So this happened the other day.
We totally lucked out and caught the opening day at our local strawberry patch. We lucked out even further and motivated ourselves to head over early enough in the day to get our picking done before the rain started falling and eventually close the picking for the day. My tweenage boy has discovered how much he loves sleeping, so he stayed home while I took my Strawberry Girl to the patch for some mother-daughter bonding.
Last year we missed summer. Pretty completely and thoroughly. The unexpected move coupled with vehicle trouble after vehicle trouble literally meant that we were home-bound most of the time. So much time wasted packing and unpacking, or waiting for the shop to call that our van was done AGAIN. Our camping trip at the end of July was literally a blur- we packed what we could find after moving a week prior, and I sat in the woods with a book and simply rested after months of stress and anxiety. Last year we went swimming exactly once- and it was on the very last day the lake was open for the season. This year, we are reclaiming our summer. We already went to our favorite swimming hole this week, and yesterday we got to experience the joy of strawberry picking. We’re in summer bliss.
Many years ago I had an issue with my homemade strawberry jam not setting properly after making it. Another mom who I really looked up to casually mentioned that she had heard once upon a time that you never make jam with the first picking of the season- that there’s not enough pectin in those first, sweet berries to help your jam along. So yesterday as I we drove home with our first flats of strawberries, Abigail and I were discussing what to do with our bounty. I want to save the jam making for next week sometime when we get to pick again, but with all these strawberries, I was determined to try something new. I flipped through my canning books, and found a recipe for Strawberry Sauce. This sounded like the perfect contender.
One of the things I really like doing with my homemade jam is stir it into a bit of plain yogurt. It adds enough sweetness and flavor for me, but at the same time, the jam isn’t really smooth when I do that. It leaves little clumps of jam throughout and doesn’t really blend all that well. This sauce has a smooth, creamy texture that will stir right into that cup of yogurt. It will also drizzle effortlessly right over a scoop of ice cream, or drip over the edges of a stack of pancakes perfectly… It’s the perfect thing for all those alternative uses for jam.
This recipe does call for corn syrup. I used Karo brand light corn syrup, as it does not contain any high fructose corn syrup. As always, when canning, I also only use C&H brand sugar, as it comes only from sugar cane, so there is no chance of GMO beet sugar being used. One navel orange will give you the tablespoon of zest, though it didn’t quite give me enough fresh orange juice- I had to top it off with a tiny bit from the juice in the fridge, but overall, we are quite pleased with the flavors in this strawberry sauce. It will be delightful to have on the shelves in the pantry, and would make a really great addition to a gift basket. Of course, that’s if it still IS in the pantry. We went through a jar and a half yesterday between French toast sticks and ice cream after dinner. It’s very good, and the perfect sauce texture.
Strawberry Sauce
9 cups halved hulled strawberries 2/3 cup unsweetened apple juice 1 Tablespoon grated orange zest 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 2/3 cup corn syrup 1/2 cup orange juiceDirections:
Prepare canner, jars and lids.
In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine strawberries, apple juice and orange zest. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat, crushing berries with a potato masher. While maintaining a constant but gentle boil, gradually add sugar, stirring until completely dissolved. Continue boiling gently while gradually stirring in corn syrup and orange juice. Bring to a full rolling boil over high heat stirring constantly. Boil hard for 15 minutes.
Ladle hot sauce into prepared jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Remove air bubbles and adjust head space, if necessary, but adding hot sauce. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar, screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.
Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.
Makes about 6 8-ounce jars. (I had 7 jars when I was done.)