My mother in law Flo brought me some local strawberries from a farm near the cottage. I feel a bit guilty about doing anything with these local strawberries but eat them raw. They are perfect as is but as you may know (or not) I love my muffins so strawberry muffins I will bake. We ate handfuls, blended some for a smoothie and the rest went into these muffins and some home-made jam by Gordy.
Gordy made the jam, (did I mention that Gordy has never made jam before and he is thinking... " could I make it on the bbq)."
Guest post from Gordy...
Strawberry Jam brings back memories of summers beside Lake Simcoe with my mother singing over the sweet aromas of fresh strawberries boiling in her old pot on the stove.
That homemade jam was the perfect complement to all that Kraft Peanut butter (crunchy) smeared over the challah that the baker truck used to deliver up from the city. (We call came running to the cries of “Baker, Baker!”).
But good things don’t last forever and one day I realized that there was no jam to be had.
Just moments later the doorbell rang and there was my mother with a large container of fresh berries picked that very day. Marla convinced me to try and make jam myself, so with a lot of encouragement I cleaned and sliced and diced and boiled and stirred with a little help from Marla of course. Stirring those sweet berries swimming in sugar and lemon gave aromatherapy new meaning.
To this day I can’t believe I was able to pull off making my own strawberry jam. Goes perfect with Organic Raw Almond butter and baguette from Blackbird Backing Co. in Kensington.
Muffin Recipe:
This recipe makes 8 Muffins
Ingredients:
- 1 cup spelt flour of choice
- 1/3 cup hulled hemp seeds
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 ripe banana, mashed,
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup organic unrefined cold-pressed extra virgin coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice
- zest from ½ a lemon
- 1 cup strawberries, chopped
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- In a medium bowl mix together the dry ingredients.
- In a large bowl mix together the wet ingredients.
- Add the dry ingredients to wet, folding strawberries in last and mix until just combined
- Spoon batter into a lined muffin pan filling cups 3/4 of the way.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow to cool.
Very Simple Strawberry Jam Recipe:
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds fresh strawberries, hulled
- 4 cups white sugar
- 1/4 fresh lemon juice
Directions:
- In a heavy bottomed saucepan, mix together the strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice.
- Stir over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Increase the heat to high, and bring the mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil, stirring often, until the mixture reaches 220 degrees F (105 degrees C).
- Transfer to hot sterile jars, leaving 1/4 to 1/2 inch space and seal. Process in a water bath. If the jam is going to be eaten right away, don't bother with processing, and just refrigerate.
