Biting into one of those sweet juicy berries is a sure sign of summer. I mean, is it really summer if you don't find yourself picking fresh strawberries in the field?
Picking strawberries has been a tradition for us for years. It makes it a little sweeter having my little come with us now, and watching him play with the berries. He liked to pick them out of the basket and hand them over to mama rather than eating them.
We always leave the field with a big beautiful bounty. We love eating them fresh, making homemade jam and freezing them for smoothies.
This strawberry vanilla bean jam has been a favourite of mine for years and has been the only strawberry jam I have ever made. The sweet taste of the vanilla beans adds the perfect amount of sweetness.
There is no pectin needed in this jam. It is cooked through to let the natural pectin of the berries build the thickness.
Keep in mind when picking your berries, the ripest ones will give you the sweetest jam.
Ingredients
8 cups fresh strawberries, diced
3 ¾ cups organic sugar
2 vanilla beans
6 tbsp lemon juice
Directions
Rinse your freshly picked berries. Remove stems and dice into bite sized pieces. Add berries into a large bowl with 2 cups sugar.
Slice the vanilla beans, and scrape the seeds into the bowl with the strawberries. Toss the vanilla bean pods into the bowl as well and stir to coat strawberries evenly. Chill for three hours or overnight.
Place berries into a large saucepan discarding the vanilla bean pods. Stir in remaining sugar and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring every few minutes. Simmer for 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare your jars. Wash them with hot soapy water (it's a good idea to sterilize if they are just bought from the store). Keep your jars and seals in warm water until you are ready to prepare the jam. It's also a good idea to start heating up your canning pot and bringing it to a boil.
Once the 45 minutes is up, it's time to do the plate test: spoon about ½ a tsp of jam onto a plate and place it in the freezer for 1 minute. When you remove the plate from the freezer, tip it to the side. If the jam is still runny, cook an additional 15 minutes, if jam stays put, add in lemon juice and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
Line up your jars. Using a funnel, spoon the jam into your jars. Wipe the rims, add seals and rings and place into the hot water bath. When the hot water returns to a boil, process jars for 10 minutes.
Remove jars from the canner and place on a towel on the counter to cool for 24 hours. Check fo any un-sealed jars. If any of the jars did not seal, place them in the refrigerator and use within a couple weeks.
Comments