Strawbrizzle Jam

So I’m still no further in thinking about what I want to do with the blog, but that’s not going to stop me from documenting my baking escapades, especially when one of my most favorite ingredients is in season – strawberries. Upon seeing $5 flats of strawberries on a recent trip to TJ’s, I just couldn’t deny my hoarding tendencies—so I bought a bunch. I mean, the apocalypse was just days away… what if I couldn’t get strawberries after 5/21? 

It seemed like a good idea at the time, but once I got them home, I had to figure out how to consume about 6 pints of strawberries in a matter of a week. I put them in my breakfast, ate them for dessert, and after about day 3, couldn’t force-feed myself any more. Then, I remember the delicious homemade jam my grandma use to make in the spring time. When I was 8 I could easily go through and entire jar of strawberry jam in about 2 days. The ingredients are what make is so good: strawberries and sugar -- It’s pretty much dessert in a jar.

I was sure this strawberry jam recipe was some locked down Hannah family secret because of how delicious it was. I called home and had my parents look through every recipe card in my grandmother’s old cookbook to find it. When it finally turned up, I was a little depressed when I learned that grandma got this one from the back of a gelatin box. Whatever, grandma obviously knows not to mess with the classics. 

  

So, recipe in hand, I was ready to start on my homemade jam/canning adventure in the wee kitchen. But, I would also have to have something to put the jam on, so I figured I would make a nice, buttery, brioche bread to serve as the vessel for the jam… can’t be that hard right? Right?

I started by making the bread. The list of ingredients is pretty short – some flour, 3 sticks of butter, yeast, a little water – it’s combining them all together that is the work. Just about every recipe I read suggested using a bread maker, or at least a standing mixer. Oh yeah – like I have room for that in my 8 x 8ft kitchen. Knowing the Big Lots hand mixer would probably kick the dust if I forced it to blend bread together, I decided to do it all by hand. You have to mix each little chunk of butter in by itself by punching and turning the dough. It took a good amount of time, but I worked my aggression out. 

Phew – all done, now just gotta cover this up with some saran wrap and let it rise.

Jump forward 60 minutes…. This looks exactly the same. What the hell?

After checking a few baking sites, it seems like the yeast wasn’t “activated”, so I tried it one more time and made sure the yeast had little bubbles in it before I remixed everything.  Ok, so take 2, going to try this again. 

After the bread (finally ) rose, I cut it into 3 pieces, rolled each of them into a log, and then braided it together to form a braid. It got brushed with some egg whites and sugar and then into the oven. GODSPEED!

 

Now onto the main event – strawberry jam. Compared to the bread, this is quite easy. Strawberries + sugar + heat + 20 minutes of boiling = Jam. If you want some more specifics the “secret family recipe” is below. It advises using Sure-Jell which is pectin and just about impossible to find in NYC (with so many people awaiting the apocalypse, you’d think…). I read a couple of canning blogs (nerd!) and to find that lemon juice is a good substitute since the acidity works with the sugar to make the jam more jelly-like and made that substitution below. 

All that’s left is pouring the strawberry lava into jars. Make sure the jars are sterilized or you end up with botulism in your food without any exceptions** (this may not be 100% true). I just heated up a pot of boiling water and dropped the lids and cans in there for 5 min or so to make sure. Then pour the jam in, leaving about ½ inch at the top and seal. Drop the cans back into a few inches of water for another 5 or 10 min to make sure the can is going to seal. As the jars cool, they’ll pull the little security popper thing down because of a vacuum or friction or gravity… I don’t know… something with science. 

Bread is ready, Jam is ready; time to eat!

Strawberry Jam: 

Ingredients

• 2 pounds fresh strawberries, hulled
• 5 cups white sugar
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 pinch salt

Directions

1. In a stockpot, combine the strawberries, sugar, vinegar and salt. Bring to a rolling boil, and cook stirring frequently for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the temperature of the mixture has reached 220 degrees F (105 degrees C).
2. Transfer the mixture to hot sterile jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace, and seal. Process jars for 10 minutes in a water bath. Refrigerate jam once the seal is broken.