I’m a chutney veteran, sauces, pickles, pastes, I’ve done them all, but I’ve never made jam. That is until today. I kept hearing how easy it is in the whizzy machine so I decided to give it a go. Clearly I was quite excited by the idea of homemade jam because I got a bit carried away and bought 600gm strawberries, 300gm blueberries, and about 200gm raspberries but I only had 2 empty jars (not that I am complaining about now having a fridge full of delicious berries).

I AM IN LOVE! This is delicious. So much nicer than shop bought jam, not as sweet and not a single scientific sounding ingredient to be found. The colour is incredible, it almost casts a lovely magenta glow.

Recipe
Add to bowl:

• 250-300gm Berries (I used about 180gm strawberries, 50gm raspberries, and a handful of blueberries)
• Equal quantity of ‘jam sugar’
• Juice of half a lemon (~1T)

Whizz 14 minutes, 100 degrees, Sp 1, (then, only if it isn’t looking like it is thickening up)
Whizz 2 minutes, Varoma temp, Sp 1 (repeat if needed).

Pour into sterilised jars while still hot – if you want to be really clever you can sterilise them in your varoma while the jam is cooking! Didn’t occur to me until it was ready.

If you prefer your jam without lumps (for some reason I am anti-lump in strawberry jam but fine with other types), give it a quick turbo whizz before you turn on the heat.

Tip 1: If you don’t want any seeds in your jam puree the fruit and strain them out BEFORE turning it into jam. After I made the jam I decided it might be nice without seeds and tried to strain it as it rapidly set in my sieve and wouldn’t pass through. I just ended up with a very jammy sieve.

Tip 2: If you’re keen on kitchen gadgetry (which I am) invest in a strawberry huller, mine is a ‘Stem Gem’, nifty little gadget and works a treat.  Available in kitchenware shops or on Amazon just about everywhere.