I recently learned all about canning, found the below recipe on gardenweb, and completed recipe steps 1 and 2 yesterday. I'm gearing up today to do the actual preserves cooking and canning part but I'm a bit nervous because yesterday I didn't follow one part exactly and am worried I need to accommodate for it to get the right sugar/pectin/acid ratio.

I bought a a couple of pounds of beautiful organic strawberries and raspberries at the farmers market Sunday. Long story short, I lost a bunch of strawberries. This left me with about 1 1/4 lb strawberries hulled/net (instead of 1 1/2) and nearly 2 lbs raspberries. My reasoning was I will compensate for the missing 1/4 lb strawberries with extra raspberry juice. (?)

I used the full 4 1/4 cups sugar and mascerated the berries a full 24 hours now with juice of a small lemon, stirring several times, but now I'm worried as there is more than 1/2 a cup of sugar that is not dissolved!

I made the raspberry juice using 2 lbs raspberries with more like 5.5 oz or so of water and got rid of the spent pressed fruit.

How much of the raspberry juice should I add to compensate for missing the 1/4 lb of strawberries? And should I really include all of that sugar, even though probably 3/4 of a cup hasn't fully dissolved and I was lacking in fruit substance? I'm mostly worried this is going to be way too sweet and I won't be able to go back. Below is a picture with my juice and sugary berries (not even all the sugar, just a big scoop full)!

Your help is oh-so-appreciated!

Strawberry with Raspberry Juice and Balsamic Vinegar
(Source: Mes Confitures: The Jams and Jellies of Christine Ferber)

Ingredients
1 3/4 pounds wild Mara strawberries, or 1 1/2 pounds net*
4 1/4 cups granulated sugar
Juice of 1 small lemon
1 1/4 pound raspberries
1 2/3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
5 peppercorns, freshly ground

Procedure
1. Select small strawberries. Rinse them in cold water, dry them in a towel, stem them, and halve them. In a bowl, combine the strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice. Cover with a sheet of parchment paper, and let them macerate, refrigerated, overnight.

2. Next day, place the raspberries into a saucepan with 3 1/2 ounces water, bring to a boil, and boil for a few minutes. Strain this mixture through a chinoise, pressing the fruit lightly with the back of a skimmer. Set the collected raspberry juice aside.

3. Pour the macerated strawberries into a sieve. Bring the strawberry syrup to a boil in a preserving pan with the raspberry juice. Skim and continue cooking over high heat. The syrup will be sufficiently concentrated at 221°F on a candy thermometer.

4. Add the macerated fruit, pepper, and balsamic vinegar, and bring to a boil once more. Skim, return to a boil, boiling for about 5 minutes while stirring gently. Check the set. The strawberries should be translucent, like preserves.** Put the jam into the jars immediately and seal.

* Where Mara strawberries are not available, use local, wild strawberries combined with ripe, locally grown, domesticated strawberries.