Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

Last week-end I had the luck to "borrow a strawberry field" of a rowing friend on Summer vacation. I picked more strawberries, than I could eat, so I decided to turn all these strawberries into various Summer jams, thereby shaving some of the Danish Midsummer for later use in the Autumn and Winter.

A very classic Danish jam is the combination of strawberry and rhubarb. Here I decided to use equal amount of strawberries and rhubarb as starting point. When I later taste this jam, I will see, if adjustments are needed on this ratio.

Making this Summer jam fits very well into my 2017 Summer Challenge of jam making :-)

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam:

• 400 g strawberries - cut into halves
• 400 g rhubarb stem - cut into 1-2 cm pieces
• 12 g pectin / gelling powder
• 400 g sugar
• 1 dl water
• preservative - optional

1. Heat up the strawberries, rhubarb pieces and the water in a cooking pot together over low heat. Stir on a regular basis. Let the fruit gentle simmer, until the rhubarb pieces are soft.
2. Mix the pectin/gelling powder together with 50 g sugar. Add this dry-mix slowly to the fruit, while you stir very well in the cooking pot to avoid lump formation.
3. Let the fruit simmer gentle for another 5 minutes. Stir on a regular basis.
4. Add in the rest of the sugar. 
5. Bring the jam to the boiling point and let it boil for 2 minutes.
6. Taste the jam. If you find it too be to sweet/matured in taste, you can add some apple vinegar to bring freshness back to the jam. I normally do this in smaller steps, so I can fine tune the flavour profile to my preference. It is more easy to add some extra, than to remove an overdose of something.
7. Prepare the jam glasses by filling them with boiling water.
8. Fill the glass with jam and close the glass.
9. Store the jam cold to prolong the shelf-life.