Strawberry Jam Making Update

Years ago, I finally purchased what I thought would be the holy grail of jam making, Mes Confitures: The Jams and Jellies of Christine Ferber, the self proclaimed "Jam Queen" of the Alsace region of France.  Alas, I found her recipes confusing and complicated, to say the least.   I sure was pleased to read that Kevin West felt the same way in his wonderful book Saving the Season: A Cook's Guide to Home Canning, Pickling, and Preserving.  He said that Madame Ferber led him to "ruin many pounds of good fruit" and that "one gets the impression that she published her cookbook to avoid revealing anything about how she actually makes preserves"  So French!

I tried her technique of macerating the fruit, but I found it took forever to get it to hit the gel temp of 220 F.  I eventually gave up and just canned the jam anyway, but it definitely was more cooked than I would have liked.   I should have looked at Kevin's book instead   His recipe for strawberry preserves with elderflower liqueur looks amazing and much simpler.   After macerating the fruit overnight, strain the mixture and allow the syrup to get to the gel point, and the n add the fruit and heat for another 3 minutes or so.  I'm going to have to try this next time.