Recipe: Strawberry Jam

I'm back in York for the next couple of weeks, looking after the house whilst my parents are away. So now that I have free reign of the kitchen I wanted to try out a few new recipes that I've discovered recently. 

One of those recipes was strawberry jam, a classic favourite of many and as Jamie Oliver revealed, deceptively easy! 

Into the kitchen I went, grabbing a pan, an empty jar and my 3 ingredients (yes, just three!). 

I will save you the suspense, it is the best strawberry jam I have ever eaten and so simple.

Strawberry Jam: makes 4 - 5 400ml jars

1 vanilla pod (I didn't have any so substituted a dash of vanilla essence)

1 kg strawberries 

500g jam sugar

• Before starting you need to sterilize the jars. This can be done by submerging in boiled water in the sink, heating in the oven or using a hot cycle dishwasher. 
• Take the tops off the strawberries and place in a pan.
• Halve the vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds, add to the strawberries. (If using essence instead, add this to the strawberries now) 
• Add the sugar to the strawberries, using a potato masher roughly mash the strawberries to a pulp, leaving some larger chunks for a better final texture. 
• Over a medium heat, bring the pan to the boil then simmer for 5 minutes.
• Turn off the heat and skim off any foam from the surface. Leave to cool for about 15 minutes.
• Divide the jam between the jars and leave to cool completely before putting on the lids. Place the jars in the fridge. 

This was the perfect breakfast on a toasted, buttered crumpet with a hot cuppa! 

The texture is beautiful, slightly runny with big juicy chunks of strawberry.

I never thought making jam could be so simple, I'd only ever heard scary things about jam thermometers and that was enough to put me off.

This is a brilliant recipe and I am now desperate to try it out with a variety of other fruits! I hope this has inspired a few of you to get in the kitchen and start jammin'!