Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

My first time making jam, and I'm so happy with how it turned out! I have a huge rhubarb plant in the backyard, just waiting to be turned into yummy sweet preserves.

I did some reading on how to cut back sugar in jams, and it turns out you can omit it altogether if you want to. Sugar does thicken your jam a bit, and add bulk, but it's technically not neccessary - unless you are using pectin, and then you need to keep your sugar and pectin at the correct proportions or the pectin will have no effect in thickening the jam. So, I ended up keeping the proportions, but simply cut back on both. My jam was just sweet and thick enough, but lower in calories and more fruity-tasting than if I'd added the usual amounts of sugar found in standard recipes. This one comes in at 35 calories per tablespoon...

Makes 7 x 125ml jars.

 strawberries, tops cut off and mashed - enough to make 2 cups
rhubarb, thinly sliced - enough to make 2 cups
1 Tbsp lemon juice, fresh or concentrate

1 cup raw or white sugar

1/3 pk liquid pectin

Sterilize jars and lids using this method.

Put fruit and sugar in a large pot, and boil for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Use a splatter screen if you have one, or put the lid on partway - the mixture spits as it thickens, so be careful! At this point, if there is foam on top you could skim it off, but frankly I didn't bother. Stir in pectin and boil 1 minute more. By this point, your jam will have darkened considerably, into a glorious ruby color.

Remove mixture from heat, ladle into jars and process in hot water bath following these directions for 10 minutes.





Per Tablespoon: 35 cals, 0g fat, 0g carbs, 0mg sodium, 0g fiber, 0g protein. (PRO0.4/1%,CHO34.7/98%,FAT0.3/1%)