Strawberry Confiture

… Celebrating Strawberry Season!

Last summer I lamented my failed attempts at achieving a perfect strawberry confiture. Being that it’s strawberry time again, I couldn’t let the season pass by without giving it another go. This summer I’m so excited to say, “Yay! Success has now been achieved!” I took my positive experiences from making my raspberry confiture, harvested my best fresh-from-the-garden strawberries, and got to work. I can’t wait to share this sweet, fresh-flavored, easy (and successful) recipe with you. But first, just to clarify, confiture is simply a less dense version of a marmalade or preserve. It only contains two ingredients – fresh fruit and sugar.

Confiture doesn’t require any gelatin or canning. Simply remember to store the confiture in the fridge for short-term use, or freeze for longer storage. It always has a fresh fruit flavor that is delicious on toast, drizzled over vanilla ice cream (even non-dairy), or piped into the center of a chocolate cupcake. Strawberry confiture would also be a fantastic pairing dolloped in the center of a devil’s food chocolate doughnut. It’s really quite good just to enjoy licking off of a spoon too, but I try very hard to restrain myself from this practice. Enjoy celebrating strawberry (confiture) season!

Strawberry Confiture

Prep time: 10 minutes

Stovetop cooking time: about an hour

Cool time: about 30 minutes to an hour to bring to a warm temp, then refrigerate to cold before freezing

Makes: about 16 ounces

Ingredients:
5 cups fresh strawberries*
1 cups sugar

Directions:
Combine strawberries and sugar in a small sauce pan. Stir. Over low heat, bring the mixture to a simmer. Squish a few of the strawberries to further release their juices and natural pectin (which is what aids in jams and preserves becoming gelatinous). Continue cooking until the confiture as reduced (by about half) and has started to thicken. Confiture is ready when a small drop dropped on the back of a spoon doesn’t run. If it runs off the spoon, it requires more simmering. Let cool in pan a few minutes, then transfer to jars and seal with an airtight lid. Refrigerate and use within a couple of weeks (this is very important because there are no preservatives). If you will be freezing some, let it cool in fridge overnight before freezing. When ready to use, thaw confiture in the refrigerator. Always keep the confiture cold. Never thaw then refreeze.

*If you want to remove the seeds (though this is not required), press confiture through a sieve to remove seeds, straining the confiture into another bowl. Then transfer to your jars and continue as directed above. You can also start with 2 cups of fresh strawberry juice processed through your juicer, I used my Hurom for my raspberry confiture recipe, and it worked great!

Safe food is a journey … Thrive!™