I still have so much more Italian stuff to post but it’ll have to wait. German strawberries have finally arrived! Yay! You’re going to be seeing a lot of berry recipes over the next few weeks.
I went strawberry picking for the first time ever on Sunday. It was amazing. Strawberries were only 2.40 eur/kg ($1.35/lb) and cherries were 2.20 eur/kg ($1.27/lb). I have never tasted such juicy and sweet strawberries. It was ridiculous. We picked 15 pounds of strawberries and then we transported them home in a bag. Everyone else had box-like cardboard baskets and that should have been a sign that we also needed such things.
We rented a car but we had to walk and use public transportation to and from the car and home. By the time we got home, all 15 pounds were smooshed. That meant I had to process them all immediately and being as it was Sunday, I couldn’t go and buy pectin from the grocery store. So here we have a pectin free recipe. :)
This stuff was SO good. I’m guessing it was because of the most-amazing-strawberries-ever, but I hope it’s still good using normal strawberries. I bought some strawberries today to use in my pictures and eating them was just depressing. They’re nowhere as sweet and juicy as the other ones. :(
I never buy jam because of all the sugar in it. I think I used relatively little honey here, but if your strawberries aren’t very sweet, I think you’d have to add more. Just keep adding more until it suits you. Really, these strawberries were like candy.
I was worried that my honey jam wouldn’t taste nearly as good as with white sugar but I was wrong. Really, really wrong! At the beginning, you could taste the honey. After a few minutes of boiling, all you could taste was strawberries with a lemony zing. And don’t leave out the lemon juice! It’s necessary due to the lack of pectin (or at least that’s what I’ve read).
I have no clue how to can things and don’t know if this is suitable for canning so I’m just going to say that you should keep this in the fridge and eat within a week or so. In reality, I’ll keep it in there for longer than a week but I don’t want anyone to get sick because of me. So, one week it is. :)
Honey Sweetened Strawberry Jam
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: A 600ml (20oz) jar
Ingredients
- 920 grams / 2 pounds (~6½ cups smooshed) rinsed off, patted dry, and hulled really sweet strawberries
- 70 grams (~¼ cup) honey
- 3 teaspoons lemon zest
- ¼ cup (60ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
Directions
- Place the strawberries in a large pot and smoosh with the bottom of a glass. Add the honey, lemon zest and lemon juice and heat over medium high.
- Boil, stirring every now and then, until the mixture thickens. With my really soft and juicy strawberries, this took about 45 minutes. It could take more or less time depending on your strawberries.
- To test, put some of the jam on a clean spoon and then put the spoon on a plate in the freezer. Let it sit in there for five minutes and then take it out. If the jam doesn’t fall easily off the spoon when you turn it to the side, it’s ready and you can take the pot off the heat. If it does pour off easily, continue cooking for another 5 minutes and try the test again.
- Let cool and then pour into jars and store in the fridge and for up 1 week.
46 comments on "Honey Sweetened Strawberry Jam" — Add one!
I made this last night with strawberries from our garden. I followed the recipe exactly and I made 12 ounces of finished jam. (1 and 1/2 jelly jars half pint). The amount of honey is correct and I think I could have even used less if I wanted. It never really gelled up and I think mine turned into more of a strawberry butter (like apple butter) still taste great. I am going to can one of the jars and will let you know in a few months how it turns out.
That sounds amazing! Strawberry season hasn’t even begun over here so I’m super jealous. Thanks for experimenting with the canning! I hope it’ll be ok and can’t wait to hear if it comes out! Sorry that yours never gelled up but I’m happy to hear that it still tasted good. Thanks for the feedback! :)
Just wanted to say you can process this in a hot water bath for 10 minutes and keep the jars for a year or more as long as the jars are sealed.The jam may darken after a period but it will not effect the taste.A quick question where do you get the jars are they from Europe?
Hi Sue! Thanks for the tip. Have you tried this method with this recipe? Or recipes that just use a little honey? I’m still worried about that. But if you’ve tried it, I’ll give it a go!
The jars are Weck jars. They are German, but you can get them in the US too. :) http://weckjars.com/
I just made this twice. Once just strawberry and once with the combo below. I left some of the strawberries out and cut them in big chunks and added them into the rest after they were mashed. This let me have big chunks of strawberries…. yum. I didn’t have exactly enough strawberries for a double batch so I added a couple small oranges (without the white yucky stuff) and a little zest. I then ran into the ginger when I was getting the lemon out and thought… wow that would be good so minced up 1/2 in of ginger in it. This stuff is amazing.
Wow, Deb. Your version sounds amazing! I definitely want to try a strawberry ginger orange version next time. Sounds perfect! Thanks so much for your review. :) I’m happy to hear that you enjoyed it!
i’ll be making this soon! as soon as our strawberries come in :)
i love finding new ways to make jam – and no pectin? that’s awesome!
would you be able to can this jam? and how long would it be good for?
sounds good!! really wanna try this out this weekend!
