Breakfast Jam
I love eating out for breakfast. Taking a weekend trip always starts with a little out of the way café and hot pancakes or biscuits and eggs with butter and fruit jam, homemade whenever possible. But I have to confess, I’m one of ‘those people’ who will take my own jam to a restaurant. Pretty little jars of goodness on some hot biscuits is hard to beat. I love trying different breads and biscuits in those cafes. And maybe I’m a jam snob, but unless the place is known for homemade preserves, the little commercial jam packets they serve just don’t even compete with what comes out of someone’s kitchen. Jams should be full of sweet cinnamon goodness. And there’s nary a speck of cinnamon in most commercial jam!! Plus all those chemical ingredients.
My jams and jellies are ‘soft set’, deliciously fruity, spicy, herby (herby? Full of herbs) and some kind of sweetener to get that right balance of tart and yummy. Stevia, a stevia and sugar blend, honey, molasses, brown sugar, and xylitol or a combination of any of the above, might be in any of my fruit jams. And I love combinations! I often stretch expensive or hard to find fruit with a little homemade applesauce. Apples contain pectin so it helps the fruit to set. Berry applesauce is wonderful, but mixed berry compotes are my favorite. A compote is not a true ‘set’ jam, but more a rich fruit-to-sweetener ratio to put on biscuits or toast, with tasty bits of fruit and spice.
So next time you find berries that are too tempting to resist, try adding a little applesauce and your favorite sweetener instead of making hard set jam that is more spreadable and fruity. You might like the change!
Berry Apple Compote Jam:
1 quart berries (mixed blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, cherries, gooseberries, or any berries you can safely forage
2 cups chopped and peeled apples or 1-2 cups homemade applesauce
1 cup water or juice, just enough to simmer apples (unsweetened apple juice or orange, even lemonade for a ‘twang’)
1-2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (I use more to suit my tastes)
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground ginger or 1-2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger
½ teaspoon allspice and nutmeg
2-3 cups pure cane sugar (honey can be substituted for part of the sugar)
Wash and hull berries, if needed. (If you are using seed grapes, de-seeding the fruit is a necessary step, see below). In a saucepan on low, add chopped apples and water/juice, let simmer until apples are tender. Mash to make applesauce. Add berries to the warm applesauce, let them simmer. Begin mashing berries. My preference is to leave them lumpy so you get lots of fruit when serving. Add spices. Let simmer 20 minutes until juicy and soft. Add sweetener and/or sugar and turn heat down to low, letting berries and apples simmer with just a slight boil. The compote should have the consistency of thick applesauce. If there is more liquid than desired, strain fruit with a sieve and let the juice drip into another saucepan. Bring this juice to a boil and let it cook down slightly, stirring consistently. Add back to the fruit as it thickens.
Prepare and sterilize jelly jars if you will be canning the compote and water bath the same as jelly. If you are making refridgerator compote, pour into jars to refridgerate or freeze jars.
Make some biscuits and some fresh creamy butter and enjoy your creation!
De-seeding grapes
