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| Strawberry Jam |
Welcome Spring! Cool, pleasant breeze, sunny and clear skies, flowers blooming, kids playing and varied array of berries back in season. So, i thought of making use of one of my favorite berries - Strawberries!! Did you know that jam, jellies, preserves and marmalades are all different forms of preserving the best fruits of season? Here's what i found, might help
- Jam is made with whole fruit that is cooked down to release the pectin.
- Jelly is made with fruit juice.
- Preserves use the whole fruit without breaking it up.
- Marmalade uses the zest and pulp, and the juice, however not the whole fruit.
Today i am going to make strawberry jam and to make the process a little bit quicker i am slicing the strawberries into halves or quarters according to their sizes. Also I like the strawberry fruit pieces when the jam is cooked through, it tastes good and looks good too. The recipe i am writing will make a little less than 16 oz. bottle of jam. Here's what you will need :
Ingredients :-
16 oz. / 1 lb fresh strawberries, cut into halfs or fourths
1 cup sugar
1/2 lemon's juice
1 whole lemon's zest
2-3 tbsp water
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| Strawberries - washed, cored and halved/quartered |
Procedure :-
1. On a medium-high in a heavy bottom saucepan take sugar and add water to it - just to moisten the sugar. Keep stirring.
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| Strawberries starting to release juices |
2. Once the sugar starts to boil, add cut strawberries and let it simmer.
3. This process takes some time, strawberries will start releasing the juice, the color in the saucepan will turn to red due to the strawberry juice. Let it simmer. Keep stirring from time to time.
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4. After around 20-25 mins. you will see that strawberries have softened and start falling apart. Also the liquid changes to deep red color and the jam starts to thicken and starts coating the sides of the saucepan.
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| Color changes from red to deep red |
5. Now there are a couple of signs that will help you to decide whether jam is done or not.
a) When you run your finger through the back of your stirring spoon and it forms a line, it means jam is done.
b) Jam should have a consistency as that of honey.
c) Jam starts sticking the sides of the saucepan.
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| A line is formed when you run your finger through the spoon |
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| Jam coats the sides of the saucepan |
6. Once the jam is done, let it cool completely. Fill the jam in an airtight container and refrigerate. Stays good for a couple of months.
7. Spread it on fresh hot toast or spread on whole wheat chappatis (Indian bread) and roll it up. This is a healthy option for kids. Whichever way you eat, you will be proud of your own creation :)
