The problem is that often when they are on sale, they don’t have many days left in them, so you need to use them up right away. My mother, bless her heart, has the perfect solution for too much fruit. She makes small batch jams in her microwave. She does it with the plums and figs from her trees (see her Microwave Fig Jam). This week I had a big container of strawberries that needed to get eaten or used, so I decided to use mom’s microwave method to make a quick batch of jam. Excellent!
A Simple Jam a Kid Can Make
It’s so easy. All you need are strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice (I added orange zest because it gives the strawberries some lift). And you need a large Pyrex or microwave safe mixing bowl. After you’ve let the strawberries sit for a bit in the sugar to draw out their moisture, it only takes 15 minutes in the microwave on high to make! 2 1/2 cups of quartered berries will yield about 1 1/2 cups of jam. No candy thermometers needed, or big canning pots. No making dozens of jars to store for the winter or give away. This approach makes a really small batch. But sometimes (usually) that’s all we need!
Recipes to Savor a Strawberry Moon
Strawberry Italian Soda Frozen Strawberry Margaritas Strawberry Peach Smoothie Ricotta-Mascarpone Mousse With Balsamic Strawberries Strawberry Nectarine Fruit Salad
You can sub 1/2 cup of the strawberries for 1/2 cup of chopped orange segments for more orange flavor. Just don’t use more than 2 1/2 cups of fruit or your bowl may overflow in the microwave. You can swap out some of the lemon juice with balsamic vinegar. Gently toss to combine so that the strawberries are well coated with the sugar. Let sit for 30 minutes at room temp to macerate. Pay attention so that the mixture doesn’t overflow. If it bubbles up too much and begins to overflow, put the mixture in a larger (microwave safe) bowl and continue. The jam mixture will be ready when the liquid in it thickens slightly and gets syrupy. Because it is hot, it will not be thick like regular jam. As it cools it should thicken. If the jam is too loose and watery even after it has chilled, it may need to be microwaved for several minutes longer. Store in the refrigerator, or freeze (leaving 1 inch headspace in the jar to account for the expansion of the liquid as it freezes into ice).
