Simply Suzanne's AT HOME: strawberry jam

Every January my family gathers at Buca di Beppo's for a fun family dinner to honor my dad.

I look forward to this special dinner every year. My mom, siblings, and lots of grand-children gather to celebrate my dad, catch-up, enjoy one another's company, LAUGH, and eat amazing family-style Italian food.

~ Do you see the specks of orange zest? ~

One of the ways I celebrate/remember my dad is by sharing a memory of him. Food and family seem to go hand-in-hand for me, so that last few years I've shared some of my dad's favorites with my mom and siblings.

Last year I brought everyone a jar of home-made Caramel Sauce (my dad's favorite topping). The year before that I gifted everyone a jar of home-made Strawberry VanillaBean Jam (dad's favorite jam). I've made everyone mini angel food cakes. It was his favorite cake! And I've even made home-made divinity candy . . . his favorite candy.

This year marks 10 years since my dad returned Home to our Creator; so needless to say, I've prepared many things over the years, from desserts to CD's to 'fun bags' that were all intended to stir happy and loving memories of our Dad.

This year I felt inspired to make my version of a Linzer Cookie. I have happy memories of going to our local German Village with my family for dinner, and then visiting the bakery to enjoy Linzer Cookies (and other sweet fares) for dessert. I always thought that the jam-filled centers were so pretty!

Linzer Cookies are traditionally made with almond shortbread and filled with raspberry preserves, but because I wanted a softer textured cookie and strawberry preserves, I opted to use my favorite, trusted sugar cookie recipe and organic strawberry jam (my dad's favorite!).

And because my dad LOVED Fig Newton Cookies, I filled several with Fig Butter! They were so pretty . . . and even tasted like Fig Newtons. He would've loved them!

There are a few special things to note about these cookies . . . I added orange zest to the dough, as it's an amazing compliment to the strawberry preserves and fig butter! And . . . I rolled out the dough to 1/8"-inch (instead of 1/4"-inch) so that they wouldn't be too cakey when the two cookie hearts were sandwiched together. The orange zest and thinner cookies are a WINNING combination!

Since I wanted to make extra large heart-shaped cookies, they were too big to fit into cello bags, so I wrapped them with cello paper and then tied them with satin ribbon. I love how they turned out . . . and they were so yummy, too!!

I gifted the small heart-shaped sugar cookies to my nieces and nephews, since I knew that they wouldn't be a fan of the jam-filled cookies.

I'm so grateful for my family . . . and our Annual Memorial Dinner. It warms my heart beyond words every year!

I hope my simple and quick recipe and tutorial (below) inspire you to bake these heart-shaped cut out sugar cookies for your loved ones.

Happy baking!

orange (zest) sugar cookies
makes about 10-20 cookies depending on size

. . . . . . . . .

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

12 Tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

zest of 1 small orange

1 egg, room temperature

strawberry jam for filling, or whatever jam flavor strikes your fancy

sanding sugar for sprinkling
powder sugar (instead of flour) for rolling out dough
. . . . . . . . .

Preparation

To make the dough: Beat the butter, sugar, and zest until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl as needed, about 3 minutes. Add the yolk and vanilla and beat until combined.

Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and mix until just combined. Don't over-beat.

Divide the dough in half, and pat each half into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

To assemble: On a lightly floured surface, roll one disc of dough out about 1/8"-thick. Using a heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out cookies. Transfer hearts to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Gather the scrap dough, roll, and repeat. Place the cut cookies in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

While the first half of cookies is chilling, cut hearts from the remaining dough. Once you've transferred these cookies to a baking sheet, use your smallest heart-shaped cookie cutter to make a peekaboo cutout in the center of each. Sprinkle tops with sanding sugar. Place cookies in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to chill.

To bake: Bake all of the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the edges are just beginning to turn brown. Let them cool for 5 minutes on the pan, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

To fill the cookies: Place the sugar topped cookies with the holes in them on a cookie sheet. Turn the remaining cookies flat side up and spoon 1/2 teaspoon of jam into the center, spreading it slightly, and leaving a 1/4" border. Top with the sugar-topped cookies.

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We had our Annual Family Dinner over the weekend.

My family gathers every year to celebrate and remember my dad. We enjoy a big dinner together at Buca di Beppos, and share memories, eat and laugh, and laugh and eat . . . and enjoy one another's company. There are only a few times a year when we ALL get together, and this is one of those occasions.

One of the ways I celebrate/remember my dad is by sharing a piece of him that I fondly remember. Last year I brought everyone a mini angel food cake. It was his favorite cake! And the year before, I brought everyone home-made divinity candy . . . his favorite candy.

This year marks 8 years since he returned Home; so needless to say, I've prepared many things over the years, from desserts to CDs to 'fun bags' that were all intended to stir happy and loving memories of our Dad.

If you knew my dad well, then you knew how much he loved anything STRAWBERRY! He loved strawberry shakes, strawberry jam, strawberry & rhubarb pies, strawberry syrups, fresh strawberries, strawberry ice cream, and Sees strawberry cream candies.

I felt inspired to make home-made strawberry jam in honor of him this year. And because of how my brain naturally works, I couldn't resist adding a twist to the traditional strawberry jam recipe.

I added vanilla! The resulting jam is enhanced with subtle yet distinct vanilla overtones.

I think my dad would've been proud of my canning accomplishment . . . and he would've loved this traditional strawberry jam, with a vanilla twist.

We miss you, Dad.

Ingredients

5 cups mashed strawberries, hulled and sliced

4 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

7 cups granulated sugar
( holy cow! That's a lot of sugar! )

1/2 vanilla bean, split

Preparation

Being a canning novice, I highly recommend this link.

It provides an easy-to-follow pictorial on how to make the jam, step by step.
I chose not to use Pectin, because I remember my dad sharing with me that his mother (my grandma) didn't add it to her jam recipes.

And this link provides an easy to follow pictorial, step by step, on how to sterilize your jars.

Strawberry Vanilla Bean Jam
Add half a vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise, to the crushed strawberries.
Cook as directed, and remove vanilla bean before ladling jam into jars.

I studied the tutorial link I shared with you above a few times before attempting to make the jam.

For years, I thought that canning was going to be too difficult to try . . . but it's not. It's quite enjoyable . . . and I love that canning possibilities and combinations are endless. Our oldest daughter, Charley, and I are huge fans of blackberries . . . so that will be our next canning adventure. Until then . . .