Spoon sweet or “gliko tou koutaliou” is preserved fruit, which as the name suggests, is customarily served on a spoon. Making strawberry spoon sweet calls for the same ingredients as those used for jam. The difference is in the preparation, which allows for the fruit to be kept whole or halved. While this involves slightly more work than a traditional jam, it is well worth the effort. Ice cream, waffles, yogurt, biscuits… forget serving it on a spoon, just pour it over everything!
The trickiest part with this recipe is achieving a syrup that isn’t too thick or thin. Ideally, it should resemble the consistency of maple syrup. If like me, you have minimal experience preserving fruits, you may need to rework the syrup a few times before achieving the desired consistency. You’ll find tips in the recipe’s process steps to help with this specific area.
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh hulled strawberries
- 1 pound sugar
- Half a lemon
Preparation
- Wash the strawberries by letting them soak for 10 minutes in a bowl with 1 part white vinegar and 3 parts water
- Remove the stems, hull the berries, and place in a bowl. Small strawberries can be left whole. For larger berries, cut in half
- Pour the sugar over the strawberries, cover, and let macerate at room temperature for 6 hours
- Once well macerated, pour the strawberries, juice, and sugar into a medium size pot and heat to a boil over medium heat. Once the contents reach a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 3 minutes. During this step, stir as little as possible to avoid breaking the berries
- After simmering for 3 minutes, remove the strawberries from the pot using a slotted spoon, and place in a strainer
- Add the juice from a half lemon to the syrup and continue to simmer over medium heat for approximately 10 minutes
- The amount of time necessary to thicken the syrup will vary. It is important to note that the syrup will be more fluid when the sugar is warm. If you achieve the desired consistency (something similar to maple syrup) when the sugar is hot, it will likely be too thick once cool.
- A good trick I learned from my mother-in-law is to test a spoon full of syrup by pouring it onto a small plate. While you wait for the test syrup to cool, remove the pot from the heat. After 2-3 minutes, the syrup on the small plate will have reached room temperature and you can test the thickness
- If too thin, continue simmering the syrup for another 2 minutes and test again
- If too thick, add a quarter cup of water to the syrup, bring to a simmer, stir well to incorporate, and test again
- You may notice a foam or froth forming on the top of the syrup while it simmers. This can be removed and discarded by skimming the top of the syrup with a spoon
- Once your syrup reaches the desired consistency, remove from the heat, place the berries in a sterilized 12 ounce jar and pour the syrup over the berries
- Place the lid on the jar and let cool upside down
