Strawberry Balsamic Jam

In the last few days, I've developed an interest in making my own jellies and jams.  I can't think of a food that is much better than a tall hot crusty biscuit, split and slathered with melted butter and a big spoonful of jelly.  I prefer jelly on biscuits and jam or preserves on toast.  Blame it on my perfectionism, but jelly just doesn't spread evenly on toast!

Blackberry and/or grape jelly has always been my first choice on a buttered biscuit.  I also mix it into my buttered and salted grits (resulting in a lovely purple color!) and have done so since I was a child, but that is a subject for another blog. 

I've been busily scouring the internet and my cookbook collection for recipes, educating myself along the way in the techniques of sterilizing jars and processing the filled jars in water baths.  Fun stuff, right?  My parents have made jelly for years, as well as canned pickles and peppers, but I have never tried it myself.  When I told my mother that I wanted to learn how to do it, her disbelief that I was interested in such a thing rivaled her disbelief almost 10 years ago when I told her I wanted to open a cake shop, knowing that I had barely learned to bake beyond a boxed mix.

Because I didn't have the necessary equipment to begin this jelly-making adventure the old-fashioned way, and couldn't get it without ordering it online or driving 100 miles, and my parents were otherwise occupied and could not engage in a training session, I decided to try an easier route...sort of sticking my toe in the water before I jumped in.  So today I made strawberry balsamic freezer jam.  I could have made plain strawberry, but I wanted this to be a mini-adventure in terms of taste as well as procedure.  In this recipe, the tartness of the balsamic vinegar heightens the flavor of the strawberries.

Freezer jam doesn't require all those processing steps.  You mix the ingredients, pour it into freezable containers, and you have homemade jam at your fingertips for up to a year.  It will stay fresh in the refrigerator for about 3 weeks and frozen for up to 1 year.  I am using 8-oz. plastic freezer jars by Ball, which is the perfect portion size for our household, and one 16-oz. jar to keep in the refrigerator.

This easy recipe that I found has only a few ingredients, uses honey instead of sugar, and doesn't require a lot of equipment.  It yielded about 4 1/2 cups.

Here's how it went:

Step 1. 

Boil 1 cup balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan.  Cook over medium heat until it is reduced to 3/4 cup.  Chill until cool.



Okay, first...open a window or turn your kitchen exhaust fan on.  The smell of the vinegar can be a bit overwhelming, to say the least.

Second...you have to carefully watch how much vinegar is being reduced. Initially, I didn't cook it down enough - I had too much liquid. Then, I cooked it down too much - not enough liquid - so I added a bit more from the bottle after removing it from the heat.  I poured the 3/4 cup hot vinegar back into the measuring cup, covered it loosely (with a folded paper towel) and placed it in the refrigerator to chill completely.

Note:  Chilling the vinegar takes about 40 minutes. 

Step 2.

While the vinegar is boiling, wash and crush the strawberries. 



So pretty.
 

I used 2 packages of strawberries to fill a 4-cup measuring cup.  It actually came to a little less than that, but it didn't make any difference.



Don't you love the brand name?  Shout out to the '70s.
 







Some recipes call for hulling the strawberries; this one did not.  I hulled a few anyway.  Here's a fun way to do that.

Strawed berry.
 

(Yeah, I know I probably need a new cutting board.  But this one works just fine.  It's seasoned.)

Stick the straw in the bottom of the berry and push straight up to the top.  If you aim the straw just right, the whole leafy top will pop off, and you can pull it and the core out of the straw.  My aim was a little off today, so I poked them 2 or 3 times to get all of the leaves, and I had to trim a few around the top.  (This is probably why I didn't get a full 4 cups of crushed berries.)  I had lots of cores inside the length of the straw.  They will come out the opposite end of the straw as you work through the berries. 

I sliced/coarsely chopped the first package of berries and then began to crush them.  I think this was a mistake.   There were too many bits to crush.



They hover when they hear the sound of food being chopped. 
 

I placed the strawberries in a large bowl, and alternated using a pastry cutter and a potato masher to crush the berries.





















I left the second package of berries whole (after removing the tops, of course) and
crushing them was a little easier.  However, next time I think I will pull out the food processor and simply pulse them a few times. 


Step 3.

Mix the strawberries, 1/2 cup honey and the chilled balsamic vinegar in a large mixing bowl.  Let it stand for 10 minutes.

Step 4.

Add 5 tablespoons of Ball RealFruit Instant Pectin to the strawberry mixture.  Stir the mixture constantly for 3 minutes.  I found it easier to set a digital timer than to watch the clock.  I talked to my mother on the phone the entire time, so those 3 minutes elapsed very quickly.

Step 5.

Using a small measuring cup (mine was 1/4 cup) or a ladle, place jam into clean jars to the fill line.  Twist on the lids and let stand until thickened (about 30 minutes).  Refrigerate up to 3 weeks or freeze up to 1 year.

My first jam!

Additional recipe notes:

Use plastic containers (most any kind with a snap lid will do).   Fill to 1/2" from the top.  The plastic Ball containers have a fill line indicator on the side.   This will help prevent freezer burn as well as decrease the amount of air in the jar.  Do not overfill or the container may burst.

Thaw frozen jam in the refrigerator or in warm water.  Jam consistency may be softer and more watery after thawing.  Do not refreeze.


Here's the link to the recipe:  Strawberry Balsamic Jam

Serving suggestions:

Serve over toast, an English muffin, pancakes, or a bagel; warm a couple of tablespoons of jam in the microwave and serve over vanilla bean ice cream (oh, you know that's what I'm going to do!); serve over cream cheese or mascarpone cheese as you would a pepper jelly.




I did it...the tartness of the jam paired with the sweetness of the ice cream is just right.

 



Enjoy!

Sherry