Low Sugar Strawberry Jam Recipe

Over the last few summers, I have been learning about and attempting to can our own jam and pickles. I had mostly been following the pectin package directions for cherry, raspberry, blackberry, and strawberry jam and getting good results. The only issue I had was the extreme amount of sugar in there! Often times, the recipe called for as much sugar as fruit! I use the jam mostly for making PB&J's for my 2 year old throughout the year, and I didn't like the idea of pouring out fruit flavored sugar on her sandwich everyday. So, I started looking into "low sugar" or "no sugar" jam recipes. Much to my surprise, there was not a whole lot out there. Most low or no sugar recipes call for an artificial sugar substitute, like Splenda, which just won't work for me. We don't do artificial sweeteners in our home at all, but that is a whole different story! A few recipes that I found called for apple juice rather than sugar, but the recipes that I could find stated that they would have a "soft set," which in my world means runny jam. No thanks. So, I started pulling bits of recipes together and experimenting to try and find a solution. Raspberries and strawberries are in season now here in TX and the prices are unbeatable, so I bought a ton of each. After a week of nap times in the kitchen putting up different jam "testers," I think I finally found the best recipe. It is a "low sugar" strawberry jam that is sweetened with mostly apple juice, but also with a little bit of sugar. It set up perfectly and tastes just like better than full sugar jam. Now our family can enjoy the unbeatable flavor of fresh strawberry jam without worrying about the sugar high.

Low Sugar Strawberry Jam
Yields 4-5 cups

Ingredients: Large carton of strawberries, double the normal sized one, one box of Sure Jell's No Sugar Needed Pectin (pink box, don't get yellow, it doesn't work), 1/2 C sugar, 12oz. can of frozen 100% apple juice, 1 to 2 teaspoons of butter, juice from half a lemon.

Tools: Ball, Kerr, or Mason jars with rings and lids (you need NEW lids, so if you have old jars, you can purchase a box of just the lids), canning funnel, magnetic lid wand, canning tongs, ladle, and a potato masher. I got my canning supplies from Walmart at a good price, probably no more than $15 for the lot.

Step 1: Wash your jars, lids, and rings in warm soapy water or in the dishwasher.

Step 2: Put clean jars without lids into a large stock pot or canning pot and fill with just enough water to cover the tops of your jars. Put it on the stove over high heat to bring water to a boil.

Step 3: Put your lids in a small saucepan with a few inches of water and bring to a to a simmer. Once it is simmering, reduce heat to low and let it sit. You won't need this until the end, so you may want it on  back burner, out of the way.

Step 4: Wash the strawberries and cut off the greens. Place them in a large bowl and mash with a potato masher until they are broken down into little pieces and are mostly liquid.

Step 5: In a small bowl, stir together the pectin powder and the sugar until well blended.  Put your strawberries, apple juice concentrate, lemon juice, butter, and pectin mixture on the stove in another large pot over high heat.

Continue stirring until the jam comes to a full rolling boil, so that even when you stir, it continues to boil. Maintain a full rolling boil for 1 minute, then remove it from heat. Careful! This stuff is SO hot and sticky!

Step 6: Use canning tongs to remove your mason jars from the hot or boiling water and set them face up on a clean dish towel on the counter. Jars are hot! Don't touch them with your hands, use a hot pad! Using the canning funnel, ladle the hot jam into the hot jars, leaving 1/4" of space at the top of each jar. If you have a little extra, put it in a tupperware in the fridge, it'll set up like processed jam and keep for up to 3 weeks.

Step 7: Use a clean dish towel or paper towel, wipe off any excess jam that may have gotten along the rims or edges of the jars. Then, one by one, use your magnetic lid wand to remove lids from the simmering water pot, dry on a clean or paper towel, press onto the jars and screw on lids to finger tight.

Step 8: Use canning tongs to put the lidded jam jars into the big stock pot of boiling water. Set the timer, and let them boil for:
* 10 minutes: if you live at 0 to 1000 ft above sea level
* 15 minutes: if you live 1000 to 2000 ft above sea level
* 20 minutes: if you live above 2000 ft above sea level

Step 9: Carefully remove the jars from the boiling water using your canning tongs and let them rest, undisturbed, for 24 hours. If you processed them correctly, you should start hearing the lids "pop"  after a few minutes, indicating that they are sealed. After 24 hours, all the lids should be indented and you should not be able to make them pop by pressing on the middle. If any of your jars did not seal correctly, place it in the refrigerator to use immediately. It will be good for about 3 weeks. You can also freeze the jam for later.



I like to store my finished jam in the box that my jars came in, nice and tidy. Keep them in a cool dark place and use them within a year. Some people say you can keep them for several years, but they start to discolor and loose the fresh fruit taste after a year. Plus, don't you want to do this again next June?!

Sweet Springtime: Day 4 (Last Day!)

Okay, wow, I am officially the worst EVER at keeping up with this blog! My apologies! Really, I didn't think anyone was reading it, so why keep spending so much time posting? Then I decided today to take a peek, and it turns out over 100 people have looked at it! Apparently it made it onto Pinterest! Who knew? They are all probably wondering where on earth the rest of this dress is! I decided to finally break the suspense and add the skirt part of this dress. Once again, sorry for the delay. Now that I know people care, I'll try to be better about posting! First step, gather up your remaining pieces, 4 strips for the ruffle and one large rectangle for the main part of the skirt.

