No Cook Strawberry Freezer Jam

 

When I had the chance not long ago to buy a whole flat of these beautiful Louisiana strawberries, I had several things in mind, but the main two that I knew I wanted to make was the fresh strawberry pie that I shared last week, and as much strawberry freezer jam as I had berries to make.

I'm especially partial to freezer jam, in part I think because it's so easy to make, but also, since it isn't heat processed, when you thaw it and use it, it tastes just as fresh as the day you put it up.  When we were in Georgia, my husband picked buckets at a time of ripe blackberries that grew wild around his job site, and I made backberry freezer jam every year, as well as a couple of different kinds of blackberry pie.



My pectin product of choice is the Ball brand, for two reasons--one, it requires no cooking at all, and two, it uses more fruit and less sugar than some brands do for freezer jam.  You can buy it in envelopes or pouches, like I did when I made the blackberry jam, or in a little jar, like I used this time.

I had an especially hectic day the day I made this jam, and I had mixed results--mostly completely my fault, I'm convinced.  Here is the basic recipe, and I'll tell you what I did right, and what I did wrong.

Ingredients:

• 1 2/3 c mashed strawberries (not completely crushed, you want more fruit than juice so that the jam will have some body)
• 2/3 c sugar or Splenda
• 4 T Ball fruit pectin (or one small envelope)

Mix the sugar (or Splenda) and the pectin together in a bowl.  Add the fruit, and stir for about 3 minutes, or until the sugar and pectin are well dissolved.  Pour into jars or containers, and allow to set for 30 minutes.  Because this is not heat processed, you can use regular glass canning jars, specially made freezer jam jars, or even repurposed plastic or glass containers of your choice.  Once it's set, store in the fridge for immediate use, or freeze for use later.

I made one small low-sugar batch, using Splenda, which set with no problem.

Then I made a larger, slightly-more-than-doubled batch, which didn't set.  When I realized that this batch wasn't working, I went back over my math to be sure I figured everything right.  Then I dumped the jars all back into my bowl and added a little more sugar and pectin and stirred it all up. 

Still nothing. 

The directions do say not to try to make more than 6 jars at a time, or it may not "set", but I don't think that was the issue.  I think the problem was, instead of mashing the berries in small batches, say a cup at a time, I put the last batch in my big bowl and just went to town with a potato masher.  By this time I had made pies, jam, cleaned the kitchen several times, put away my freezer beef delivery, etc, and I was tired, and trying to hurry the process.  So I mashed and mashed, and I think I mashed too much, so that I had too much juice and not enough actual fruit in the last batch. 

So, my final tally, is 2 2/3 jars of low sugar strawberry jam, and 6 1/2 jars of sweetened mashed strawberries, that when, thawed, make a delicious strawberry syrup to pour over ice cream, or maybe even mix with pound cake and cool whip for a really juicy strawberry shortcake.  Or mix into cake and frosting to make a delcious strawberry cake.

At any rate, it will be eaten in some form or the other, and I have to say, it's not bad as peanut butter and jam, as long as you mix it into the peanut butter and not try to just spread it on the bread. 

I've had too much success with freezer jam to let this be a discouragement (although, I have to admit, I was pretty discouraged the day I made this!)

What success and failure have you had in the kitchen lately?

Until next time, good (no-cook) cooking, and good eating...

This post linked to:
Meatless Monday at My Sweet and Savory
Church Supper at Everyday Mom's Meals
Sweet and Savory Sunday at Cookin' for the Seven Dwarfs
Make, Bake, Create at Hope in Every Season
Back for Seconds

Blackberry Freezer Jam--No Cooking Necessary!

Last year I wrote about the delicious fresh blackberries my husband picked for us from the bushes in the woods around his job site--and it's that time of year again! When I got back to Georgia last week, I had several quarts of berries waiting for me in the fridge that he'd just picked over the weekend.


We've all been trying to cut out or at least down on sugar, so I haven't been baking much, but I did take the opportunity to while I had these delicious fresh (and free, too!) berries to put up a batch of blackberry freezer jam.


