Fragrant, sweet strawberries are in season and to make best use of this I decided to make some homemade strawberry preserve. These fleshy, delicate berries are perfect for preserve.The difference between jams and preserves is simple.
Jams use fruit pulp or crushed fruit and preserves use chunky pieces of fruit in a syrupy jam base. My husband hates jam and loves preserve for this reason alone. He loves the fruit chunks on his morning toast.
It requires just 3 ingredients to be precise, 2 of which are very basic and will be available in every pantry. The recipe requires only fresh strawberries, sugar and lime/lemon. Yes, it's that basic. And, the cooking time is only about 15-20 mins. Simple.
I followed Delia Smith's recipe. But I did make a few changes to suit my convenience.
The changes I made are :
1. I did not use preserving sugar as recommended. I used normal white sugar.
2. I did not use any butter in my recipe. I skipped that whole step.
3. I reduced the amount of sugar to 600 gms for 900 gms of strawberries instead of the 700 gms recommended.
4. I cut the big strawberries in half because I did not want to many extra-large chunks in my preserve.
5. After the 8 minute boiling phase, and the consistency test, I continued with 5 more minutes of boiling.
On the whole, I really enjoyed the experience of making preserve and this being my first trial in preserves, I'm proud of the end result. My hubby and mom-in-law and I are thoroughly enjoying it almost every morning.
I always thought that strawberry preserves get their color from artificial colors. But I was pleasantly surprised at how the strawberries turned a deep red when the preserve was ready to be jarred. No artificial color.What I would do differently when I make this preserve again? I would cut all the strawberries in half before sprinkling them with sugar. I prefer small chunks in my preserve.
The picture above shows how to check consistency of the preserve as mentioned in Delia's recipe. The crinkle test with a frozen plate.Luv 'n' luc'
Smitha
