The perfect gift – homegrown strawberry jam with a slosh of bubbles.

Words: Jane Wrigglesworth

Makes: 4 x 250ml jars (approximately)
Time: 2½ – 3 hours

INGREDIENTS

1kg strawberries
850g jam setting sugar
100ml lemon juice
400ml champagne
knob of butter

METHOD

Wash and hull strawberries, then place in a large non-reactive saucepan. Crush fruit with a potato masher. Add jam setting sugar, lemon juice and champagne.

Let sit at room temperature for a couple of hours. Meanwhile, place a saucer in the freezer. After a couple of hours, warm the fruit mixture over a low heat until the sugar dissolves. Add a knob of butter, then turn up the heat.

Boil hard for 4 minutes. Remove pot from the heat to test for setting point. Pull the saucer from the freezer and drop a small teaspoon of jam onto it. Leave it to cool for a minute, then run a finger through it. If it wrinkles at the edges and stays in two separate sections, it is ready. If not, return to the boil for 2 minutes, then re-test.

When ready, skim any scum from the surface, then cool for 10-15 minutes. Stir, then pour into sterilised jars.

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