I used the Ball pectin to make this batch--it requires no cooking or heat processing, and uses less sugar than some brands.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups crushed blackberries
• 1 1/2 c sugar
• 1 pkg Ball Freezer Jam Fruit Pectin

Notice that the measurments is for crushed fruit--I used a potato masher to smush 1-2 cups at a time, pouring the crushed berries into the measuring cup. (Don't use a food processor for this, you don't want puree, you need some 'body' left to the fruit you use.)

Mix the sugar and fruit pectin in a bowl; stir until blended.

Add the crushed fruit, and stir well, until all of the sugar and pectin is incorporated into the fruit.

Ladle into jars or other containers--a jar funnel makes it easier.

I just happened to have some half-pint jelly jars, but because this is not heat processed and "sealed" you can use plastic containers or "re-purposed" jars.

Allow the containers to set for about 30 minutes, then refrigerate (if you're going to use it right away) or freeze (for later use.)

This makes a soft-set jam that's delicious and fresh-tasting on biscuits or toast, or makes really really good peanut-butter and jam sandwiches.

What have you been cooking this week your garden or from nature's bounty?

This post is linked to:

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace

Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam

Tuesday Tastes at Crazy Daisy

Tuesdays at the Table All the Small Stuff

Delicious Dishes at It's a Blogparty

What's on the Menu? at Dinning With Debbie

Recipe Swap at the Grocery Cart Challenge

Ultimate Recipe Swap at Life as Mom

Until next time, good (un-)cooking, and good eating...

Blackberry Bounty 3--No-cook Jam

Did I mention already that my sweet husband brought home quarts and quarts of yummy fresh blackberries he picked himself? Between the two crust blackberry pie and the chilled blackberry pie I made, we also ate berries by the handful, and I had at least two bowls of berries with milk and sugar, one of my absolute favorite ways to eat berries of any kind.

And even after all of that, I still had berries left--enough to make this super easy jam. Because it's not cooked or heat processed, it has to be stored in the refrigerator or freezer, hence the other name for this--freezer jam. I made this a few years ago when I bought a whole flat of fresh strawberries, so it works for pretty much any kind of berries and also some other kinds of fruit.

This time around I used a different brand of fruit pectin and a slightly different technique from what I did before, so be sure to read the directions on your jelly-making-stuff.


Ingredients:

• 4 cups crushed blackberries
• 1 1/2 c sugar
• 1 pkg Ball No Cook Freezer Jam fruit pectin

In a large mixing bowl, stir together sugar and fruit pectin. Add 4 cups crushed fruit, and stir at least 3 minutes longer, till sugar dissolves.
In order to get 4 cups crushed berries, I measured 4 cups of whole berries, poured them into a bowl, and smashed them up with my pastry blender. I poured the crushed fruit back into the measuring cup, and kept crushing a cup at a time until I got a full 4 cups. You could also use a potato masher, but my potato masher is in my other kitchen at home in Louisiana instead of with me in Georgia where I need it. That's the story of my life, but, I digress!
For berries and fruit with a lot of seeds, you may want to press about half of the fruit through a sieve or a jelly strainer. I didn't do this step, because I was using the last of the berries and I was afraid I wouldn't have enough left to make my full 4 cups. Also note--you want the fruit to be crushed, but not liquefied-the whole point of making jam vs. jelly is having some body to it.
And that's it! I ended up with three full freezer jam pints, and a little left over. I bought a package of special freezer jam jars (I did have a coupon!) but you could put this in any plastic container with a good seal.
Remember--because this is not cooked or heat processed, it must be stored in the fridge or freezer till you use it!
This goes really well with peanut butter...

Or on homemade biscuits...

And by a big coincidence(!), my super easy recipe for buttermilk biscuits will be coming up next!


This recipe is linked t0:

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace

Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam

Tuesday at the Table at All the Small Stuff

Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family

Click on the links above to see more recipes and links!


Until next time, good cooking, and good eating!