My absolute favourite thing to do in this world is to pick strawberries on a hot summer’s day here in England and eat them still warm from the sun – pure and simple joy!

Now the question is what to do with your freshly picked fruity jewels? The answer is to get jamming!!

Here is the easiest and most foolproof method of making jam, especially strawberry jam which is hard to accomplish due to its naturally low pectin content. One could call it cheating using jam/preserving sugar but realistically you are ensuring a perfect result without wasting a single berry.

Easy Strawberry Jam

Ingredients:

1.5kg fresh strawberries

1.5kg jam or preserving sugar (contains added pectin – available in most supermarkets)

20g butter or margarine

Method:

1. Thoroughly wash and dry approximately 6 jam jars (depends on size), and sterilise in the oven at 100°C for 10 minutes
2. Wash and hull the strawberries
3. Put into a large pan and mash to release their juice
4. Add the sugar; stir until dissolved over a medium heat, then bring to the boil, stirring once or twice only
5. When a rolling boil is achieved, boil for approximately 4 minutes to reach setting point
6. Turn off the heat and test for a set: place a teaspoonful of jam on a cold plate and put in the fridge to cool. Push a finger gently through the jam and if it wrinkles, setting point has been reached
7. Remove carefully from the heat, and place pan on a pot stand
8. Remove any scum by adding the butter or margarine to disperse
9. Leave to stand for 15 minutes to prevent fruit rising to the top of the jars
10. Using a jam funnel and a metal jug, pour into the warmed jars, seal with waxed disks and cellophane
11. Label and date

Fun with Flavours

If you want to get even more creative with your jam making why not add some extra flavours to enhance the taste of your fruit. in the picture above I added the following starting at the top: cracked black pepper, lemon zest, shredded basil, chilli flakes, Aleppo pepper and rosemary. To do this, I made the jam as above and boiled it for 3 and a half minutes.  I took a large ladleful of jam out of the main saucepan and continued to boil in a smaller saucepan with each flavour one at a time to create 6 separate small jars of these unusual and delicious flavours – the strawberry & rosemary being my favourite. Have a go!