Every summer, for as long as I can remember, my Grandma has been making strawberry and raspberry freezer jam with local berries. I love her jam so much that I refuse to buy store bought jam because I’m always disappointed.

This year I asked my Grandma to show me how she makes freezer jam, and I was shocked by how quick and easy it is! Freezer jam does not require any cooking or canning – just ripe berries, sugar and pectin. The advantage of this recipe is that it’s lower in sugar, compared to traditional jam recipes.

Ingredients

• 4 cups of crushed local strawberries
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 package of Barnardin freezer jam pectin

Instructions

1. Wash strawberries and remove stems.
2. Place strawberries in a pot, and crush with a potato masher.
3. In a large bowl, mix sugar and pectin.
4. Add crushed strawberries to the sugar and pectin mixture.
5. Stir for 3 minutes (or follow directions on the pectin package). I followed the Barnardin pectin package directions.
6. Spoon jam into jars (makes roughly 5x 250 ml jars of jam).
7. Let jam set for about 30 minutes.
8. Jam will keep for 3 weeks in the fridge. Place the rest in the freezer.