Sorry for the slow reply! I hope you saw the answer in the post. :) I don't have any experience with canning so I can't really help you there. And I kept mine in the fridge for two weeks but I picked the berries myself and so they were super fresh. I recommend one week just to be on the safe side. :) I hope you try it! It's really so delicious.
This jam is worth planning for…cannot wait for the early Spring harvest from Spain!..I was wondering just why pectin is not considered to be "good" for us or "healthy"?…I really do not know!….Also..I wondered if you might have a no-cook freezer strawberry jam recipe…as I have always loved my mom's version..alas with pectin added!…The vitamins and color are perhaps more easily retained?
At any rate…despite 45 minutes of cooking…this jam has the most gorgeous, vibrant red hue to it!
Thank you for all you do!
Oh my gosh. So sorry Donna! I just happened to see this now. I didn't get the usual notification. :(
Actually, I don't mind pectin. For me, the pectin-free thing is about not having to go buy something you probably don't have. :) I mean… I don't think most people have pectin at home, anyway.
Are you in Europe? The Spanish strawberries here! As bad as always but they're still here. :)
I've looked into this freezer jam thing and it appears that you need the special freezer pectin stuff. It's too bad because I'd love to try it! We just don't have freezer pectin where I live.
I hope you'll enjoy this recipe! I found some forgotten jam in the freezer recently and it was such a treat. :)
So sorry again for the slow reply and thanks for your kind comment!
I am super excited to try this. Finally a recipe for healthy strawberry jam.
Sonia – You don't use Google Reader? How do you do it?! I have like 150 new posts every day if I don't check for a full day (I only read a few) and I'd hate to get so many emails!
And OH MY GOD ginger! YES! Now I want to make this again but all I have are the lousy grocery store strawberries. :( They aren't even half as sweet.
Thank you for the pictures comment! Coming from you that really means a lot (not that it doesn't from a random person, but you know what I mean :))
And yay for love jar! I'll have to tell you-know-who that "HA! People on the internet love my jars!"
Forgot to say…
LOVE the jars! :)
Definitely, one can NEVER have too many jars!
Gee, where have I been the last few weeks, looks like I missed a ton of your posts!
Wait… I think I haven't received them by email like I normally do!
Anyway, this strawberry jam looks plain incredible. It really is my kind of jam. Loaded with fruit and fruit flavor, not pectin and sugar. Honey must bring such a great dimension ot it too! I'm thinking fresh vanilla and a hint of ginger must be absolutely fantastic in this.
Ooooh, I think I need to run to the store and buy a case of strawberries.
Thanks so much for all the inspiration!
Oh, and one more thing! Your pictures are plain amazing! Gorgeous! Brilliant! I'm drooling like all over my keyboard now, thanks to you!
Jennie – I hope you enjoy it! And I'm happy that you found me, too. Thanks for subscribing. :)
Wow! This jam is a beauty. I love that you used honey to sweeten it. I am so going to have to make this. Thanks for sharing.
BTW, I found your blog through fearless homemaker, and I'm so glad I did- I love it! I subscribed. Have a great day.
Aww, man. I spent ages replying to comments this morning and it appears as though I didn't actually submit them. Anyway!
The Baltic Maid – Thank you! :D
Jenny – Thank you so much for taking the time to leave your comment! That's really interesting that you only use 1/4 cup – 1/2 cup in your jam. I wonder why everyone else uses so much. Maybe our fruit is just exceptionally sweet? And that's a really good point about canning produce.
Three weeks is definitely better than one week! I froze my leftovers last night but kept some in the fridge to experiment with. We'll see how long it stays. :)
And that's another super tip with using some not so ripe strawberries. I'll definitely try that the next time I make jam! Thanks again for your lovely comment. :)
Katrina – Aww, that's too bad but there's always next time!
Valerie – Well hello! I hope you're enjoying some Speculoospasta. :) We still don't have it in Germany, which is too bad. Thanks for stopping by to say hey. :)
What fun to find your space today — I'm just one country over from you, in the Netherlands. (:
Awww, I REALLY wish I saw this last week when I was jam recipe hunting. I made some awesome stuff, but I love how this is pectin free! Next time…
Hi, I just stumbled across your site and this looks so good.
I have actually made all of my own jam for about a year now and have tried both with added pectin and without. I've canned what I've made and usually use only 1/4-1/2 cup of sugar (never tried honey–was a bit scared to, but now I'll give it a go).
My understanding is that canning is just the process of submersing your finished product in boiling water for a particular amount of time to seal them. I don't think it requires sugar at all–since I know you can can produce from a garden without adding sugar.
Also, I know that the canning company that sent me some tutorial information said the uncanned jams last 3 weeks in the fridge.
Finally, I read somewhere that strawberries do have pectin, though they lose it as they ripen. The suggestion was to use a handful of not-quite-ripe ones in with all the deliciously ripe ones to help with the setting of the jam.