soft spreads

Chocolate Raspberry Sundae Topper

Caitlin 5 Comments

Raspberries are, in the view of many people I know, so precious that it’s hard to even want to preserve them; it’s best to just gorge on them until your tongue hurts, and eat them fresh while they are in season. I can totally understand that perspective since it’s hard to preserve the delicate texture and the amazing fresh taste of raspberries, but since I picked few buckets full two weekends in a row, I wanted to preserve some of them. I made some homemade raspberry ice cream following this recipe from the blog the view from great island, and made this chocolate raspberry sundae topper from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving to go on top. It is deeeeelish and a great treat for chocolate lovers.

IMG_5615 copy

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 package regular fruit pectin
4 1/2 cups crushed raspberries
4 tbsp lemon juice
6 3/4 cups sugar

Here’s how it’s made:

Prepare your canner, jars, and lids. This recipe yields 6-7 half pints. Combine the cocoa powder and pectin in a bowl and set aside.

IMG_5472 copy

Mash the berries and measure into a large pot. Add the lemon juice and stir.

IMG_5475 copy

Whisk in the pectin/cocoa mixture.

IMG_5478 copy

Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Once at a full boil, add the sugar all at once, return to a boil, and boil hard for one minute.

IMG_5479 copy

So lovely, and delicious.

IMG_5488 copy

Fill your hot jars, leaving a 1/4 inch head space. Wipe rims, apply lids and bands, and tighten finger tip tight. Process in a boiling water bath canner, covered by at least an inch or two of water for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove canner lid, wait 5 minutes, remove jars, cool, and store.

IMG_5489 copy

This sundae topper makes a delightful gift for the ice cream lover in your life. I bet it would also be really good on a light cake – I think I need to try it. The only thing I may change if I did this again would be to potentially reduce the pectin. It sets pretty firmly, which for a “sundae topper” seemed sort of unnecessary. Next time I might halve it for a less firm set.

Have any raspberries you’re wanting to preserve in a unique and interesting way? Try this out and let me know what you think!

 

 

Blackberry Cabernet Jam

Caitlin 7 Comments

Last weekend after picking a ton of blackberries I was thinking about what delicious blackberry creation I could come up with, and was reminded of the strawberry Pinot Noir jam that I made two summers ago. Blackberries and wine? Yes please! That sounds like a great idea. Blackberries are bold though, I thought to myself, they need a bolder wine, thus was born the blackberry Cabernet jam. This jam is a real time commitment, as it is pectin free, and has an entire bottle of wine in it. However, if you’re feeling slightly more impatient the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving does have a berry wine jelly using liquid pectin that you could whip up faster. Alternatively, make a half batch and drink the other half of the wine.

Ingredients:
15 cups blackberries
2.5 cups sugar
One bottle of your favourite Cabernet Sauvignon or other bold wine
1 tbsp of lemon juice

IMG_5507 copy

Here’s what I did:

Prepare the canner, jars, and lids (and by prepare I really mean start pondering it, because you actually won’t need to prepare for like 4 more hours). Depending on how long you cook this jam, it will yield about 6-8 pints. Mash the berries to your preferred level of mashiness in a large pot, and add the sugar, wine, and lemon juice. Leave a small amount of wine in the bottom of the bottle to sip on while you bring the jam to a boil.

IMG_5509 copy

Bring to a boil over medium/high heat. Reduce and maintain a gentle boil for a good many hours, stirring occasionally. I think I ended up cooking this for nearly 5 hours. Be patient, or play with adding some liquid pectin of you want a firmer set. Near the end of the cook time, pay close attention to avoid any burning on the bottom of the pot.

IMG_5520 copy

Fill hot jars leaving 1/4 inch head space. Wipe rims, apply lids, and tighten bands finger tip tight. Process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes.

IMG_5528 copy

Deeeeelicious. And oh so pretty. Now who wants to host a cocktail party or wine night so that I can bring some of this jam? 😉

IMG_5556 copy

Inferno Wine Jelly

Caitlin 6 Comments

The other pepper jelly we tried out from Ball the same night as the habanero jelly was this inferno wine jelly. I think with the combo of jalapeno peppers and red bell peppers in it, it will make a perfect jelly to have a a Christmas wine and cheese party. So pretty.

