Fig Jam
Martha Rose Shulman
532 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
532
30 minutes, plus several hours of chilling
Christina Tosi's Pickled Strawberry Jam
- Total Time
- 20 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:3 cups
- 1¾cups sugar
- 1tablespoon powdered pectin
- 1teaspoon salt
- 3cups strawberries, hulled
- 2tablespoons sherry vinegar
- 1tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 5coriander seeds
- 1cardamom pod
Preparation
- Step 1
In a bowl, whisk the sugar, pectin and salt to combine. If a seedless jam is desired, purée the berries in a blender and strain through a fine-meshed sieve. Otherwise, leave them whole, or cut large ones into quarters.
- Step 2
In a medium saucepan, combine the sherry vinegar, rice wine vinegar, coriander and cardamom. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and immediately remove from heat. Remove and discard the coriander seeds and cardamom.
- Step 3
Return the saucepan to medium heat and add the sugar mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon until blended; it will be dry at first. Add the strawberries or strawberry purée, and continue to stir, crushing the berries with the spoon, until the mixture is liquefied and comes to a boil. Continue to boil, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 3 minutes.
- Step 4
Pour the jam into a heat-proof bowl and let cool completely. Store it, covered, in the refrigerator. The jam can also be frozen for up to six months.
Tip
- Serving suggestions: Spread the jam on toast, use it as a filling for crepes or cakes, or swirl it into sweet buns or coffeecake. Mix it with an equal amount of cream cheese to make a spread. Or it may be mixed with an equal amount of butter for spreading or baking, or for blending with confectioners’ sugar and a pinch of salt to make a frosting for cake or cinnamon buns.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Rick Haver
I've made this three years in a row and it has ALWAYS come out runny. Last year I doubled the pectin; didn't make a difference. I can't figure the people who says it came like Jello.
The flavor is fantastic but its hard to eat on, say, an english muffin without it dripping off onto your lap.
NYCmom
This was an easy way to use the abundant fresh strawberries. It wasn't thickening after boiling, as the recipe says it would-- but it thickened after I removed from the heat. I followed recipe pretty closely. I expected a more pickle-like flavor, though- and there is none of that. In fact, it's very sweet- i might reduce sugar a bit next time; and maybe try a bit more cardamom, coriander- and perhaps a star anise-- and leave them in during the boil, remove during cooling.
Celia Rodee
I love this recipe and have made it several times now. The first time I made it, I followed the directions to simmer the jam for 3 minutes and the result was a very flavorful but RUNNY mixture. I read lots of other reviews of this recipe (including on Food52 where one of the reviewers provided a detailed explanation of how the mixture needs to simmer much longer and recommended using a candy thermometer to ensure the jam reached 220, which took about 20 minutes — not 3!) It comes our perfect!
Jeanne M
I thought the salt destroyed this
Ash
Followed the suggestions of a few people, this is a wonderful quick jam. Doubled the coriander seed and cardamom pods, plus added two whole star anise. Fished the spices out of the vinegar boil. Added the sugar mixture and strawberries, used an old fashioned potato masher to macerate the fruit. I had super-ripe strawberries, so I only added 1.5 cups of sugar. After the strawberries were mashed up a bit, I put the cardamom and star anise back into the saucepan and boiled for 20 minutes. Lovely.
Celia Rodee
I love this recipe and have made it several times now. The first time I made it, I followed the directions to simmer the jam for 3 minutes and the result was a very flavorful but RUNNY mixture. I read lots of other reviews of this recipe (including on Food52 where one of the reviewers provided a detailed explanation of how the mixture needs to simmer much longer and recommended using a candy thermometer to ensure the jam reached 220, which took about 20 minutes — not 3!) It comes our perfect!
Sandra
This was great but very on brand to Tosi's recipes - WAY too much sugar. I cut it to 1 cup, added more of the vinegars, cardamom & coriander, as well as some lemon zest. It's a great jam with the modifications. Also worth noting, I can never get it to thicken in as little time as the recipe states because of the water content in the strawberries. Takes more like 15 - 20 min and will continue to thicken once you remove from the heat.
D Nelson
I let it boil for around 15 minutes--it still doesn't thicken enough that I would call this jam. But it makes for an amazing strawberry sauce for ice cream! Can't get enough of it.
dpcoppola
This is very sweet. Next time I will use more vinegar and less sugar. Mine came out a nice consistency. I don’t think the spices come through. Maybe would have helped to let them steep in the vinegar? Anyway … it’s going to be perfect for the baked Brie I’m making!
D
Not sure why everyone in the comments is hating on this jam. I found it absolutely perfect. I used apple pectin and small fresh organic berries I picked myself at an orchard. Way better berries than the large sour out of season store bought ones. The vinegars and spices really elevate the flavors of the jam in a way that I really love. It set more like a compote than a firm jelly but I don’t mind at all. Delicious on yogurt and ice cream, etc. will definitely be making again next summer.
M
I am wondering if the people with runny jam are using pomona's pectin which is activated by calcium rather than sugar. If this is the case, you actually can get away with 1.5 tsp of pectin plus the corresponding amount of Ca water, which is 1.5 tsp. This type of pectin allows you to use less sugar in recipes while still get a hard gel set. Christina Tosi is the sugar queen I can guarantee she is using a pectin which sets with sugar. Mine was very firm.
michelle
I made this for the first time. Used cardamom powder instead of a pod. I could taste both cardamom and coriander well. I also substituted cornstarch for pectin and boiled for about 10 minutes. Consistency is about what I’d expect. Next time, I am going to use less sugar because it is too sweet for my taste.
Ann W
Doubled the cardamom and used coriander powder, but still no taste of these seasonings. I do like the tang from the vinegars. Used whole pack of pectin but it was syrupy - and good as the fresh fruit used n
Aimee
Taste is ok. Did find it a bit sweet and didn’t get any cardamom flavor. For those who find it runny, it helped when I boiled it for much longer. According to a how to make jam article from the times, you may need to boil 40-50 min or until you achieve your desired consistency. https://cooking.nytimes.com/guides/45-how-to-make-jam
NYCmom
This was an easy way to use the abundant fresh strawberries. It wasn't thickening after boiling, as the recipe says it would-- but it thickened after I removed from the heat. I followed recipe pretty closely. I expected a more pickle-like flavor, though- and there is none of that. In fact, it's very sweet- i might reduce sugar a bit next time; and maybe try a bit more cardamom, coriander- and perhaps a star anise-- and leave them in during the boil, remove during cooling.
Marli
Since every one mentioned it was running I add more sugar, still came out running but not liquid. I do love the taste and I will try again and will add pectin, I didn't have this time.
I topped the relish on fresh mozzarella cheese and green apple.
Quite delicious.
Rick Haver
I've made this three years in a row and it has ALWAYS come out runny. Last year I doubled the pectin; didn't make a difference. I can't figure the people who says it came like Jello.
The flavor is fantastic but its hard to eat on, say, an english muffin without it dripping off onto your lap.
Peggy Herron
Have you thought of adding a cut up apple for its added natural pectin. I would definitely cut down on the sugar. This bakery a the sugar tolerance of a 4 year old .
Ana
Didn't care for this. It has a weird jell-o texture and not that good of a taste. I followed the recipe exactly. No taste (or even a whiff) of cardamom or coriander whatsoever, so not really sure what the point was adding them to the vinegars (if they weren't going to stay in to have some time to infuse).
I will not be making this again.
suzeq
I was going to try this but now you have me re-thinking.
What might you change?
Judy
Maybe you have to peel off the skin of the cardamom pod for the flavor to come through.
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