Why not add a twist to the classic strawberry jam?! And who knew that the tropical guava would make such an amazing pair to strawberry?! I first made this jam when I used to own a pastry shop in 2014 and this flavor combination was among our top seller for French Macarons! Also, check out my White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Macaron recipe here! This jam is a sure crowd-pleaser and so simple to make! And did I mention that it’s so delicious?!

Before starting, here are some tips!

• Why not give your local strawberry farm a visit and pick your own strawberries for this jam? They’re so much cheaper than the ones in the supermarket and can make an excellent family activity.

• You can find guava juice with pulp in the frozen section in some groceries, however, for this recipe my favorite grocery didn’t carry them. I used a frozen concentrate instead.

• Pectin is not a common pantry ingredient and you can skip on it and still have a decent jam. It is a gelling agent and helps achieve that gel-like consistency and in my opinion is necessary to have in making jams.

• You can slice, mash or puree your strawberries for the jam! I prefer mine with a rustic look either by roughly slicing or lightly mashing! I like tasting chunks of strawberries in my jam!

Strawberry Guava Jam

Yield 32 oz jam Prep Time 15 minutes Cook Time 30 to 40 minute

Equipment: deep pot, spatula and 32 oz glass jar container

Ingredients

4 cups fresh strawberries (cleaned and leaves removed)

2 cups guava concentrate

1.5 tbsp pectin

4 tbsp lemon juice

4 cups sugar

1 tbsp butter

Directions

• If bought frozen, thaw out the guava concentrate and put aside.

• Wash and strain strawberries then remove the leaves.

• Slice strawberries in small cube sizes or with a masher, lightly mash strawberries.

• Take 1 cup of the sugar, add pectin and mix thoroughly.

• In a deep pot, mix strawberries, guava concentrate, lemon juice and the sugar-pectin mixture and mix thoroughly until the sugar is fully incorporated.

• Add butter to help avoid foaming.

• Cook on high heat until boiling then add the remainder of the sugar stirring until it fully dissolves.

• Continue cooking on medium-high heat, stirring occasionally and scraping the bottom and side of the pot.

• Bring the jam to a full rolling boil and cooking for another 2 minutes stirring and scraping. The total boiling time is between 30 to 40 minutes.

• To check for the right consistency, dip a flat spatula in the jam and tilt to allow the jam to flow back into the pot. If the flow slightly curtains, then the jam is done otherwise continue cooking.

• Pour jam into the container and allow to cool. It can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 months.

I recently visited 2 of my favorite bakeries in California! One is Mr. Holmes Bakeshop in San Francisco and other is Porto’s Bakery in West Covina. Inspired by my visit in each bakery, I put together a Strawberry Guava Cream Cheese Croissant Recipe! Click here to check it out!