it work itself out.
Let the jam sit for 5 minutes.
Pour into containers and seal. I simply do freezer jam so I had those ready.
The jam was consumed with delight at dinner. I know I haven't had a more successful batch. Yippee!
My local grocery had some strawberries for $.99/lb last week and I kept putting off using them. I finally found (made?) the time yesterday to use them and glad I did since some were going bad! Whew! I rescued the good ones before all were contaminated. I decided to try making some jam yesterday and since I had apples on hand as well I found a recipe online for strawberry-apple jam. I modified the recipe and here is what I did.
Strawberry Apple Jam
Ingredients
2 pints strawberries, rinsed and halved (do I need to mention cutting off their green "hats"?!)
3 apples, peeled, cored and sliced thin
3 Cups water
juice from half a medium lemon
2 Cups Sugar, warmed (the recipe I found said 4 C. and this seemed like a lot of sweetness to me. My 2C. turned out perfect - not too sweet, not too tart. I hadn't heard of warming the sugar before, but since I'm not a jam expert I obeyed this recipe note and all turned out well.)
Directions
Combine fruit, water and lemon juice in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and then simmer until fruit is tender. Add warmed sugar. Increase heat and stir at frequently, but not constantly. Here comes the tricky part. You just kind of have to eye the jam while it cooks and determine if the consistency is right. The term I read often is "setting", if the jam is set. Well, after a good hour enough liquid had boiled off and I thought I had my perfect jam. You just have to make your personal guess at this, but if in doubt, meaning your jam seems too runny, I suggest you continue letting it work itself out.
Let the jam sit for 5 minutes.
Pour into containers and seal. I simply do freezer jam so I had those ready.
The jam was consumed with delight at dinner. I know I haven't had a more successful batch. Yippee!
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