Surprisingly Quick Strawberry Jam

You might remember a few weeks ago we went strawberry picking, with planning for my Granny’s 90^th Birthday in mind I wanted to make some of the strawberries into jam that I can use in her birthday cake. There is something really rewarding from making your own jam, especially knowing exactly what has gone into the jam, no additives, preservatives etc.

I decided to use the Ball Preserving recipe and processing method to make the jam, I was amazed to make a batch of jam in less that an hour, which if you have made jam using traditional methods you will know sounds like a dream. The Ball Home Preserving Starter Kit has everything you need to get started in preserving including jars, jar lifting tool, preserving rack and bubble removing tool.

I used the recipe that came with the set, which makes two 240ml jars of jam, but I doubled this recipe as we had so many strawberries. The recipe provides detailed instructions of exactly how to make the jam.

All Ball recipes include the addition of pectin, which speeds up the jam making process. It is naturally derived from the skin of apples in an off white powder form. It is present in all ripe fruit however you have to boil the fruit for a long period of time to release the pectin, adding it to your jam allows you reduce the jam cooking time and really capture the fruits natural flavour, freshness and colour, it also allows you to get more jam from your fruit as there is no need to boil for hours on end waiting for the setting point. The use of pectin can also allow you to reduce the amount of sugar you add to the jam, allowing you to make reduced sugar jam.

The jam was a success and so was the cake, neither was around for long; I’m looking forward for testing and sharing my experiences using the Ball Preserving products and recipes.