We posted a picture on Facebook last week of two huge bowls of strawberries that Michael picked from our garden. Though we’re very proud of that harvest, it just isn’t enough to meet the demands for fresh berries at breakfast time AND making jam for the rest of the year!
So of course we have to supplement with several flats of local strawberries for jam making. We do the same when the seasons come around for blueberries, peaches, and plums (my favorite!!) Unfortunately, the extra cold winter nearly killed one of our fig trees and we had to cut it all the way down. It has new growth, but we won’t be making jam from it anytime soon.
So today was a strawberry jam making day in the kitchen:
2 flats plus a large bowlful from our garden yielded about 19 quarts of the stuff! Not a bad day’s work.
We’ve written before about the abundance of local farms that we are so lucky to have here in Kent County, MD; today’s jams are courtesy of berries from Godfrey’s Farm, one of those farms.
It’s about time for a recipe here, so here is a classic. Even though Brampton Inn has posted this before (4 years ago, I checked!) we’re sharing it again because it’s Just. That. Good. And it calls for JAM!!
In a lot of muffin recipes, the second instruction (right after pre-heating the oven), is to grease and flour the muffin pan. Or, to make it easier, spray pan with non-stick cooking spray. But, if you want to play in the big leagues, just order up some of these awesome muffin/cupcake pan liners. They make life in the baker’s kitchen so much easier. And the presentation is fabulous. You can thank us later.
Makes one dozen muffins
2 cups unbleached flour
¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 cup sour cream
4 ounces unsalted butter, melted (1/2 a stick)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ cup jam of your choice, homemade if you’ve got some, or your favorite brand!
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
In a large bowl mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a medium sized bowl whisk egg, sour cream, melted butter and vanilla until smooth.
Gently fold egg mixture into the flour mixture until just moistened.
Scoop one heaping tablespoon of batter into the prepared muffin pan. Make a well with the back of the spoon. Fill each well with one teaspoon of jam. Top each with remaining batter, dividing evenly among the six muffins. This should cover the jam nicely.
Bake for 20 – 25 minutes until just golden on top. Let rest for 10 min. before removing from pan. If you would like sprinkle with sifted, powdered sugar.
Enjoy!