Cardinal Preserves

Best recipe we've ever found for strawberry preserves

Yield: 4 half pints
Source: Farm Journal Freezing and Canning Cookbook (1963)

Ingredients

1 cup crushed strawberries
1 quart whole berries
4 cups sugar
Instructions

In a heavy bottom pot, cook the cup of crushed berries with 1 cup of sugar over medium heat. When it starts to boil, cook for EXACTLY four minutes.

DO NOT STIR once it starts boiling.

Add 1/3 of the whole berries and 1 cup of sugar.

Bring to a boil and cook for EXACTLY four minutes. DO NOT STIR once it starts boiling.

Repeat the above steps 2 more times to use up the rest of the berries and sugar.

Remove pan from heat, skim (the skimmed preserves are good on fresh bread), pour into a wide flat pan (like a 9 x 13 glass baking dish) and let the preserves sit for about 12 hours, until it plumps.

Can or freeze.

You can safely double this recipe, but tripling it seems to cause problems.

Variations: Substitute some sliced peaches for part of the whole berries. Also works well with black raspberries. We have tried replacing some of the sugar with Splenda, it works, but it may not get quite as thick and it doesn't last as long in the refrigerator.

Goes great with Donna German's Austrian Malt Bread: