Thursday, July 10, 2014

Strawberry Spread- a treat for my diabetic friends

Every year, I make homemade jams (spreads, really) for my diabetic friends to enjoy.  This strawberry spread is sweetened with pineapple juice and contains only two tablespoons of sugar for 850 ml of jam!  Perfect.

To make 875 ml.
I divide it among 2 250 ml jars and about 3-4 125 ml jars.

Ingredients
5 cups     strawberries, washed and hulled
1             Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and chopped
1 tsp       lemon rind, grated
1/2 cup   pineapple juice concentrate
2 tbsp     sugar
2 tsp       lemon juice
1/2 tsp   vanilla extract

Directions
Mash the strawberries in a medium stainless steel bowl and measure.  You should have about 3 cups.  Add the apple, lemon rind, pineapple concentrate, sugar and lemon juice.  Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat and boil gently for 20 minutes or until the mixture is thickened and spreadable, stirring frequently.

Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

Ladle into sterilized jars and process 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.  Once opened, these spreads will keep three weeks in the refrigerator.

Update 2015- Pineapple concentrate is sometimes hard to find.  This year, I used a frozen Tropical Fruit concentrate- sugar free of course!