Strawberry picking season may be drawing to a close, but raspberries and blueberries will be plump and ready for picking soon! We recently made some of our favorite strawberry jam and things got a little messy in the kitchen. If you like to bake and cook with these juicy fruits like we do, make sure your beautiful marble and natural stone counters are protected against staining and acid-etching with MORE™ AntiEtch™ coating. The pigment in the berries can leave bright stains on your white marble and the citric acid can leave etch marks that dull the shine. With MORE™ you can get as messy as you’d like and cook, bake and entertain with the peace of mine that your counters are protected! To take a crack at making jam yourself, we’d like to share our favorite recipe with you that comes from Lisa at thecookingbride.com. Lisa says:
“Place sliced strawberries in a 6-or-8-quart saucepan. I like to use a potato masher to crush the strawberries up. It just helps to break down the pieces and get things moving a little faster. You could also pulse the strawberries a few times in a food processor, just be careful if you do this so you don’t end up with puree. Stir in 1/4 cup of bottled lemon juice. Gradually add three tablespoons of pectin and whisk until everything is combined. Some recipes suggest adding a little butter to the jam.
As the jam cooks, it will foam. This won’t hurt you and is completely edible, but it can make your jam look cloudy. The butter prevents the foam from forming by adding a little protein into the mix and breaking the surface tension. Bring the jam to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly so things don’t scorch the bottom of your pan. Full rolling boil means that the berries continue to boil even when you give it a stir.Once you have achieved a full rolling boil, add the sugar and stir to dissolve. If you are using low sugar pectin, you can cut the amount of sugar required down to 1 1/2 cups. Return mixture to a boil. Continue to boil for one minute, stirring constantly Remove pan from heat. Skim any foam off the top if any has accumulated. The jam will thicken significantly as it cools, but if you want to test it immediately, place a metal spoon in the freezer before you get started. Dribble a little of the hot jam on the ice cold spoon. It should thicken up almost immediately, then you know if your jam has reached the right consistency.”
There you have it! Delicious jam and protected counters all in one place making clean up a breeze. Don’t believe us? Take a look at our own counters and then give us a call to see what we can do for you!
