Homemade Thyme Strawberry Jam is an herbal and strawberry fruit jam, just sweet enough to make it versatile for a variety of sweet or savory uses.
Strawberries
Who doesn’t love the sweet juicy taste of freshly picked strawberries!
Thankfully we are able to obtain strawberries throughout much of the year.
Winter blues, here in Maryland, is a very real thing.
Five long months with naked trees, freezing temps and no sign of life coming from the ground.
Until… March, when suddenly the first strawberry leaves emerge from the ground to let us know that spring is on its way!
Luckily for me, I grow strawberries and every year. w
When I see them return, I am absolutely amazed that they live throughout the cold of winter and pop up once again to say hello!
A Strawberry Patch In Early Spring
Once I see a few strawberry leaves in my own yard, I hop in my car and drive to the large strawberry farm nearby to see how it’s looking over there!
By April, we are ready to pick strawberries and make them into a gazillion recipes; that is, if we don’t eat them all when freshly picked!
- Strawberry Ginger Ice Cream Bowls – Bowls that deliciously envelope garden fresh strawberries, ginger root, rum and ginger crisps.
- Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri Mocktail – A sip everyone can enjoy, and yes you can always add a little booze to a mocktail.
- Strawberry Lemonade Popsicles – Because summertime is all about popsicles, yet these are perfect to stash in the freezer for wintertime cold and flu season.
- Strawberry Vinaigrette Salad – The perfect savory strawberry salad with spinach, feta, bacon and a strawberry vinaigrette dressing.
- Farm Fresh Strawberry Tarts – Of course we must have a strawberry tart in a buttery pastry with a coconut custard tucked inside.
Even though I grow a few strawberry plants, when strawberry picking season begins, I want to experience the excitement with others!
I grab my basket and head to the strawberry farm for lots more than I could hope to grow.
Quick Homemade Strawberry Jam
Fresh, sweet, juicy strawberries can be bought nearly year round, so why not make a quick jam out of them.
Certainly there are many folks that can jams throughout the summer months and this requires a canning technique, honestly, I don’t have time for.
For this reason, I created a Quick Strawberry Jam technique that is, well… quick.
Simply simmer the fresh fruit, along with a little sugar, sour drizzle of lemon and the trick is to add a spoonful of potato starch or cornstarch.
The strawberry mixture bubbles away on top the stove for a bit, thickens and is ready to cool and store in the fridge.
It will last for about a week in the fridge and several months in the freezer.
Strawberry jam is delicious as a spread on tea sandwiches, drizzled down a scoop of vanilla ice cream for sure, but let’s stretch your appetite for something totally whimsical: Button Cups!
Button Cups With Thyme Strawberry Jam and Almond Butter
Button cups are something whimsical I made for a television cooking show, The Great American Recipe on PBS.
I was thrilled to be chosen to film in this first-class production.
I knew something absolutely spectacular had to be made for such an occasion.
These button cups, which are shortbread cookies, filled with strawberry jam and almond butter, which I made all of the elements on set in 60-minutes.
Having created these button cups for my daughter’s third birthday, they are loved just as much now that she is thirty!
What Inspired Button Cups With Homemade Strawberry Jam?
It was a whimsical attempt, with the help of my daughter’s older brother, to help me create something different for a little girl’s tea party.
We read Beatrix Potter critter stories and it was the little Tailor and Cutter mouse that caught my daughters fantasy.
I used a large wooden button to shape the cookie that would go on top of a tart shell.
We filled the tarts with nut butter and jam. It was a hit then, and still is to this day.
Fast forward to a few years ago, when I was visiting the Cotswolds in England, and came across the enchanting World of Beatrix Potter shop!
It took me back many years to the memories of reading these stories to my children. I knew I had to take one of the critters home with me.
Aleppo In Strawberry Jam?
Robin, have you lost your mind? Oh… Not at all!!
Sweet things, for me, open the door to so many other layers of flavors besides sugary sweet.
Aleppo pepper is a smoked, slightly sweet, yet a little bit hot, pepper flake.
When added to the simmering time of this strawberry jam, it wakes the mouth up and brings out the natural sweetness of the strawberries.
Thyme The Versatile Herb
Thyme is a tiny, yet very aromatic leaf.
It was never a flower, and only when they have fully grown, and ready to produce seeds for another harvest does a flower form on the tops.
The flowers on the tops of thyme are not often what we cook with, though we can.
The thyme leaves remain a very earthy and aromatic herbal essence.
The combination of sweet floral essence and earthy aromatic essence makes for a beautiful umami flavor.
Add to that a pinch of heat and you’ve got a jam worth making a cookie or homemade bread, to spread it over!
More Jams You’re Sure To Love
Depending on the season, I love to make a fresh fruit jam to incorporate into lots of recipes.
- Homemade Orange Blossom Marmalade – Orange rinds, pulp, juice and the essence of the orange blossoms.
- Homemade Savory Or Sweet Fig Jam – With chilies, garlic and bourbon or simply sweet fresh figs.
Ingredients Needed
- Strawberries
- Sugar
- Aleppo pepper
- Fresh Thyme
- Lemon juice
- Potato starch or corn starch
- Salt
Equipment Needed
- Sauce pan
- Cutting board
- Small knife
- Food processor
- 12 oz. Mason jar with lid
- Whisk
- Stovetop or burner
Homemade Thyme Strawberry Jam
Equipment
- Saucepan with lid
- Glass jar with lid
- Cutting board and knife
Ingredients
- 1 lb Fresh Strawberries
- 1/3 cup Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper see notes
- 2 sprigs Fresh Thyme
- 1 tsp Lemon juice
- 1 tbsp Potato starch or cornstarch
- Salt pinch to taste
Instructions
- Cut off the tops of the washed strawberries. Roughly chop the strawberries.
- In a food processor or blender, place the strawberries, sugar and lemon juice and puree.
- Transfer the strawberry mixture to a saucepan, along with the Aleppo pepper, potato starch (or cornstarch) and salt. Bring to a boil on medium heat. Lower and simmer for about 30 minutes or until the strawberry mixture thickens. Cool.
- Transfer to a closed container and store in the fridge for up to a week.
Video
Notes
- Aleppo is a smoked pepper but can be substituted with 1 finely chopped chili pepper and 1/4 tsp of smoked paprika.
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.