Print This Post
The tiny miracle that is a chia seed can be put to good use to save you time and trouble when making homemade jam.
Use the freshest strawberries, straight from the fields or the farmers market if you are so lucky, and splurge on a couple of other premium ingredients – vanilla syrup and premium white chia. The natural gel coating on the outside of the chia will swell with the liquid from the berries, and voila!, the mashed, sweetened strawberries gel into some jam.
[Pause for dance break: “It Must Be Jelly (‘Cause Jam Don’t Shake Like That),” a 1942 jazz and pop song. ]
What can you do with this Raw Strawberry-Vanilla Chia Jam? Lots!
- on top of toast, or in your pb&j sandwich, like normal jam
on a bowl of yogurt, cooked oatmeal, cottage cheese or ice cream, to jazz them up- spread on pancakes or waffles instead of syrup
- used as a filling in a layer cake, or spread onto a piece of toasted angel food cake
- whirled into your fruit smoothie
Recipe: Raw Strawberry-Vanilla Chia Jam
Summary: The freshest strawberries from California, the finest vanilla syrup and a jolt of lemon juice to spark the taste make a wonderful raw chia jam.
Ingredients
- 15 fresh strawberries
- 1 teaspoon Meyer lemon juice (or juice from a regular lemon)
- 3 tablespoons Heilala Vanilla Syrup
- A few grains of table salt
- 2 1/2 tablespoons white chia seeds (I used Melissa’s White Chia)
Instructions
Wash, dry and stem strawberries. Cut berries in half and put into a small food processor. Add lemon juice, syrup and salt and whirl until pureed, about 30-60 seconds. Add chia and whirl a couple of seconds until combined. Taste and add additional sweetener if you like.- Pour into a lidded jar or container and refrigerate overnight to allow chia to fully hydrate. Jam will thicken up as the chia seeds gel. Keep jam in the refrigerator.
- Makes 1 cup or so.
Source
Dorothy Reinhold / Shockingly Delicious
Warning
- Warning #1: Not every person likes the texture that chia imparts, so before you make up 24 jars of this and put them in the freezer, try a single jar and make sure your family likes it.
- Warning #2: This jam is not cooked or preserved, so you must keep the jar in the refrigerator. I suppose you can freeze it, but I haven’t tried that. Let me know how it goes if you do.
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Diet type: Vegetarian, vegan
Diet tags: Gluten free, Raw
Number of servings (yield): 8
Culinary tradition: USA (Nouveau)
Heilala Vanilla sent the vanilla syrup and Melissa’s Produce sent the white chia for recipe testing.
Welcome to my kitchen!
At ShockD, you’ll find scrumptious, tried & true, "scary good" recipes, tips and coaching to make YOU a fabulous home cook! Don't blame me if you need a 12-step program to wean yourself away!
E-mail me: Dorothy.Reinhold@gmail.com
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
This looks so good! What a great combination of flavors!
This looks so good! I am just wondering how long this will last in the refrigerator? Thanks for the great idea(s)!
Michelle,
I think I’ve had it at least a week before we ate it up, maybe more.
Looking forward to making this chia jam & following your page. Thank you. 🙂
Margie,
Welcome! There are a coupla chia jams here, so try them all!
Looks delicious! Perfect for ice creams 🙂
Aleksandra,
Exactly right!
Yeah, but do they grow green hairdos? GREG
Greg,
If you WANT them to!
Looks so good!
love the color! yum!
That was killer jam! I like how the white spoon is shaped like a strawberry. No aesthetic nuance gets past me.
I could eat the whole jar just on its own. Shockingly delicious for sure.
Cathy,
Me too! Stand there with a spoon, with the fridge door open… oh yeah, I’ve NEVER, EVER done that.
{ 1 trackback }