Maple Strawberry Smooch!

The strawberries grown at "Cooper's CSA Farm & Maze" are awesome and plentiful this year! As soon as they opened up their fields to u-pickers, the kids, some of our friends and I were over there filling our baskets!! Since I still have PLENTY of jam from last year, as well as Peppery Strawberry Salsa, I turned to my Bernardin book to see what else can be done with these luscious berries....and NOTHING sounded more decadent than this simple recipe for a dessert sauce ~ I can already taste it drizzled over ice cream, cheesecake, or in my morning oatmeal!!!

MAPLE STRAWBERRY SMOOCH

Ingredients

4 3/4 cups pureed strawberries (for this you'll need 8 cups of whole fruit and food processor to really make the berries smooth)

1 1/2 cups pure maple syrup

1 cup unsweetened apple juice

3 tbsp lemon juice

1 package of regular powdered fruit pectin (I used the 57g Certo brand)

• Prepare your canner, lids and jars as usual.
• In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine pureed strawberries, maple syrup, apple and lemon juices. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Add the pectin, stirring constantly until dissolved. Bring to a full rolling boil and boil hard for 1 minute. Remove from heat.
• Ladle hot smooch inot hot jars, leaving a 1/4" headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace. Wipe rim. Centre lid on jar and screw band down till fingertip tight.
• Place jars in a canner, ensuring that they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove canner lid and wait 5 minutes before removing jars. Cool and store.