(Red) Lotta Whole
“Red is a one death, we die to live in red light, life is a madness”
homemade strawberry jam
ingredients:
2lbs/900g strawberries, halved
2c/400g white sugar, toasted (optional)
3T lemon juice
Helpful items:
potato masher
11"L x 7.7"W ceramic dish/pan (I used glass initially but switched to ceramic)
mason/regular jars
recipe (toasted sugar, optional):
Set oven to 350F and pour sugar into pan. Place pan into the middle rack of the oven and cook for 1 hour and 30 minutes OR until desired color level is reached—the recommended level for this recipe is slightly browned.
Routinely stir sugar to avoid clumping. IF sugar does clump, you can discard clumps by filtering the sugar (see below—I filtered mine twice). You only want fine sugar for this recipe. You can also blend/grind hardened sugar and place back into pan.
recipe (jam):
Place strawberry halves into medium size bowl and pour sugar over strawberries. Ensure all strawberries are covered by the sugar. Set aside for 30 minutes.
Allowing the strawberries to sit in sugar releases more of their natural flavors in a process called maceration—it’ll help your jam have a better quality taste.
In a medium-size pot on medium-high heat, place strawberry sugar mixture inside. Allow strawberries to cook and release juices until the pot’s edges start to bubble (see below).
Once the pot edge’s start to bubble, begin mashing the strawberries with potato masher or heavy device until desired consistency is met. Continue simmering on medium-high until jam begins to thicken. Add lemon juice.
Lower the heat and allow to cook for a bit longer while stirring jam. Make sure jam has come together a bit OR has reached a desirable consistency.
You can add a bit of cornstarch and water if you’d like to thicken the jam a bit.
Pour sauce into glass jar OR sealable container. Allow jam to cool for 1 hour. Enjoy!
Store in fridge after 1 hour of cooling or use immediately.
