Homemade Vegan Strawberry Rose Jam | No Pectin/Preservatives

Hello Jammers!!! Finally I’m awake from my ‘hibernation mode’ and fighting hard to come back to my ‘active mode’. But as usual our good old friend ‘Sun’ is putting up a real hard fight with his scorching heat. And as you can see I’m maintaining a safe distance from my sun light filled kitchen these days. Instead I’m spending more time on scrolling down online shopping applications and peeping on other food blogs. These are my ‘guilty pleasures’ on hot summer days. Speaking of ‘guilty pleasure’, I must mention I’m enjoying my childhood favourite ‘butter-jam’ toast quite a lot these days. Reason? I’ve got plenty of sealed bottles of homemade ‘Strawberry Rose Jam’ in my pantry.

Strawberry Jam is the most favourite breakfast essential acorss the world. Sweet tangy jam has become a breakfast staple over the years. The touch of Rose wine or Rose syrup transforms the jam into a whole new experience. Now it’s Strawberry Rose Jam with the flavour of strawberries and aroma of rose. I made this Vegan Strawberry Rose Jam almost a month ago; in fact it has been more than a month I had posted the video recipe in my YouTube Channel! My goodness I just realized, it’s too bad to be a food blogger and a lousy bum! Guilty as charged! Honestly I couldn’t catch up with the time and never realized an entire month has passed with the wind (read, hot blow).

Homemade Vegan Strawberry Rose Jam Food Photography

Enough of my nonsense excuses. Let’s get back to the food, Vegan Strawberry Rose Jam. Initially the idea was to make a tribute on ‘Mother’s Day’ by making my mum’s beautiful jam recipe and sending her a big jar filled with fresh jam. Unfortunately she is blessed with a lousy daughter; hence it is now just nostalgia of my childhood summer days. My mother used to serve her homemade jam on breakfast. That thick leathery layer of jam on crunchy buttered toasts was one of many reasons to get up on time during our summer vacations. Sometimes we used to get some dollop of the jam on crackers or cookies with evening tea. I still remember my sister always had the demand of spreading little bit of jam on a slice of Tutti frutti cakewhich my mother used to bake as our evening snack.

My mom’s condiment pantry (yes, she has a separate small section for her homemade jam, ketchup, pickles and other condiments) gets fresh collection on every possible season. The most popular jams were mango, orange and mixed fruits. I always used to wonder on the dark red hue and the beautiful aroma in her mixed fruit jam which was completely different from store bought one. And that was her secret ingredient, rose syrup which I had discovered later.

This was my very first ‘jamming; session! As I get plenty of fresh strawberries from local farmer’s market, I picked strawberry instead of any other fruits to blend with my mum’s secret rose touch. I used both rose wine and rose syrup (yes, I’ve made few batches in this one month time frame) for this jam and both tasted equally good. If you prefer wine, go for it but if you don’t use Rooh Afza and you won’t regret!

Here is the easiest recipe of Homemade Vegan Strawberry Rose Jam without any pectin or preservatives or artificial coloring.

Preparation Time: 05 mins

Cooking Time: 25 mins

Resting Time: 00 mins

Total Time: 30 mins

Yield: 4-5 cups

Ingredients:

Read the entire recipe and tips carefully before you start cooking.

Do make sure all ingredients are at room temperature (unless mentioned) and weighted or measured correctly in appropriate weighing machine or measuring instruments such as cups or spoons. Remember these are not your regular cups or spoons which you use in your daily life.

Strawberries, fresh or frozen: 500g, I used fresh strawberries

Sugar: ¼ cup or sugar substitutes

Rose wine Or, Rooh Afza: 50 ml or little less than ¼ cup,

Lemon juice: 1 tsp

Equipment:

Food processor

A large bowl

A large heavy bottomed saucepan

Spatulas

Dry & clean glass bottle (or glass bowls with lid) to store

Preparation:

Fill the food processor with chopped strawberries and pulse for 1 or 2 secs. It will produce a dense puree with teeny weeny strawberry chunks; I prefer my jam this way with fruity bites in my mouth. If you like smooth puree as your jam, pulse for few more seconds.

Heat a deep bottomed saucepan on low flame. Pour the pureed strawberry in the pan with chunks, if using any. Allow to cook on very low flame.

Pour the sugar or sweetener over the puree. And mix thoroughly with a wooden ladle/spoon. Mix until sugar dissolves completely.

Keep the pan on simmer. Once you notice bubbles start forming around the edges of the pan, start stirring the jam.

Increase the flame little and cook on medium flame. Once jam will start thickening, keep stirring to prevent burning. Simmer the jam for 1-2 mins.

Once jam reaches thick syrupy consistency, pour rose wine in a steady flow and keep stirring. Mixture will be frothy, just continue stirring to prevent spilling.

Add freshly squeezed lemon juice and stir gently to incorporate everything.

The mixture will be thickening pretty fast now. Stir continuously to prevent sticking at the bottom the of pan.

The colour of the jam will be darkened by now. Mixture will turn into jelly like consistency.

Now we need to run a little test to confirm whether jam is done or not. Drop little jam on a clean & dry plate and tilt it slightly. If it glides down, cook the jam for few more seconds; if jam is stuck to the plate without sliding down, your jam has the perfect consistency. Remove the pan from flame and bring it to room temperature naturally. Once cooled pour in air-tight sterilized glass jars and keep in cool dark place; avoid direct sunlight. Refrigerate the jam for longer shelf life.

Apply on your favourite toasts, cookies or on a slice of your favourite tea cake. Play with your taste buds and explore new experiences.