IMG_4641b

Ingredients:
1/2 cup finely chopped seeded red bell pepper
2 tbsp finely chopped jalapeno pepper
2 dried chopped hot chili peppers
1.5 cups sweet white wine (ball suggests Sauternes but anything will work)
3 tbsp lemon juice
3.5 cups granulated sugar
1 pouch of liquid pectin

And here’s how we made it:

Prepare the canner, jars and lids. This recipe yields about 7 4oz. jars.

Combine the peppers, wine and lemon juice. Feel free to use milder peppers if you don’t want an “inferno.” You can also decide whether to seeded the dried chilies, or omit them altogether. Make sure you use a deep pot for this. This pot barely cuts it because the jelly boils very vigorously and can easily boil over if your pot is too shallow.

IMG_4553 copy

Stir in the sugar. So lovely! Bring the jelly to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. If you have a fan, have it on. If you have an assistant, have them ready to fan. Boy does this go crazy. Once at the rolling boil stir in the pectin. Boil hard for another 2 minutes, then remove from the heat.

IMG_4558 copy

Quickly skim off any foam and fill your hot jars, leaving a quarter inch head space. Wipe the rims, apply the lids and tighten the bands finger tip tight. Process the jars for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath canner, covered by at least an inch of water. After the 10 minutes, turn off the heat, remove the canner lid, wait 5 minutes and remove the jars to a hot pad or towel.

IMG_4562

As with the habanero jelly, you can gently twist or tilt the jars after they are sealed to get a nice particle suspension. Just no shaking or inverting the jars, that can affect your seal, so just be very gentle. I didn’t do as nice of a job here, but oh well, still a lovely jelly. Cool the jars 12-24 hours, remove the bands, check the seals, wipe, label and store.

IMG_4641

 

*this post contains affiliate links, please see the “About the Blogger” page for more information

 

Habanero Jelly

Caitlin 6 Comments

Pepper jellies are an awesome addition to any pantry, adding the savory to the sweet in your jam and jelly collection. Lately, I’ve been delving into a few of the intriguing ones in the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, and I am quite happy with them so far. This habanero jelly is gorgeous and dangerously hot! But oh so delicious. Sub in milder peppers if you’re scared of the heat.

IMG_4539

Ingredients:
1/3 cup finely sliced dried apricots
3/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup finely chopped seeded red bell pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped seeded habanero pepper
3 cups granulated sugar
1 pouch liquid pectin

IMG_4551 copy

Combine the apricots and vinegar and let them sit to rehydrate the apricots. Ball suggests a minimum of 4 hours to overnight but I think as long as they are plumped up a couple hours is sufficient. Can something else in the meantime while you wait. Chop the rest of the ingredients finely, and in nice even pieces for an attractive jelly. Wear gloves for the habaneros! Then prepare the canner, jars and lids. This yields about 3 half pints.

IMG_4576 copy

Most pepper jellies are chocked full of sugar, which is probably not that bad since you really don’t eat very much of it when you really consider it, but I still wanted to attempt reducing it and see if I could still get it to set. So I reduced it to two cups from three and added 3 tablespoons of low sugar pectin in addition to the liquid to compensate. Good news – it still set! Anyways, tangent… at this point add the sugar and stir to dissolve it. Bring the jelly to a rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Add the pectin, return to a boil, and boil hard for one minute. Remove from heat, skim off any foam, and fill your jars.

IMG_4578 copy

Quickly fill the jars, leaving a quarter inch head space. Wipe the rims, place the lids on the jars and tighten the bands finger tip tight. Place the jars in the canner covered by at least an inch of water. Process at a full rolling boil for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, turn off the heat ,remove the canner lid, wait 5 minutes, and remove the jars to a hot pad or towel. Ball offers a fun tip at this stage. In order to get a beautiful suspension of the chunks in the jelly, you can carefully swirl the jar around as it’s setting, once the jar is sealed. Don’t invert it, but you can gently tilt it or try to swirl it.

IMG_4587

Cool the jars for 12-24 hours, remove bands, wipe, label, and store. Deeeeelish. Serve at a classy dinner party, with some real classy cheeses and crackers and wow your guests when you tell them that it’s all home made.

IMG_4622

*this post contains affiliate links, please see the “About the Blogger” page for more information

Watermelon Jelly

Caitlin Leave a comment

Watermelons are a classic summer treat that we usually only get to enjoy for a few months while they are in season. These two delightful jelly recipes will allow you to preserve that taste of summer so that you can enjoy it all year long.

