* Update: Keep the finished jars in the freezer. After thawing, store in refrigerator and after opening eat it up soon!
Ponchatoula Very Low Sugar Strawberry Jam
I tried this one with much less sugar than called for and it did work! Ponchatoula strawberries are tarter than berries from other parts of the country, even so, this jam came out just delicious! Here is the recipe.
6 pints strawberries, rinse well, remove leaves and core, cut up a bit.
(Strawberries will be measured once more prior to adding to cooking kettle).
1 box Less Sugar Powdered Pectin
1 ¼ cups sugar
1- 12 oz. can frozen 100% apple juice concentrate
Measure 6 cups of mashed strawberries into kettle. In a small bowl combine the pectin powder to ¼ cup sugar and stir, then add to kettle with strawberries. Add the thawed apple juice concentrate. Stir mixture well and heat the mixture until it comes to a rolling boil, all the while stirring so as not to stick to bottom. Boil for 1 minute when it reaches full boil and then add the remaining 1 cup of sugar, stirring into the mixture well. It will come again to a full boil and you will continue to stirring at full boil for one minute. Remove from heat, skim off foam from surface. Ladle into sterilized jars, add caps and rings, tighten and place jars into a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes. Using jar remover utensil, remove jars and allow to cool completely.
This recipe makes 5 full pint jars of jam.
The following jar was opened after refrigeration and I found it to be jelled sufficiently for holding up on bisquits or toast. It would be great as a topping for waffles or icecream. I will probably use it as a filling for my King Cake along side cream cheese!
