Freezer Strawberry Jam

What about a second post today! I made some freezer jam this morning as I'd grabbed three punnets of British strawberries reduced to 50p each at our local Co-op last night! I try to make it every season as there's often lots of reduced fruit around at this time of year. Its so delicious, and such an easy recipe, I thought I'd pass it on to you all. Its taken from a book I bought many years ago (in 1995 I think as that's when it was published) titled Sensational Preserves by Hilaire Walden.

All you do is crush about 2 pounds (900 gms) strawberries in a non-metallic bowl with a wooden spoon or masher. Stir in 1 pound of jam/preserving sugar (sugar with pectin), then cover and place in your oven preheated to its lowest setting until the strawberries are warm but not hot. Remove from the oven and leave to stand for an hour, stirring occasionally until the sugar has disolved. After that stir in the juice of one lemon and pack into small freezer-proof containers, leaving plenty of room for the jam to expand on freezing. Seal the containers and leave to stand for 6 hours at room temperature, then refrigerate for 24-48 hours until jellied. After this store in the freezer.
The jam is more of a sauce than a proper jam - its very soft set. However it is absolutely delicious on ice cream or in yogurt as well as on toast or crumpets /muffins. It has the lovely fresh flavour of early summer so defrosting it in the middle of winter is a sure cure for the winter blues. It can be frozen for up to 6 months but once thawed must be kept in the fridge and used within 2-3 days. Therefore in order not to waste a single teaspoon its best to use small containers. You can also make Raspberry Freezer Jam but I haven't tried it as there never seem to be enough raspberries either in the garden - as we've eaten them - or in the supermarket at a cheap enough price.

I hope you'll try making this as its maximum pleasure for minimum effort! I'm intending to make another favourite tomorrow morning, elderflower cordial, as there are lots of flowers out at the bottom of the garden. Watch this space for the recipe.