'tis the season for strawberry rhubarb kiwi jam!!
The drawers at the bottom of my fridge are a lawless land, and I’m Deputy Doofy.
hi hi hello!
I have a knack for going to the market and over buying produce. I just get so excited over all the berries, fruits, the baby pink radicchio!!! Just the same I see something I want to experiment with- bergamot, rhubarb, pink lemons etc. Then I get home take off my shoes and the steam to be productive and creative is gone (my fellow ADHD pals know the shoe struggle). So, then these lovely fruits sit in their dark little crisper drawer for far too long, becoming dull and lifeless. At a certain point I have to call time of death- or is it death? Because I’ll cut everything up and toss it in the freezer for “smoothies”- yeah because I definitely drink daily smoothies… Anyways, once the freezer is teeming with delis FULL of frozen fruit, I toss everything with some sugar, a little acid, maybe some spices? Whatever speaks to me and I’ll turn it into a batch of jam. Once it’s jam that shit is gone in a week flat, I’m slappin’ it on toast 3 times a day with a stupid amount of butter… ugh one of life’s finest treats.
I don’t usually write down the recipes for these jam adventures because usually its just “freezer clean out day” and what’s accumulated will vary wildly week to week and season to season. Usually it’s just fruit and then by weight 30-50% the amount of sweetener like sugar or honey (just depending on how sweet everything was to begin with) then about 2-5% by weigh in acid- usually lemon juice, sometimes meyer lemon vinegar (looking at you Acid League). But, something about this particular batch told me to make note of everything that went in the pot. Fuck, am I glad I did.
The jam started out as they all do- the strawberries I had over bought, the rhubarb I picked up for recipe testing, kiwis that sat on my counter for what felt like a year. The kiwis were a real last minute addition- I was going for that classic rhubarb strawb combo. That last second decision gives the jam a flavor reminiscent of a watermelon jolly rancher (the superior jolly rancher flavor!!). I don’t remake jams often (unless it’s you know- on the menu) but this one, I’ve made 3 batches so far. As strawberry season comes in to full force in CA the flavor is only gonna get better.
Here’s a lil playlist to get ya in the jam making mood ♡
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Alrighty y’all, you can be a little lax on the fruit weights here. In the end the ratio for this jam is:
27% strawberry
27% rhubarb
12% kiwi
30% sugar
3% acid
There’s wiggle room and if ya have a little more rhubarb than strawberry, you’ll still make a really good jam.
And if ya don’t understand ratios, I have a little primer to that here ⬇︎⬇︎⬇︎
TOOLS:
Sharp knife
Rubber spatula
INGREDIENTS:
260 grams strawberries, hulled and quartered
260 grams rhubarb, in roughly 1” slices
110 grams kiwi, skinned and chopped into about 1” pieces
285 grams granulated sugar
28 grams lemon juice
DIRECTIONS:
Wash, dry, peel, de-stem, and cut your fruit. I like everything to be of similar size just so things happen a little faster, the fruit breaks down a tad quicker once it starts cooking etc. This also doesn’t have to be perfect restaurant quality chopping here. It’s all turning to jam soon.
Combine the 260 grams of strawberries, 260 grams rhubarb, 110 grams kiwi, 285 grams sugar and 28 grams of lemon juice in a bowl and let this macerate for about 15-30 minutes. Which is just the sugar drawing out the moisture from the fruit.
Move the fruit to a non-reactive stainless steel pot. Place over medium heat. Cook until the fruit starts to break down and the moisture begins to bubble and boil. Turn the heat to medium low, smashing the now warmed fruit to further break it down,
While the jam cooks, pop a small ceramic or metal plate in the freezer.
Cook the jam until the bubbles go from being fast and furious to slow popping, about 20-30 minutes, depending on batch size. Stirring the jam occasionally as it cooks with a rubber spatula to avoid burning the fruits. As it nears being ready you’ll want to stir more frequently.
Check to see if your jam is ready. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Take the freezer chilled plate from earlier. Place a small dollop of jam onto it. Let it sit for a minute, then push through the jam with your finger. If the surface wrinkles and the jam holds its shape, it’s ready. If it still seems too runny, return the pot to the heat and cook for another 1-2 minutes before trying again. Jam is typically set at around 215-220F.
Pull the jam from the heat while you prepare the jars. We aren’t canning this for long term storage/shelf stability, you can and I recommend reading up on Camilla Wynne’s Jam Bake for more information on how to safely can jams <3
We will be storing this in heat safe, air tight containers though. You will want to fill the glass container(s), with hot water to mitigate temperature shock from adding in the very hot jam. Fill the glasses with water and let them gently heat up for 5-10 minutes before dumping out the water and drying the container with a clean towel.
Carefully ladle the jam into the container(s), leaving about a 1/2 of headspace. Cover and let cool to room temp before storing in the fridge. This jam will be good in the fridge up to 3 weeks.
Enjoy x
