As many of you know, strawberry jam can be cloying, too sweet to be enjoyed. By and large this is because strawberries have little in the way of natural pectin so you really have to add a lot of sugar to compensate. As well, cooking strawberries seems to concentrate their natural sweetness, adding to the sugary taste factor. To compensate for lack of natural pectin, I added one grated apple per 4 cups of berries and cooked things until thick. What results is a beautiful, richly colored loosely set preserve whose sweetness is perfectly offset by lemon juice, cardamom and the slight tang of the apple.