Wonderful Strawberry and Elderflower Jam

Collect elderflower

1. Take a normal cotton tote bag and collect elderflower umbels in spring, which are easiest to cut off with (garden) shears. Possibly just shake off animals or blow them off. Depending on whether you want a lot or a few flowers in your jam, the bag is filled to about 1/3 or 2/3. Make sure that the plants do not grow near roads or parking lots (pollution)!

Prepare the strawberries & blossoms

1. Wash the strawberries, chop them roughly and put them in a large saucepan. Pluck the unwashed elderflower (otherwise the sweet pollen is gone) on the strawberries. If you pull against the grain, as with currants, it is easiest. This work requires a lot of patience, but I promise you it is well worth the work!

Prepare glasses

1. Put the washed, open jam jars in the oven and heat it up to approx. 80-100 ° C to disinfect the jars on the one hand and to prevent them from jumping due to the later lack of temperature shock when the hot jelly is poured in. Place the lids on the work surface, ready to hand.

Cook Marmelade

1. Add the preserving sugar and (homemade) elderflower syrup to the strawberries and flowers and bring to the boil according to the instructions. Any stalks can still be fished out easily while stirring.

Make a gel test

1. Make a jelly test by dripping a dollop of jam onto a saucer that has been chilled in the freezer beforehand. If the jam is too runny, keep cooking it for a short time.

Fill jam

1. Place the hot glasses on the work surface. As an additional safety measure, I place the glasses on a damp, warm cloth to avoid a temperature shock = glass cracking. If the working height is too high for you, you can put the bottles in the sink filled with hot water … if there is too much water, the glasses start to float. Pour the still hot jam into the hot glasses until they are full to the brim. Make sure the sealing edges stay clean. Close the jars immediately and turn them upside down for about 10 minutes (hot!), Turn them back and let them cool down. Enjoy your meal!

Variations & Notes

1. First things first! I use homemade elderflower syrup (recipe is available)! Since this is much fuller and more intense than the syrup in the store, there are certainly differences in taste.
2. If you missed the flowering time and / or do not want elderflower syrup, you can omit both or the flowers.
3. With this recipe I got about 1,620 g of jam.
4. Jam jars or mason jars are available in stores. But you can also just use the screw-top jars that build up over time. However, I would advise against screw-top jars in which there was previously pickled garlic or the like … If the washed jar or the lid still smells like the original content, I would have to ensure that the jam takes on some of it. I have had very good experiences with pesto glasses … not too small and not too big and therefore they are ideal as a gift for a loved one.
5. To make filling easier, a funnel with a very wide opening can be used. Any leftover can be put in a bowl and enjoyed with the next breakfast.