Strawberry Jam, Or Something Like It

A few weeks ago I went strawberry picking with members of a local playgroup we used to do a lot of stuff with before the Bit went to school (I didn’t take her with me, which made the picking go a lot faster).

I ended up with a ton of beautiful fruit, and after giving most of it away had a good quart left for my own uses.

I really wanted to make freezer jam, because I’m too lazy to can for real, and most recipes require a lot more fruit than I had left.

I found a recipe that sounded good, which I actually didn’t pin so I can’t give credit. But it didn’t turn out quite the way I expected so the original author might not want to claim credit!

This stuff is yummy, don’t get me wrong. But because there’s not a lot of sugar, it didn’t completely gel. Using the pectin made for low-sugar recipes might help, or just eat your toast holding it horizontal, like I do.

What You’ll Need

• about a quart (or 4 cups) of strawberries, hulled and chopped as fine as you want (I left mine pretty chunky)
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 package powdered pectin
• 3/4 cup water
• freezer-safe containers

What You’ll Do

1. Take your cut strawberries and combine them with the sugar. Mix and let sit for 10 minutes, until they start getting kind of soft and juicy.
2. If you like at this point you can take a potato masher to them and squish them up a little more.
3. Bring the water to a boil. Add the pectin and let boil for 1 minute.
4. Remove from heat and add to strawberry mixture. Stir.
5. Put into freezer-safe containers. I used 3 of these little Ziploc containers.
6. Allow to cool on the counter, or leave out overnight (I put mine away later the same day).
7. Keep in freezer up to a year or in the fridge for a couple of months.

I still really like this. The flavor is fresh and it’s not as overly sweetened as most jam recipes. You just need to know it probably won’t be solid jelly.

If you try it, with or without the low-sugar pectin, I’d love to hear how it goes for you!