You are going to sew each of the 4 strips, right sides together, end to end. Then zig zag stitch them also so that they don't fray. When you are finished, you should have a really long strip.

Now time to fire up the iron. Fold down and press 1" along one of the edges of your long strip, and then fold it under and press again. Essentially, you are making a double fold for a hem, just as you pressed the neck and sleeves of the bodice. This time though, you don't have to worry about making it wide enough for elastic, it is only a hem, not a casing. Since your ruffle strip is so very long, you might want to consider using pins to keep it in place as you work your way down the fabric.

Next, you are going to sew the ric rac along the bottom border while sewing up the hem you just pressed. So turn your fabric right side up and lay your ric rac along the edge (which is the outer side of the folds you pressed for that hem) and line up your needle so that you will be sewing through both the ric rac and the folded hem. Sew down the length of the strip.

Now we are going to learn how to make a "gathering stitch" better known in my world as a ruffle. They sell some different feet for sewing machines that will gather or ruffle the fabric for you so that this step is much faster, but they are most certainly not needed. First thing you will need to do is change the setting on your sewing machine to the longest straight stitch setting. Mine is a "5" but all machines are different. Now adjust your tread tension dial to the highest number, mine is a "9." The most important thing to remember when sewing a ruffle is NOT to backstitch at EITHER end! These stitches are NOT meant to be permanent and you do NOT want them to be stuck in place with a backstitch.

Now that we cleared that up, turn your long strip around (still right side facing up)to sew along the edge opposite the hem you just finished. Remember, DO NOT BACKSTITCH! Line up your presser foot with the edge of the fabric and sew straight down the line, when you get to the end DO NOT BACKSTITCH! But pull out the thread nice and long before you cut it free. Don't panic if your fabric bunches or "ruffles" just a bit as you sew, that is what we are going for! But also, don't panic if it doesn't ruffle, we are just warming up for the real ruffles!

After you have sewn the length of the strip, carefully separate the top thread from the bobbin thread and take hold of the top thread. If you sewed your fabric strip with the right side facing up, then your top thread is coming up out of the right side of the fabric. To make your ruffles, you are going to gently tug on the top thread in one hand, while pushing the fabric down the thread with the other hand. Be careful not to pull too hard and break the thread, or to tug on the bobbin thread, which will tighten it up and make it hard to pull the fabric down. You can work from both sides of the strip, pushing your fabric ruffles towards the middle. Try to make them evenly spaced.

 

When your strip is totally ruffled, you will want it to be the same length as the fabric that will make up the main part of the skirt (mine is the floral fabric). Here, pins are essential. Pin the ruffled strip right along the edge of the main skirt fabric, right sides together. Make sure your ruffled strip goes right from end to end of the main skirt and that your ruffles are pretty evenly spaced.

Before moving on, you'll need to change back the settings of your sewing machine to a normal stitch length and a normal thread tension. Now, with the ruffled fabric facing up, you are going to sew these two pieces together, right over the top of the bunched up ruffled fabric. Now it is appropriate to use a backstitch again, this seam is a keeper. Be sure to go slowly, keeping a nice straight line along the edge of the fabric with your presser foot and checking that your presser foot is going OVER the top of the ruffles rather than trying to flatten them out as it glides along. After you sew a straight stitch, go back and trim any stray strings, then zig zag along the seam to finish the edge. 

Unpin, lay it flat and check out your super cute little ruffle! Press the back so that it hangs down flat.

Next, fold the skirt in half aligning the raw edges, right sides together. You are basically sewing a straight  piece of fabric into a circle (or a skirt!). If your fabric does not line up just right, keep in mind that is more important to line up the bottom of the dress because you still have time to fix the top part before attaching it to the bodice. Make sure to zig zag stitch this seam too.

Almost done! Just in case you were wanting or needing more practice, we are going to do a repeat of the gathering stitch to ruffle the skirt a bit too. If you want to go back and read the details again, go for it, I am just going to do a quick refresher. Change the settings on your sewing machine: longest stitch, highest number thread tension. Sew along the top, unfinished edge, of your skirt starting as close to the seam you just finished. Follow all along the circle until you get back to the seam again. Remember, DO NOT backstitch! Also, don't let your ending stitches cross over your beginning stitches; you will want both ends loose to tug your ruffles. For this step, I kept the wrong side of the fabric face up, so my top thread was actually coming up from the wrong side this time. Gather up your ruffles and space them evenly along your skirt.

Grab your bodice that has been waiting in the wings. This part can be a little tricky, just take your time and you'll be fine. Keeping your skirt inside out, push your bodice down into the skirt part, neck and shoulders facing the bottom of the dress so that the right sides are together. That is just about as clear as mud, I know, so try and figure it out from the picture. Align the seam on the skirt with the center of the back of the bodice and pin along the raw edges where they meet. Then, use the top threads from your gathering stitches to tighten or loosen the skirt ruffles enough to fit the bodice and pin all around into place.

Switch your sewing machine back to it's normal settings, then sew the skirt and bodice together, over the face-up ruffles, beginning and ending at the seam on the skirt. Just before you make a full circle back to the seam, you can tighten or loosen your ruffles again to ensure a perfect fit to the bodice. Make sure the whole thing gets sewn on without any gaps or holes. Go back and finish this seam with a zig zag stitch.

Lastly, fold down the ruffled skirt and press the seam to keep it from flying up, and you are done! Go grab that little one and let her twirl around in her new ruffled dress, hand made with love, just for her.