We eat a lot of yogurt at my house. I like it in smoothies and with fresh fruit, granola and honey. So, for my birthday this year, I asked my husband for an automatic yogurt machine. Yes, that’s really what I wanted; I’m practical, if nothing else.

The prospect of making my own yogurt appeals to me because I try to avoid additives and preservatives in my food, at least as much as possible. After making my first batch of plain yogurt earlier this month, I decided to try one flavored with strawberry jam. A good friend had given us a jar of Meacham’s Gourmet Strawberry Jam for Christmas last year and this seemed like a good use of it.

Making flavored yogurt is just a little more complicated than plain, but not much.

Here are the only ingredients you’ll need:

1 quart of milk (I used one percent organic)
4 TBSP strawberry jam
5 TBSP of plain organic yogurt (I used Stonyfield)

Simply measure the jam into a saucepan and set it aside. If the jam has been in the refrigerator, you’ll want to heat it a little bit. Mine was room temperature, so I didn’t bother with that step.

Meanwhile, heat the milk in a separate saucepan to 180 degrees and boil for two minutes. The temperature is important in this process, so make sure you use a thermometer.

Once the cooking process is done, let the milk cool to 110 degrees. You can either leave it on the stovetop to cool or you can place the saucepan in a bath of cold water. Once the milk has reached 110 degrees, add one cup of it to the strawberry jam and stir. Once it’s mixed thoroughly, combine it with the rest of the milk.

Next, add five tablespoons of plain organic yogurt (your starter) to the milk mixture, stirring as you go. Pour it into your jars and place them in the yogurt machine. I first set the machine for nine hours, which worked fine for the plain yogurt, but I found that I needed an additional hour for the strawberry.