Strawberry Rhubarb Vanilla Jam, Trail Version
Freeze-dried berries, dried rhubarb, sugar, and vanilla, cooked down in a mug pot in five minutes.
- calories
- 290
- weight
- 2.6 oz
- cal / oz
- 112
- protein
- 1 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 6 min
- total time
- 8 min
- water
- 90 ml boiled
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dessert
- Breakfast
- Canister stove
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Bikepacking
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Freeze-dried strawberries | 1 cup | about 1 oz, crushed in the bag |
|---|---|---|
| Dried rhubarb | 1/3 cup | dehydrated at home in thin slices |
| Sugar | 1/3 cup | half the weight of the dried fruit, the classic jam ratio |
| Vanilla bean powder | 1/4 tsp | or scrapings from half a pod, carried in the sugar |
| Lemon powder or citric acid | 1/4 tsp | |
| Cornstarch | 1 tsp | |
| Salt | a pinch |
Method
- Pour 90 ml of water into the pot and bring it to a boil.
- Dump in the rhubarb and let it sit off the flame for three minutes. It rehydrates slower than the berries do.
- Add the strawberries, sugar, vanilla, lemon powder, and salt. Stir, return to low heat, and let it bubble for two minutes.
- Slurry the cornstarch in a spoonful of cold water and stir it in. Thirty more seconds on the flame, then off.
- Let it cool five minutes. It thickens as it drops below hot.
Real jam is a long boil that drives water out of fresh fruit until sugar and pectin set it. On trail you cannot afford either the fuel or the fresh fruit, so this runs the process backward: start from dried fruit and add back only the water you need. Ninety milliliters is enough to soften everything without leaving syrup you have to boil away.
The sugar is not only for sweetness. At roughly half the dried fruit weight it pulls moisture and keeps the mix from tasting flat, and the lemon powder does the acid job the fresh rhubarb would have handled. Cornstarch stands in for pectin, which needs a longer, hotter cook than a canister stove is worth. Add it as a slurry or you get lumps.
Packing
Fruit, sugar, vanilla, lemon powder, and salt go in one bag at home. Cornstarch rides in its own small bag or it will clump into the sugar and never disperse.
Variations
- Spoon it over instant polenta or couscous to make it dinner instead of dessert.
- Skip the cornstarch and use half the water for a thick paste to eat on tortillas.
- A splash of whiskey stirred in off the heat replaces the vanilla.
https://savoriurbane.com/dulceata-de-capsuni-cu-rubarba-si-vanilie-o-reteta-foarte-simpla