Strawberry Jam [Confiture]

I was hesitant about including this Strawberry Jam recipe on my blog. And it was not about me being uncertain of the taste as the confiture is indeed tasty. I was just unsure how many people would be interested in spending 2-3 days preparing it. I was also aware that some people might have been put off by the amount of sugar used to make this preserve.

But the 2-3 days doesn’t really mean slaving for 48-72 hours in the kitchen as you only need to spend 30-60 minutes each day and most of that time is about keeping an eye on the jam while it cooks.  And as far as the amount of sugar is concerned, if you want to have real confiture that keeps for longer (till the next strawberry season), you simply have to use that amount. And the taste of homemade jam simply cannot be replaced by anything else!

So if you feel like trying to check how to make jam, please do and let me know about your experience. I can tell you it took me a long time to get ready to make it for the first time – it was only just 3 years ago. But since then I can imagine neither June/July without making it nor a long winter without enjoying toast or pancake with Strawberry Confiture as this reminds me of a sunny and warm summer.

INGREDIENTS (for approx. 3 jars):

1kg strawberries,

800g sugar,

1 lemon (juice and peel).

METHOD:

1. Put the strawberries into a colander, rinse them thoroughly under running cold water, drain and preferably leave them for some time to dry.
2. Once ready, remove the green tops, transfer to a non- metallic bowl and cover with sugar; leave for several hours/overnight.
3. The next day move the strawberries with sugar to a pan, add the lemon juice and rind, bring to boil; lower the heat and cook for 30 minutes. If you have to stir the jam, do it gently so you don’t break the strawberries. Additionally if there is scum on top, please remove it.
4. Leave the jam in a cold place for approx. 24 hours.
5. The next day remove the strawberries from the syrup (the lemon rind should be left in the liquid), keep them aside and bring the syrup to a boil.
6. Boil it on a medium-high heat for 30 minutes, add the strawberries back and boil for 10-20 minutes more until the Confiture reaches the right consistency.*
7. Pour the Confiture to prepared jars**, cover with lids, seal and put all the jars upside down on a towel, then cover them with the towel tightly. If you spill any of the Confiture on top of the jar, clean it well.
8. Keep the jars covered for a few hours, afterwards you can keep them in a cool place for up to a year.

* This is the way to check, if the Confiture has reached the correct consistency:

• Put 2-3 saucers to a freezer for at least 30 minutes.
• After you added the strawberries to the syrup and you boiled everything for 10 minutes (step 6), take one saucer from the freezer, spoon a bit of jam on it and leave it for 1-2 minutes. If there is a skin on top that wrinkles when you touch it, the Confiture is ready. If not, you have to cook it longer and re-test.

** There are many ways to prepare (sterilize) jars but this is the one I have already used for a few years:

• wash jars and lids very well,
• put them to a big bowl,
• a minute or so before you are ready to put your jam to jars, pour boiling water to the bowl with jars,
• after at least 30 seconds gently take one jar from the bowl and pour in the Confiture.
• The jars will be very hot so you have to use an oven glove to hold them.