Do you know a healthy recipe for strawberry jam? Try ours with cane sugar

Most of us think of a healthy strawberry jam as a recipe that tastes fantastic and contains nothing but fruit. No chemicals or sugar.

If you make jam at home without sugar, it will last approximately one month.
And that's even if you sterilise it.

In this case, the jam is intended for immediate consumption.

However, if we want to put strawberry jam aside and store it so that we can remember the taste of summer even months after the strawberry season, we can't do it without sugar.

Healthy versions of traditional strawberry jam are therefore aimed at:

1. Reducing the amount of sugar used per kilo of strawberries.
   Older recipes call for a 2:1 ratio of sugar to fruit (i.e., two pounds of sugar per kilo of strawberries).
   In modern recipes, this ratio shifts significantly in favor of strawberries.

2. Recipes use substitutes for the classic white granulated sugar, which can be elegantly avoided - cane, coconut or date sugar.
   Alternatively, jam can be made with honey or maple syrup.

4 tips on how to do it... (not just for beginners)

1.

Prepare all the necessary tools. Most of them you already have at home, even if you have never made jam before.

• A pot for cooking jam - it should have a thick and wide bottom and not be high, so that the water evaporates better when cooking
• stainless steel ladle
• a cooking pot and a cotton cloth - both will stain when cooking, so you need to take this into account
• glasses and lids for glasses
• a stainless steel wide-mouth funnel to make the job of filling the jars easier
• a fruit press, or a hand grinder or passer
• a sieve to collect the foam that forms when jam is cooked
• a pair of tongs to make it easier to handle hot jars

2. Hygiene guidelines

If we want to prolong the life of our preserves, it is essential to observe hygiene principles.

In order to be able to fill the jars with jam without worrying, we must first sterilise them.

The jars can be sterilised by boiling or heat.

• Boiling means putting the washed jars in a pot that is deep enough to cover the jars with water.
  Boil the immersed jars for 10 minutes on a high heat.
  If you have a lot of jars, sterilise them gradually, as the jars must not touch each other.
  After the sterilisation time has elapsed, remove them with tongs and leave the jars to dry completely on a clean cloth.
• Heat means that you sterilise the jars in the oven.
  Line a baking tray with baking paper.
  Place the jars on the prepared tray.
  Alternatively, pour water over the jars.
  Sterilise at 160 degrees for 10 minutes.

Don't forget the lids. Just dip them in boiling water for a few seconds.

We recommend using one lid no more than three times during the jarring process.
To make sure the jam doesn't spoil due to a poor quality seal.
As an aid, make a notch in the lid for each jam when you use it.

3. Proper preparation of the jam

There are a few principles that will guarantee success when cooking jam.

• Only the best fruit is used to make jam. Therefore, it should be sorted before use and anything rotten or mouldy should be discarded.
• Any sugar or honey can be used for jam.
  It is important to keep the right ratio of fruit, sugar and citric acid or lemon juice.

In principle, no more than 500 grams of sugar should be added to 1 kg of cleaned strawberries.

Depending on the maltiness of the fruit and the pectin content, you can add less sugar, for example 400 grams per 1 kg of strawberries. If you add even less, we recommend sterilising the jam in jars.

What is pectin?

• It is a polysaccharide
• found in the cell walls and intercellular layers of all land plants
• it is a type of soluble fibre

Currants, gooseberries and apples, for example, contain the most pectin, while apricots and plums contain an average amount. The least pectin is found in cherries, raspberries and strawberries, for example.
The more pectin a fruit contains, the quicker the jam will thicken when cooked.
Fruit with a lower content of this fibre needs to be cooked for longer.

• Jams made by slow cooking are thicker and more concentrated in flavour.
• Place a plate in the refrigerator for a "plate test".

We can tell if the jam is ready by dropping the jam onto the prepared chilled plate.
The plate will cause the jam to chill instantly and will show what the consistency will be when chilled.

If the consistency is jelly-like and holds together, the jam is done. If not, keep cooking.

• Before the end of cooking, add citric acid or lemon juice, about 3-5 g per 1 kg of fruit.

Citric acid:

• helps regulate acidity
• prevents the jam from losing its colour
• helps prevent the jam from moulding

4. Filling the jars

The finished jam must be filled into the prepared jars while still hot.
Do not fill the jars all the way to the rim, but 2 cm below the rim.

If this happens, wipe them with a clean cloth. Otherwise, the jam may not preserve properly and may spoil.

A funnel will make the job easier.

Most jams do not need to be sterilised after cooking. Just turn them upside down and leave them in a towel or under a blanket to cool completely.

If you do need to sterilise, do so in a similar way to sterilising empty jars.

Read also our article:

• What substances strawberries contain
• What effects eating strawberries has on our health
• What to look for in strawberries when buying them in the store

Strawberry jam with cane sugar

For a great thick strawberry jam you need:

• 2 kg strawberries
• 1 kg cane sugar
• 3 tablespoons of vanilla extract
• 10 g citric acid
• juice of one lemon

From this quantity, make approximately 8 250 ml jars, i.e. about 2 litres of jam.

Procedure:

1. Sort, de-seed and wash the strawberries.
2. Leave half of them whole and gently mash the other half with your hands.
3. Mix the strawberries with the vanilla extract in a glass jar and sprinkle the sugar over them.
4. Seal the jar and refrigerate for 24 to 48 hours. The fruit will release its natural juices during this time. The longer the strawberries and sugar are left to set, the more juices they will release and the more delicious the jam will be.
5. After two days, first stir the mixture thoroughly and then add the citric acid and lemon juice.
6. The jam is best cooked in batches in a wide shallow pot. Cook on the lowest heat until the jam thickens - about 30-60 minutes.
7. During this time, stir the jam and skim off any foam that forms.
8. A test with a chilled plate will confirm that the jam is ready.
9. When the jam is cooked, pour the hot jam into sterilised jars, close them tightly and place them lid side up.
10. Cover the jars and leave to cool in a warm place.

Do you know 7 tricks to keep strawberries fresh for as long as possible?
You can read this and much more in our article.

We hope you enjoyed our healthy strawberry jam recipe and wish you a good taste.

Try our other tasty and healthy recipes:

• Try our healthy blueberry cheesecake recipe with cottage cheese and mascarpone
• Recipe for a healthy blueberry jam.
• Recipe for a healthy beetroot smoothie. Do you know the effects of beetroot?