Mason Jar Fillers

SALTED CARAMEL

VANILLA AND STRAWBERRY JAM

LEMON CURD

Bold enough for you? Did you get the message?

Well, well, well, these are the three fillers I did for my mason jars! 

Super easy, super tasty and super useful!! 

Strawberry and Vanilla Jam

The jam making process was fairly simple and straightforward, I put into use the skills I had learnt from Richard Hunt during the Cake and Bake Show which made the process that little bit easier remembering the tips that Richard had shown me and if you're anything like me you learn best when you're shown how to do it and then asked to do it by yourself!

The recipe and method for the jam was fairly simple anyway without the prior knowledge to making jam!

Recipe to make around 2kg of jam:

• 1.5kg strawberries (the softer the better)
• 1.5kg jam sugar (preferably with pectin as it helps it to set)
• juice of 2 lemons
• 1-2 vanilla pods, seeds scraped out

Method:

1. Sounds strange but trust me it's needed, pop 2-3 saucers into the freezer.

2. Put all the ingredients into a very large pan and heat slowly so that the sugar dissolves rather than burning.

3. Once the sugar dissolves, bring to the boil and simmer for around 5 minutes. 

4. To test, pull one of the saucers from the freezer and drop a teaspoon onto it; if a skin forms and wrinkles when pushed the jam is ready.

5. If the jam isn't quite set then bring back to the boil for around another 3-4 minutes. I had to do this at least twice before mine set so it all depends on the way you make yours!

6. Leave all to cool for 15 minutes, then take out the vanilla pods. 

7. Pour into a sterilised jam jar, mason jar or any container you have that suits this purpose!

Lemon Curd

This recipe was so simple and tasty, it helped so much with another recipe I used and it made the recipe taste even better!!

Ok so for the recipe you will need:

• zest and juice of 3 lemons
• 150g caster sugar
• 100g salted butter 
• 2 medium eggs

Method:

1. Add all the ingredients together in a small saucepan and whacks until the juice and eggs are all mixed in.

2. Continue to whisk over a low heat until the mixture is thick!

Ok so with this lemon curd I had the genius idea of trying some of it whilst it was still hot, please please don't do it!! As a matter of fact don't do it with any of these recipes as they will all be super super hot and burn a lot!! However once the lemon curd was a lot cooler but still warm I had the idea of dipping a digestive biscuit into the mixture and OMG heaven!! Definitely going to try out a lemon curd style biscuit in the next few months!

Salted Caramel

Last but certainly not least! The salted caramel that was a huge success with all my family when I used it in the birthday cake I made for my brothers birthday BBQ, recipe to come...

Anyway for the salted caramel you will need:

• 200g caster sugar
• 200ml double cream
• 1tsp salt (however I used about 3tsp to make it really salty but your preference!)

Method:

1. Melt the caster sugar over a medium heat into a light brown caramel, keep swirling the pan to ensure no burnt sugar and DONT USE A SPOON AND STIR IT!!

2. This bit WILL splutter but don't worry it's supposed to, pour the double cream into the sugar (still on the heat)

3. Stir over a low heat until you have a smooth caramel sauce consistency and then add in the salt. Leave to cool and pour into your desired container/jar.

So thats all my mason jar fillers, let me know if you try them out! Coming in the next posts you will see how I have used these in my baking!

Thanks for reading,

Caitlin xxx