It’s September and according to the radio this means summer is officially over. ‘What summer?’ is the cry from us folks in Scotland as the weather here has been patchy to say the least.
I can’t bear the thought of losing summer and want to cling on to it as long as possible. This delightful Strawberry Gin Jam is one way to do this.
Keen readers of this blog will know that my strawberry gin recipe from my first book So Easy Herbal has been a bit of a star for me. It was the first recipe I did on TV on The Hour, has been featured in magazines and has been demonstrated at many a food theatre event. In fact I was making it every day at the Edinburgh Foodies Festival this summer.
Never one to let anything go to waste I like to use up those somewhat faded gin soaked strawberries after making the gorgeously flavoured gin. I like to kid myself that I am being virtuous and thrifty when in reality I am just wringing out the last remnants of gin.
I’ve served them up with ice-cream in a very adult summer sundae, whazzed them into a boozy sorbet or my real favourite way to use them up is to make this wonderful strawberry gin jam that means I can enjoy that boozy berry taste for months to come.
Because the strawberries have also soaked up a fair bit of sugar I use a little less than the standard 50/50 fruit to sugar ratio in this recipe. I also add 50% fresh strawberries to the gin soaked ones so that there is more body and a bit less os the bitter gin flavour to the jam. If you want to go heavier on the booze front then just use less fresh berries.
The only other ingredient here is lemon juice.
I had 300g of gin soaked strawberries so added another 300g of chopped fresh berries, 400g of sugar and the juice from half a lemon to a pan and slowly brought it to a rolling boil then kept it bubbling till it reached that magical 220C temperature that denotes setting point (there are other ways to check for setting point) then potted it up into 2 medium-sized sterilised jars.
Come on, how easy is that?
Serve your strawberry gin jam on toast for a hair-of-the-dog style breakfast treat, with scones and cream for a tea-time treat, or make a fun sundae with Greek yogurt, strawberry gin jam, a few fresh berries and some crushed toasted nuts.
However you use it this jam is a winner and means you can have that taste of summer sunshine all year round.
Cheers!
Karon x
- 300g gin soaked strawberries from making strawberry and lavender gin
- 300g fresh strawberries
- 400g granulated sugar
- juice of half a lemon
- Hull and chop the fresh strawberries and add these along with the gin soaked berries into a heavy based pan.
- Add the sugar and lemon juice and slowly bring to the boil.
- Boil for approximately 15 minutes until it has reached the setting point (220C of when a teaspoonful on a chilled saucer creases when you drag a finger through it)
- Ladle into sterilised jars and pop on the lids.
Do you mean 220F? I almost burned mine because I was using a thermometer.
Sorry Valerie
All my recipe temperatures are in celcius so it is 220C. So sorry for any confusion
K x
Hi Karon,
How long will this jam keep if put in sterile jars? I want to make it for Christmas presents but strawberries are at their best now (in august). Will it store ok for that long or does it need to be fridged?
Kind regards
Kate
Hi Kate
This will easily keep till long after Christmas, just follow steps for sterilising jars etc
K x
Hello Karon
I would love to make the gin jam but do I need to make the lavender gin first or can I use everyday gin?
Look forward to your reply.
thank you
Diane 🙂
yes because you need those gin soaked strawberries. Normal gin wouldn’t taste the same but it would work just as strawberry jam with a bit of gin flavour. The gin soaked strawberries really pack a punch.
Thank you Karon will definitely give it a go. Diane 🙂