Do have a go at making this jam, we made it in one of my cookery classes and everyone had good results. It is quite a loose French style jam. I have included a cake recipe as well where you can use your newly made jam. The cake recipe is very versatile, you could in fact use any type of jam that you may have made. I am into cutting down on sugar in recipes at the moment so with the cake recipe I would probably actually use only half of the sugar stated and it does not have to be golden caster, it can be ordinary.

Really Fruity Strawberry Jam

Makes 3 medium sized jars (about 500ml. each).

PLEASE NOTE you need to do No.1 on the recipe 24 hours in advance.

1.25kg. / 2lbs. 12ozs. firm, ripe strawberries, hulled & large ones halved
1kg. pack jam sugar (this is sugar with added pectin)
juice of 1 lemon
knob of unsalted butter (optional)

Layer the strawberries and sugar in a large bowl, finished with a layer of sugar. Cover the bowl and leave for 24 hrs.
Next day, the juices will have been drawn out from the fruit, leaving you with a bowl of berries in a sugary pink syrup. If this hasn’t happened give the berries a quick stir, then leave for a few more hours. Put 2 saucer in the freezer to chill.
Tip the mixture into a preserving pan (or a large pan with wide, sloping sides) and warm to dissolve the remaining sugar. Once dissolved, bring to the boil, stirring frequently until bubbling.
Pour in the lemon juice, return to the boil, then boil hard for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the surface of the jam starts to look a little scummy, add the butter. Take from the heat, then drop a little jam onto a chilled saucer. Let it cool a little, then push your finger through the jam. If the jam parts, leaving wrinkled ripples, it is ready. Allow the jam to cool for 30 minutes then pot in sterilised jars and when the jam is cool, label the jars. Keeps for 1 year – store in the fridge once open.
This is a syrupy, soft-set jam with juicy strawberry chunks. Do not be tempted to make it in larger batches, you’d have to cook it for longer and the flavour just won’t be as fresh.

Fruity Strawberry Traybake

250g. / 8.5ozs. softened butter
280g. / 9.5ozs. self raising flour
250g. / 8.5ozs. golden caster sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
4 eggs
150ml. pot natural yogurt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract
5 tbsps. strawberry jam
25g. / 1oz. toasted flaked almonds
icing sugar to dust

Grease and line a 20 x 30cm. baking or roasting tin and line with baking parchment.
Beat the butter, flour, sugar, baking powder, eggs, yogurt, vanilla and almond extract in a mixer or with a wooden spoon, until well combined and free of any lumps.
Carefully spoon into the prepared tin and bake for 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven and very quickly dot over the jam, scatter over the almonds then bake for 15 – 20 minutes more until the cake is golden and risen and when a skewer is inserted into the centre of the cake it comes out clean.
Cool in the tin then dust with icing sugar and cut into squares.
You could always decorate with a few fresh strawberries.