Monday, June 15, 2009

Strawberry Jam

Strawberryjam1

Despite the fact that strawberries are available year round here and we buy them regularly, I really don't do much with them when I bring them home. Usually, they end up in some kind of a milkshake or smoothie, or I make some kind of a dessert using them.

In my previous post I'd mentioned that we'd gone strawberry picking. We came back home with more strawberries than I knew what to do with. We enjoyed some as is, then had some more with balsamic syrup (which by the way is the best way to enjoy strawberries, in my opinion), and then I made this.

By this point I was down to 2 cups of strawberries and was looking to make something that I'd never tried before. I decided that it was time to give jam-making a shot. While searching for recipes, I came across many simple ones for making jam before I finally discovered
Zainab's recipe, which was by far, the easiest of them all. I also found Mandira's adaptation of the original version. And so, with the help of these two recipes, I set out to make my own jam for the first time ever last week.

Ingredients:
2 cups strawberries, hulled and quartered
3/4 cup brown sugar (adjust according to sweetness of berries)
3 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼ tsp powdered cloves
A pinch of salt

Method:
Place the quartered strawberries in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring often. Crush the larger pieces of fruit. Skim any foam that rises to the top if necessary.

As soon as it starts to boil, add the brown sugar, lemon juice, clove powder and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens (it took me about 30-35 minutes).

Allow the jam to cool to room temperature, spoon into a clean jar (2 cups of strawberries gave me just enough jam to fill the small jar you see in the picture above) wipe the rim with a clean cloth or paper towel, and seal with lid. Store in the refrigerator. It will keep for at least a week.

Sterilizing the jars is required for long-term storage; I did not do it since I did not expect the jam to last more than a week. To preserve the jam longer, sterilize, pack and seal in canning jars according to the manufacturer's instructions. You can find some guidelines
here if you are interested.

Nothing beats the feeling of making your own jam. And because I’d made my own jam, H and I had a breakfast of bread, butter and homemade jam for dinner that night!
Making jam was so incredibly easy that I'm wondering why I hadn't tried it before.


Strawberryjam2


This goes to the Happy Cook for her event, Strawberry Feast.

29 Burps:

lubnakarim06 said...

Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuum........feel like having it right now....

Laavanya said...

Bread, butter & homemade jam is definitely bliss.. the brown sugar & cloves must lend a really nice flavour and taste I suppose.

Finla said...

I love that it looks so dark should check out your link.
Normally here it gets eaten up jkust like that and if i want to make something with them i have to hurry up.

Sakshi said...

Oh my home made jam too?? Gosh feeling so guilty for gobbling up strawberries just like that..so done with all the strawberries you picked??? I must say this is the easiest recipe I have seen for a jam without preservatives and all...Thanks a ton for Zainab's link...

Vani said...

Wow! Looks perfect, TBC!!

Mandira said...

just today i was asking someone in office if she knew how to make jam...and here i have a recipe already!im not sure i have seen fresh strawberries in the market recently.. wud it work it u substituted the strawberries with say mango? or may be plum?or apples?

Kalai said...

Homemade jam! Talk about bliss. The color and texture looks amazing! :)

Soma said...

That last picture is just awesome!! love it that u used clove it in too. I can imagine a crusty toast with this jam:-) or a cake or just straight from the knife.

Parita said...

Yummy jam, love the color!

Varsha Vipins said...

That first pic is too good n this is an easy,yumm one..:)

Rajitha said...

Hey!! where is my jar of jam???huh huh :)...adn bread butter and jam for dinner sounds great...except that jeeves will be asking for dinner in an hour or so after hogging a few slices and giving me a 'talk' about carb overload ;)

Madhuram said...

Lovely click TBC. I too made sb jam once from Shilpa's blog. That's also very simple like this one but it used white sugar.

Namratha said...

Wow you made Jam too? So did I! :D This is a nice version.

Raks said...

I wud love to taste this,my son will lick the whole bottle of that delicious jam :P

Uma said...

Wow, nice color! Looks lovely.. is it chunky or smooth?

TheCooker said...

Just as I was wondering how to 'dispose' off the remaining 2-3 cups of the sweetest strawberries.....came upon your post.
Thanks! The jam turned out great.

Ramya Vijaykumar said...

Nice color and by the way you have reminded me that its time to make jams and store them :) btw can u send me some for tomorrow morning???

TBC said...


Lubna- thank you.:)


Laavanya- the clove powder was a fantastic addition. I got that from Mandira's version. Just a pinch of it gave the jam unbelievable flavor!


HC- that's what we do too usually...this time I wanted to experiment. :)


Sakshi- yeah, finally finished every single one of them! :) It's super simple. You'll know when you make it.


Vani- thank you. :D


Churningthewordmill- I'm unable to access your profile. I believe it's your first time here? Welcome! :)
Regarding using other fruits for making jam- you most certainly can. I've only tried this one and so can only tell you that this recipe works.:) But if you do a search for jams, you'll come across different kinds. Pectin is used in most recipes. This one here turned out just fine even without it. Maybe you could experiment with whatever fruit you have and let me know? :D


Kalai- thank you:)


Soma- thank you.:) I'm so glad I came across Mandira's version. I loved the taste of clove in this. But with cloves, a little goes a long way.


Parita thanks :D



Varsha- Yes, it is easy. :D


Rajitha- :)
when are you going to post something? :D



Madhuram- thank you.:)
I think the dark color of my jam is because I used brown sugar. I have to check out your version now.:)


Namratha- I saw yours. Looks fantastic! And the jars are cute too. :)



Rak's kitchen- then you just have to make it.:D



Uma- thank you.:)
It was a little bit of both actually... I crushed a lot of the strawberries but left a few just like that for some texture.


TheCooker- I'm glad the recipe worked for you, and thanks for letting me know.:)



TBC said...


Ramya- was responding to comments when you were leaving one. Almost missed you there!
I'm going to try out other jams too soon. I'm a little confident now.:)

And you're a little late... sorry, I'm all out of jam! :D

Nupur said...

That glistening dark jam looks sooooo good!

Nithya Praveen said...

Wow thats a neat idea...i am gona make this.Bookmarked.Thanks for sharing!

TBC said...


Nupur- thank you. It was so good that it did not even last the entire week! :D I have to make some more for sure.

Nithya- I hope you like it as much as I did. It was a hit here.:D Zainab's recipe is fantastic.


Bindiya said...

Wow! love the thickness of this wonderful jam, well done!

Vanamala Hebbar said...

wow jam ..my fav jam :)...

test it comm said...

I always enjoy making my own jam and I have to make strawberry jam every year during strawberry season.

Anonymous said...

That looks Delicious! I'm going to try it with blueberries..

TBC said...


Bindiya & Vanamala- thank you.:D

Kevin- This was my first time and I was really happy with the results... the jam turned out pretty well even without the pectin. I'm going to try my hand at diferent jams now.:)


Purplesque- thank you.:D I'm going to do that too one of these days!






durian jam said...

That last picture is making my mouth water. Do you have it on bread with PB, plain butter, by itself or with something exotic?

Gift Hampers said...

YUM! This recipe sounds and looks so good!! Thanks for sharing!

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