I love making fuss free healthy recipes for my little one. Strawberries have literally become synonymous to preserves and jams. With only a few ingredients, you can whip up homemade strawberry preserves in no time and it’ll keep so well in the fridge for weeks to come!
This delightful homemade preserve is one of my son’s favourite and it is super easy to make. He enjoys it with almost anything – pancake, on a toast, parantha. It takes only 5 ingredients and tastes so much better than the store bought ones which are laden with sugar, artificial colours and preservatives.
This preserve is made in smaller batch without the use of pectin. But this recipe can be doubled or tripled to make a larger batch of preserve. If you want the preserves to last longer than three weeks in the refrigerator, you’ll need to process the jars in a hot water canning bath.
Do make this strawberry preserve when berries are in season and I am sure you will love it.
It tastes delicious. It’s healthy and its is ready in flat 20 minutes.
This preserve does not contain any processed sugar. It is not sickly sweet. This is something your child and your family can enjoy guilt free. I have added chia seeds to it for more nutrition and also it improves the texture of the preserve.
Ingredients
| Prep time: 5 mins | Serving: makes 2 ounces |
| Cook time: 15 mins |
- 100 gms Strawberries
- 1/2 cup Apple
- 30 gms jaggery powder or unprocessed coconut sugar
- 1.5 tbsps Chia seeds
- 1 tbsp Lemon juice
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract (optional but recommended)
- 1/4th cup Water
Method
- Chop strawberries and apple finely. Add them in a pan. Keep the flame low. Cook for a minute. Now add coconut sugar or jaggery powder.
- Stir till sugar melts. It should take a minute or two.
- Now add water. Cook till apple becomes mushy and the preserve thickens. It will roughly take 9-10 minutes.
- Once it thickens, add lemon juice, vanilla extract and chia seeds.
- Cook for a minute and Voila!!! It’s done 🙂
Notes:
- You can skip apple here and add 1/2 cup more of strawberries or other berries of your choice.
- Do not skip lemon juice. Lemon juice is required to set the preserve. The acid in it neutralizes the PH level of the mixture.
- Store in an airtight glass jar. Refrigerate for longer shelf life. Use within 3-4 weeks
- Use a dash of cinnamon for a warm touch.
Enjoy good health! 🙂
