STRAWBERRY JAM RECIPE WITH PECTIN RECIPES

Steps:

• 1. Making jam is actually pretty easy once you've sterilized your jars ready to go. This is a soft set jam and tastes like you wouldn't believe – it makes a great gift too. Get creative and make nice labels for the different jars. It’s absolutely delicious simply spread on fresh buttered toast, dolloped onto a portion of rice pudding, used as a filling for a homemade Victoria sponge or, as an extra special treat, enjoyed with scones and clotted cream. Give it a go!
  2. Before you start, sterilize the jars and their lids to get rid of any bacteria. Either put them in the sink (lids unscrewed from jars) and cover them with boiling water from the kettle, filling the jars with the water; or simmer them, completely immersed, in a very large pan of boiling water for 10 minutes; or lay the jars and lids on a baking tray in the oven and heat them at around 100°C/225°F/gas ¼. And if you have a good dishwasher with a very hot cycle you can sterilize them in there as well.
  3. Halve the vanilla pod lengthways and scrape out the seeds. Put the seeds in a saucepan with the strawberries and the sugar. Mush it up with a potato masher to make a lovely slurry, leaving a few chunky bits of strawberry in there to add a bit of texture.
  4. Place the pan on a medium heat, bring it to the boil then simmer for about 5 minutes. Turn the heat off, carefully skim any foam off the top of the jam then leave it to cool a little. After about 15 minutes, divide the jam between your sterilized jam jars. Leave to cool completely then cover the jars and pop them in the fridge. Once sealed, the jam will keep for about a week, but is sure to be long gone before that!

Steps:

• The night before you make your jam, layer the blackberries and sugar together in a very large bowl, then cover and set aside at room temperature. This helps the sugar to start dissolving so you don’t run the risk of over-cooking the fruit when you actually begin to make the jam. The next morning, give everything a quick stir, then set aside again until you are ready to start cooking.
• Before you start, put a small saucer in the freezer. Take a preserving pan or a large, wide-based pan (the wider and more open the pan, the faster the jam will be ready, so a preserving pan is really ideal) and tip the berries in, scraping out all the juices and any undissolved sugar. Stir in the lemon juice, then collect all the pips and secure them inside a tea-leaf strainer or piece of muslin before adding them to the pan (cooking the pips along with the fruit extracts the pectin they contain, helping your jam to set).
• Start the blackberries over a low heat until all the sugar is completely dissolved, then bring to the boil and simmer for 5 mins. Turn off the heat and spoon a little hot syrupy jam onto the chilled saucer. Once it's cool, push it with your finger. If it wrinkles a little, it’s ready and has reached setting point. If it's too runny to wrinkle, return the pan to the heat and boil in 2 or 3-minute stages, removing the pan from the heat each time you do the saucer check, until the jam wrinkles.
• Skim off any excess scum, then stir in the knob of butter, if you want – this will help to dissolve any remaining scum. Leave the jam for 15 mins before ladling into sterilised jars – this allows the fruit to settle so it doesn’t sink to the bottom. The jam will keep in a cool, dark place for at least 6 months. Refrigerate jars once opened.