Sourdough & Strawberry Rose Water Jam

Selvan’s sourdough journey began with baking bread with his mother-in-law Alison. So we thought it was only right to ask her for one of her all-time favourite bread pairings. Her suggestion of the classic bread and jam is made all the more special with her recipe for homemade strawberry and rose water jam.

When the jam is cooled and ready, we like to lightly toast a rustic chunk of bread, so the butter can begin to melt into the crumb. Scrape a generous layer of jam onto your slice, brew a mug of milky tea and enjoy!

Strawberry Rose Water Jam
(rose water optional)

450g (1lb) strawberries
450g (1lb) granulated sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon of butter
Few drops rose water

1. Chop strawberries, put in a bowl with the lemon juice and strawberries, cover and leave in the fridge overnight, if you have the time. The sugar draws the juice out of the strawberries and tenderises them. If you don't have time just go straight to the next step

2. Put in a pan with the butter and gently warm through on the stove until sugar has dissolved. Bring up to a gentle boil for 15 mins until setting point reached.*

3. Add a couple of drops (to taste) of rose water and stir in. Leave to cool for 5 mins.

4. Pour into a clean sterilised jar with a lid. Allow to cool completely before using.

* if you have a preserving thermometer this is 105 deg C / 220 deg F

Or

Place a small plate in the fridge before you start to get nice and cold. To test the set of your jam, drop a teaspoon of the jam onto it, poke it with your finger - if you can see it start to wrinkle, your jam is ready to go into a glass jar. If it doesn't, don’t worry just put your jam into the jar - the worst thing that can happen is that it turns out to be a softer jam, which is still absolutely gorgeous added to curd! Next time, you may just want to boil your jam for a bit longer.