Strawberry Honey Jam

Strawberry season is almost over! If you’re like us, we go through tons and tons of strawberry jam. Traditional recipes are absolutely laden with refined white sugar. In scouring Mr. Google, testing many low sugar recipes and using our children as taste testers, I landed on this gem of a recipe that I found online. It contains FOUR natural ingredients! FOUR! If you’re like me and the “ping” of canning season tickles your fancy, try this recipe! Now, the consistency is a bit runnier, but you’ll get over that in no time. The beautiful thing about this recipe? I use local honey from a beekeeper. I actually buy honey by the gallon bucket. I’ve found that all natural honey is a wonderful staple in our kitchen. I use it in breads, meat marinades and now canning. Thanks to our friends at http://oldworldgardenfarms.com, we can all enjoy the benefits of an abundant strawberry harvest, local honey that supports our local farmers and I can enjoy that “ping” because it is hilarious. I’m done now. Go make biscuits and slather on some of this. I promise it’s amazing!

STRAWBERRY HONEY JAM

• 6 pounds of fresh strawberries
• 3 3/4 cups raw honey
• 2 small granny smith apples (try and find organic)
• 1 1/2 TBSP of freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1/2 of a large lemon)

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Hull strawberries and cut each strawberry in half. Quarter them if they are huge. Place in a large stockpot.
2. Cut the sides of the apples away from the core and grate the apple (leaving the skins on). Place in pot with strawberries.
3. Juice a lemon until you get 1 1/2 TBSP of juice and pour into stockpot.
4. Pour the honey into the pot and stir!
5. Heat the mixture on high until boiling. Keep on stirring. Once it reaches a boil, reduce heat to medium low to simmer. Simmer for approximately another 15 minutes. The longer you simmer, the thicker it will be! Be patient and stir and simmer for crying out loud!
6. Use a potato masher and mash any big pieces. If you have an immersion blender, use that!
7.  Simmer for another 15-45 minutes. See above. The longer it simmers, the thicker it will be. The natural pectin starts to do its magic!
8.  Once you’ve reached the desired consistency, fill freezer safe jars and freeze. Otherwise, use a water bath canner for 10 minutes. Wait for the PING! If you don’t hear it, don’t worry. You can eat it with a spoon or over ice cream that night. You’re welcome….

 

 

Recipe from: http://oldworldgardenfarms.com