Off-Season Strawberry Jam

I became obsessed with making my own jams this summer. With berries that we picked ourselves or got at the local farmers market, we ate our way through strawberry jam, cherry jam, blueberry jam, raspberry jam and finally a mixed berry jam.  It was an amazing summer for jam!

But here we are, in December, and I would love nothing more than to fill my fresh doughnuts with fresh jam.  Flash frozen strawberries!! Since I'd be cooking it down to a near-mush anyway, I wasn't worried about the texture. These berries would be a fantastic stand-in!

Note: If you're used to store bought strawberry jam, this recipe will be more tart than you're used to.  Increase the amount of sugar by 1/2 cup and only use the juice of 1 lemon.

Zest lemons and then juice them

Add lemon juice, zest and sugar to the pot.

Peel and core a granny smith apple.
I love this color green!!

Coarsely shred the apple. 

Keep one bag whole...

Chop the second bag of strawberries.

Freezer plate test.
(The first test is on the left, too runny.
I kept it boiling for another 5 minutes and tested again.
Produced the sample on the right. Nice and firm.)

Off-Season Strawberry Jam

Ingredients

32 ounces (2 bags)  frozen whole strawberries
lemon zest from 2 lemons
juice from 2 lemons
2 cups granulated sugar1 small granny smith apple, peeled and coarsely shredded

Directions

1. Put a small plate in the freezer. 

2. Place sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice in a nonreactive pot over medium-high heat. Let the sugar completely dissolve.

3. Cut half of the strawberries into small pieces.

4. Peel, core and coarsely grate the apple.

5. Add the whole strawberries, the grated apple and the small strawberry pieces into the pot.

6. Bring mixture to a full boil; cook, stirring, 10 minutes. 

7. Continue boiling on medium-high heat; use a stainless-steel spoon to remove foam from surface. Boil until most of the liquid is absorbed, mixture thickens, and temperature registers 220 degrees.on a candy thermometer, about 30 minutes.

8. Perform a gel test: Place a spoonful of jam on chilled plate, and return to freezer. Wait 1 to 2 minutes; remove plate from freezer, and gently press jam with fingertip; it should not be runny, it should wrinkle slightly.

Eat, Drink & Be Yummy!