Homemade Strawberry Jam

This strawberry jam is made by boiling and cooking a strawberry jam mixture made by strawberries, sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice. It is really healthy and without any preservatives. Homemade strawberry jam is the best partner you can have for your morning toast! Make your breakfast healthier and sweeter using your homemade strawberry jam! Unleash the Liza Soberano in you and make this sweet and lovely jam at home. With the fine chunks of fresh strawberries in sweet red syrup, your tummy will surely be delighted.

WHAT ARE FRUIT JAMS?

Fruit jams are one of the best spreads you can partner with your bread. There are only two main ingredients you need to make a basic fruit jam: fruit and sugar. Fruit jams are made with crushed fruits cooked with sugar until it becomes a thick and luscious syrup.

While making fruit jams seem super easy (which it really is), here are some notes to remember:

• You need to choose ripe fruits. Unripe fruits will crush to much and will not form a sweet thick syrup unlike when you used ripe fruits.
• As simple as it looks like, there is a wide science happening on the cooking of fruit jams. We have what we call pectin, which makes it easier for a fruit to be made into a jam. Fruits with low amounts of pectin needs to be combined with fruits with high pectin to form a nice fruit jam.
• In this recipe, the strawberries are low in pectin but when lemons, which are high in pectin, are added, this can result to a nice strawberry jam.
• Read recipes online for the correct ratio of sugar to fruit. Too much sugar will result to the hardening (crystallization) of sugar as you store the jam for a long time.

HOMEMADE STRAWBERRY JAM RECIPE

Whenever I hear strawberries, I immediately think of Baguio (This is all Liza Soberano’s fault! HAHAHA). Baguio is really famous because of their strawberry farms. It became more famous when the farms where featured in Forevermore: TV Series. This series ran in 2014. I can still remember me and my family shouting as we know the location where the series was shot! We were saying things like “Ayy tayo nag-picture di ba?” thinking we were also famous.

As a lover of toasted bread and jams combo in the morning, I missed the opportunity of making homemade strawberry jam from the strawberries of Baguio. We were so excited during the strawberry-picking activity to the point that we ate all the strawberries we got even before reaching home.

During the strawberry season, I made sure to buy the freshest strawberries I could get to turn them into a nice and lovely strawberry jam. Making the strawberry jam, and other fruit jams, is quite easy. If you have time to make a large batch, this will surely be bentable. Try and make some today! Have fun!

HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE STRAWBERRY JAM

You might be enjoying the strawberry jam you bought from Baguio. But did you know that you can make this sweet and lovely jam at home?

Get the freshest strawberries. (Best if they are freshly picked from Baguio farms, but the ones in the market are already okay). Some dust particles may stay in the small seed craters on the surface of strawberries which is why soaking them in water before eating is very essential. We don’t want our jam to spoil easier just because or dirt!

Chop the strawberries and then mix them with the other ingredients. Aside from added pectin to the jam, the lemon juice prevents darkening of the exposed parts of the strawberries. The sugar attracts moisture from the strawberries so don’t be shocked if your strawberries are swimming in liquid after leaving them for an hour.

Heat the strawberries together with the liquid. Stir them from time to time just to make sure that the bottom part is not burning. Some foam will form at the top of the jam. You need to remove it for a clearer jam.

After 10 minutes of cooking, you’ll notice that there are more liquid than strawberry chunks. After 20 minutes of cooking, the liquid is starting to become a thick syrup.  After 25 minutes of cooking, the jam is almost reduced in half. The strawberry chunks are now smaller and the syrup is super thick.

Do the plate test to check if the jam is done. Simply place a bit of the jam on a plate and then tilt the plate a bit. If the jam appears runny, cook it a little more. If stable and not too runny, then it’s done!

Remember that the jam is super hot and might break your glass jars so cool them a bit before transferring. Best paired with toasted bread. Enjoy!

This homemade strawberry jam can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

How to Make Homemade Strawberry Jam (TAGALOG)

MGA SANGKAP:

• 1/2 kilo ng strawberries
• 1 tasa ng asukal na puti
• 1/2 kutsarita ng kinayod na balat ng lemon
• 1 kutsara ng lemon juice

PAANO LUTUIN:

1. Ibabad sa tubig ang mga strawberries ng at least 20 minuto. Kapag may lumabas nang mga itim itim, hugasan ang mga strawberries. Alisin ang dahon at ang white part sa taas ng mga ito.
2. Hiwain ang mga strawberries sa apat at ilipat sa malaking bowl. Ilagay ang kinayod na balat ng lemon at ang lemon juice. Haluin ng mabuti. Hayaan ang mga strawberries ng 1 oras hanggang may lumabas na liquid.
3. Ilipat ang mga strawberries sa kaserola at lutuin gamit ang katamtamang apoy. Kapag kumukulo na, alisin ang white foam sa taas nito.
4. Hayaan itong maluto ng 20 – 25 minuto hanggang mangalahati.
5. Gawin ang plate test para masiguradong okay na ang jam. Palamigin ng konti ang strawberry jam bago ilagay sa mga jars.
6. Kumuha ng toasted bread at samahan ng ating homemade strawberry jam! Enjoy!