Strawberry and passion fruit jam

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Despite strawberry jam being one of the more difficult jams to master, it’s often the first thing novice preservers try their hand at. Strawberries have very low pectin levels and tend to foam formidably. That said, it’s easy enough to get a nice soft set with practice. In this recipe, the sweet strawberries get a welcome dose of acidity from the passion fruit (although it is dampened by cooking, which is why we add the citric acid at the end), as well as the great textural crunch of the seeds. The passion fruit also makes for a polka-dot jam, which is undeniably cool.

YIELDS

Ingredients

1.2kg (8 cups) rinsed, hulled strawberries
600g (3 cups) sugar
160 g (2/3 cup) passion fruit pulp, from about 6 passion fruit
60 mL (1/4 cup) lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon citric acid

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the strawberries, sugar, pulp, and lemon juice and let macerate for at least 15 minutes, or up to one week, covered, in the refrigerator. Prepare the jars (see page 20). Once the sugar has drawn out some juice and softened up the strawberries, mash them by hand and squeeze them with your fists. Not only is this fun, it also makes for a rough, uneven texture that I love. It also takes 5% of the time it would take to chop them all up with a knife. If this method freaks you out, wear latex gloves!
Transfer the mixture to a pot or preserving pan over medium-high heat. Bring to a hard boil, stirring frequently.
When the setting point is reached (see page 23), remove from the heat and add the citric acid, stirring well to combine. Pour into the prepared jars to within 1/4 to 1/8 inch of the rim. Remove any air bubbles, wipe the rims if necessary, seal, and invert for one to two minutes. Flip right side up and let the jam sit, undisturbed, for 24 hours.

Excerpted from Jam Bake by Camilla Wynne.Copyright © 2021 Camilla Wynne. Photography by Mickaël A. Bandassak.Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.