Strawberry Jam

Image by congerdesign from Pixabay

If you grow everbearing strawberry varieties, there’s still a harvest of strawberry goodness to be had this summer. Give this simple jam recipe a try.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds fresh strawberries, hulled

• 4 cups white sugar

• ¼ cup lemon juice

Directions

• In a wide bowl, crush strawberries in batches until you have 4 cups of mashed berry.

• In a heavy bottomed saucepan, mix together the strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice. Stir over low heat until the sugar is dissolved.

• Increase heat to high, and bring the mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil, stirring often, until the mixture reaches 220 degrees F (105 degrees C).

• Transfer to hot sterile jars, leaving 1/4 to 1/2 inch headspace, and seal. Process in a water bath.

• If the jam is going to be eaten right away, don't bother with processing, and just refrigerate.

Peach Jam Coffee Cake

This coffee cake gets a double hit of peach flavor from using both jam and fresh fruit. For best results, use a good- quality peach jam (preferably homemade, if you have it). Make sure to cool this cake completely before slicing.

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 3/4 cup white sugar

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

• 1 cup plain whole-milk Greek yogurt

• 1 large egg, at room temperature

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

• 1 cup peach jam

• 2 small fresh peaches - peeled, pitted, and sliced

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a 9-inch springform pan.

2. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom, salt, baking soda, and nutmeg in a large bowl until thoroughly combined. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Reserve 1 cup of the crumb mixture for the topping. Add yogurt, egg, vanilla, and almond extracts to the remaining mixture. Mix until thoroughly combined.

3. Pour batter into the prepared pan, and press evenly into the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of the pan. Spread peach jam into an even layer in the center of the batter. Top jam with an even layer of peach slices. Sprinkle reserved crumb topping evenly over the peaches.

4. Bake in the preheated oven until cake is golden brown, 45 to 50 minutes. Allow cake to cool for 20 minutes before gently running a knife around the edges of the pan and removing the sides. Cool cake completely before serving.