I love new twists on my ‘old favourite’ recipes for preserving fruits and vegetables, and Strawberry & Fig Jam is now firmly on my list of new favourites.
My strawberries are producing copiously this year and, now that I’ve figured out where the birds were getting in, I’m harvesting a good supply. Any that are surplus to requirements at the time, I just hull them and freeze them whole (see also Freezing Fruit). Also in my freezer were some figs that really needed to be used before the new season’s figs start ripening.
There are lots of recipes for Strawberry & Fig Jam but most of them seemed to use Strawberry Jello rather than real strawberries and sounded rather gross to me. I decided just to use the tried and true jam method using fresh/frozen strawberries and figs and Jam Setting Sugar (see Quick & Easy Berry Jam). You just need equal quantities of fruit and sugar (I used a kilo of fruit and a kilo of sugar) – and I used equal quantities of strawberries and figs but you can use whatever ratio you like depending on what fruit you have available. Blitz the fruit in a food processor until they are coarsely chopped.
Then put the fruit and sugar into a preserving pan. Heat over a low heat until the sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Do not allow to boil.
Add a knob of butter then increase heat and bring to a full boil (a boil that cannot be stopped when stirred). Boil for 4 minutes only, carefully skim off any foam from surface during cooking. Spoon out a small amount of jam onto a cold plate. Allow to cool slightly, then test for set: push finger gently through jam, when surface wrinkles remove the pot from heat. Bottle immediately into sterilised jars.
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