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Strawberry Jam

This is a quick, traditional French strawberry jam with over 80% fruit. The kids love it, and so do I — because it's just how strawberry jam should be: packed with berries and summery sweetness, completely free of added citric acid or pectin. It's fast to make and tastes like summer. If you have a bag or three of strawberries in the freezer, you can whip this up in no time and spoon it over apple fritters, pancakes, or whatever else you fancy.
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Prep Time 5 minutter
Cook Time 20 minutter
Total Time 25 minutter
Servings: 500 g
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 600 g Strawberries fresh or frozen.
  • 100 g Unrefined cane sugar I use turbinado or demerara.
  • 1 tbsp Lemon juice I use 100% organic lemon juice from Sicily, since bottled lemon juice has a consistent pH.
  • 1 pod Bourbon Vanilla I use the pod and caviar in this one.

Method
 

  1. Put the frozen berries in a thick-bottomed pot. I prefer a good copper one, or enameled cast iron like Staub or Le Creuset, for making jam.
  2. Pour most of the sugar over the berries, setting aside 1 tablespoon for later. Split the vanilla bean in half and scrape out the seeds. Rub the seeds into the reserved sugar with the flat of a knife until they're evenly mixed in. Sprinkle the vanilla sugar over the berries and drop in the bean.
  3. Add the lemon juice.
  4. "Stir the sugar into the berries with a wooden spoon, then cook over low heat for 5 minutes until the berries have released their juice."
  5. Then turn the heat up to high. Keep a close eye on it from here on — it can burn fast.
  6. After about 15–20 minutes, the jam will start to thicken. It's done when you can run a spoon through it and see a clear path to the bottom of the pot. The liquid no longer flows back together — the pectin has set, and it's ready to pour into sterilized jars.
  7. Once the jam is ready, let it cool, then share it with someone you care about.

Notes

You can always double or triple the recipe, though that will add quite a bit to the cooking time. I often make 2 kg at a time — that way, you save on electricity and have plenty of summery sweetness in the fridge for when you're craving it.