If you remember my last weeks grocery haul, I bought 800g of Strawberries for R29.95 from Fruit & Veg to make jam. There is so much refined sugar in ready made jam so I decided to try making my own.

At first I thought of making the low carb jam from Low Carb is Lekker by Ine Reynierse. It has Psyllium husks in it which give it that jello texture since it uses Xylitol instead of sugar. I have made a small batch of it before but wanted something a bit more traditional and was worried it would spoil, since there is no sugar or acid in it.

I tried to look on Pinterest for other low carb recipes but only saw things like jam with chia seeds which sounded a bit too new age! So I had to make up my own recipe. Ideally when you make jam you need to use 1:1 of fruit to sugar. Using this ratio I would have had to use 750g sugar to my hulled strawberries. Jamie Oliver recommends 350g of sugar to about 750g of strawberries so I thought okay, could I go less than that? It’s not as thick as regular jam because I used very little sugar but I prefer the freshness that I got in return and the fact I can use this as more of a fruit sauce and spread than just a jam. Have you made jam from scratch before?

Strawberry Jam

Ingredients:

• 800g washed and hulled strawberries
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup Xylitol
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• jars for storing

Method:

1. Place whole or chopped strawberries in a large bowl. Add the sugar, xylitol and lemon juice and macerate for a few minutes.
2. Using a potato masher or your hands, squeeze the strawberries to a pulp. You can also use a blender and pulse the strawberries leaving some chunky pieces. If you prefer a smooth jam, blend completely.
3. Place the strawberry pulp carefully into a wide pot and boil on medium heat. Skim the scum from the top of the mixture every now and then until you are left with a clear jam only.
4. Once you can see it start to thicken, place a small amount of jam in a bowl or plate and put it into the freezer or fridge to cool it down. This is to see what consistency the jam will be when it is cold.
5. Sterilize your jars by first washing them in hot soapy water then rinsing them in hot water. You can dry them in an oven. A quicker method is to pour hot boiling water over them after you have washed them and leave to cool and dry completely.
6. Spoon the jam mixture into the jars when it is still warm.
7. Refrigerate and enjoy on toast or ice cream! See tips below for important notes.

Tips:

1. I used very little sugar so the jam will not be as thick as ready made jam. If you want a thicker consistency use 350g of sugar.
2. The longer you boil the thicker it will get but you might lose the fresh strawberry taste and the color will darken.
3. You can add vanilla pod to your sugar for an extra oomph of flavor.

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