Homemade Strawberry Jam With Apple: Bright, Glossy and Made Without Store-Bought Pectin

Open the jar and the whole kitchen smells like June.

That is what homemade strawberry jam does. One spoonful on warm toast and you are back in a summer garden, even in the middle of winter.

Why Make Your Own Strawberry Jam?

Store-bought jam is convenient, but it rarely tastes like real strawberries. Homemade jam is brighter, fruitier and far less sugary-tasting, with a gorgeous ruby color that no supermarket jar can match.

Many people think jam-making means big pots, special equipment and boxes of pectin. This recipe is much simpler. It is a small-batch, refrigerator jam: you make one or two jars, keep them in the fridge and enjoy them within a few weeks. No water-bath canning, no sterilizing a dozen jars.

The secret ingredient is a humble apple. Apples are naturally rich in pectin, the substance that makes jam set. When you grate an apple and cook it with the strawberries, it disappears into the fruit, thickens the jam beautifully and leaves no apple flavor behind. A squeeze of lemon juice helps the jam set too, and keeps the color bright and the flavor fresh.

This jam is wonderful on biscuits, toast and English muffins, of course. But I also swirl it into plain yogurt, spoon it over vanilla ice cream, spread it between layers of a sponge cake and use it as the filling for thumbprint cookies.

And a little jar tied with a ribbon makes one of the sweetest homemade gifts you can give a neighbor or friend.

Let's see how few ingredients you need.