Strawberry and Rhubarb Jam
Ingredients
250g ripe strawberries
250g red rhubarb stems trimmed 250g raw or white sugar occasionally 2 Tbsp lemon juice (about half a juicy lemon) Equipment needed: 4 250g jars, sterilised A plastic jug and ladle to fill the jars. Large boards to place onto bench. Tongs Small plate MethodStep 1
Put all ingredients into a large preserving pan or heavy based saucepan, cover and place over a gentle heat until sugar has melted and fruit has softened (about 20 minutes). Step 2 Remove the lid of the saucepan, turn up the heat and bring to simmering point (while stirring occasionally.) Simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring to prevent the jam sticking to the bottom and burning. You can start testing the jam to see if it sets after 15 minutes of constant simmering. Take a small spoon full and put onto a small plate and pop it in the freezer to cool quickly. To test, push the jam with your finger to see if it wrinkles slightly. If it does not wrinkle when pushed then continue to simmer for 5-10 minutes longer. Step 3 If you can see it is set (it won’t be a hard set as the pectin in the fruit is not high enough.) then remove from the heat, to a trivet. Place tray of hot sterilised jars onto a board. Use a ladle or small sterilised jug to pour the jam into hot jars and leave a good 1.5 cm below the rim of the jar. Step 4 Cover with a sterilised lid. Leave it on loosely and tighten once the jam has cooled a little. |
Ready in: 45 mins to 1 hour | Makes: about 4 small 250g jars
Tip: Gather strawberries when they areinexpensive. You can remove hulls and freeze them to boil up when you have enough to boil up into jam. |
