Strawberry Rhubarb & Apple Jam

When it's spring time, we get a generous gift of rhubarbs from a colleague at work. And I always go scrambling for new rhubarb recipes. I am not a fan of anything that's tart, so the only way I know of using the rhubarbs is in crisps, pies, and jams that take in sugar. This time, I tried a mixed fruit jam with some rhubarbs, lots of strawberries and an apple. 

I found the amount of sugar I originally added to be insufficient to cut down the tartness of the rhubarbs, so I have adjusted the sugar in the recipe below. Depending on how sweet or tart the fruits are, make your judgement call on the sugar.

Recipe was adapted from here

Ingredients (makes a little more than a pint of jam):

1. 3 cups ripe strawberries, sliced into pieces
2. 1 cup rhubarb, peeled, and diced into small pieces
3. 1 Gala apple, cored and sliced
4. 2 cups sugar
5. 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
6. 1 teaspoon freshly ground cardamom powder

Preparation: 

1. Add sugar and lemon juice in a large sauce and heat on low heat until the sugar dissolves and simmers gently. About 10 minutes.
2. Add all the sliced fruits and heat over medium flame for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. The fruits will release their juice and begin to bubble gently.
3. At this point, attach a candy thermometer (a useful and inexpensive investment) and continue to stir and break down the fruits gently. Wait until the reading on the thermometer is 225 F. It takes about 15-20 minutes to get to this point. If you don't own a thermometer, wait for the mixture to thicken like syrup. Or after the 15 minute mark, take some of the jam and place it on a cold plate. Let the jam cool (about a minute) and feel the texture with your hand. If it feels like a spreadable jelly, then the jam is done. Otherwise let it cook for an additional 5 minutes and again check.
4. When the jam reaches 225 F, switch off the heat and immediately add the cardamom powder and mix well. 
5. Immediately transfer to sterilized, clean, jars and wait for the jam to completely cool before sealing and refrigerating.

This jam tastes different from most other jams because of the combination of these particular fruits and vegetable. And due to not blending the fruits/vegetable into pulp, you get little bites of the strawberries and apples. 

If you are a fan of tart and sweet jams, this one is for you!