IMG_3889 copy

I made two versions of this recipe, one is the zesty watermelon jelly from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, and the other is my own creation, where I simply subbed lemon juice in for the vinegar and omitted the lemongrass. Remember, lemon and lime juice are both better acidifiers than vinegar, which is why it is safe to sub it here. However, that extra acid is mandatory, watermelon is not acidic enough, and therefore not safe to waterbath can without it.

Ingredients:
6 cups crushed watermelon (enough to make 2 cups juice)
1/2 cup vinegar (use white balsamic, white wine or apple cider – I used apple cider here)
4 tablespoons lemon juice
5 cups sugar
1 stem lemongrass, finely chopped
2 pouches liquid pectin

or

6 cups crushed watermelon (enough to make 2 cups juice)
3/4 cups lemon juice
5 cups sugar
2 pouches liquid pectin

Here’s how to make it:

Crush up the watermelon and heat it gently for about 5 minutes.

IMG_3892 copy

Mash it up some more and strain through a dampened jelly bag, or cheesecloth/muslin with some sort of strainer or funnel like below. I don’t have a legit jelly bag setup, so I just used the hopper from the Victorio strainer and some muslin and strained it into a half gallon jar. This actually strained amazingly quickly, unlike some other juice for jellies. I guess they are called watermelons for a good reason.

IMG_3895 copy

Measure out two cups of the juice. If it’s been sitting a while and some of the sediment has settled out, you can stir it up a bit if you like, so that you get that pink colour. If you pour off the top with a lot of the sediment settled out your jelly will be much lighter.

IMG_3897 copy

Prepare the canner, jars and lids. This recipe yields about 5-6 half pints.

Combine all the ingredients except for the pectin in a deep stainless steel pot. Bring to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly. When the boil is reached, stir in the two packets of pectin quickly and return to a boil. Maintain a hard boil for 1 minute.

IMG_3915 copy

Remove from heat and quickly skim any foam.

IMG_3918 copy

This jelly starts to set up really quickly, so you need to work fast filling the jars. If you have a helper when you are making this, have them get the hot jars ready as you are stirring so you can fill quick like a bunny. Fill the jars leaving a 1/4 inch head space. Wipe the rims, apply the lids, and tighten the bands finger tip tight.

IMG_3922 copy

Process the jars in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes, ensuring the jars are covered by at least 1-2 inches of water, and beginning the time when a full rolling boil is acheived. After the ten minutes, turn off the heat, remove the canner lid, wait 5 minutes, and remove the jars to a hot pad or towel. Cool 12-24 hours, remove bands, check seals, wipe down, label and store.

Pictured here is the zesty watermelon jelly on the left, and on the right is the version with just lemon juice. I think the colour difference is in part due to the cider vinegar, but also because I made the right one second and I think had more of the sediment in that batch. They are both pretty, but I was hoping for pinker, and think I might need to experiment with using less sugar to achieve that. But the flavour is certainly delicious!

IMG_3937 copy

*this post contains affiliate links, please see the “About the Blogger” page for more information

Watermelon Jelly on Punk Domestics

Blueberry Lime Jam

Caitlin 8 Comments

I do love blueberries on their own, but sometimes you just need a little something extra to really bring out the flavour of a berry. If you are looking for a jam that really kicks it up a notch, you’ve come to the right place. Adding the juice and zest of a lime or two really enhances the flavour of the blueberries and makes a delicious jam. This recipe is from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. The only change that I make is to use a lower sugar pectin and less sugar, and two limes rather than one, but here it’s written as in Ball.

IMG_3775 copy

Ingredients:
4.5 cups crushed blueberries
5 cups sugar
Zest and juice of 1-2 large limes
1 package of regular pectin (or use low sugar pectin and adjust sugar accordingly)

Here’s what we did:

Prepare the canner, jars and lids. This yields around 6 half pints unless you reduce the sugar.

In a stainless steel pot, combine the crushed berries, lime juice, lime zest, and pectin. Mix well to combine all the ingredients.

IMG_3778 copy

Bring the jam to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly.

Add the sugar all at once when the boil is reached, and return to a boil. Boil hard for 1 minute, then remove from heat and skim off any foam.

Fill the hot jars leaving a 1/4 inch head space. Wipe rims, apply lids, and tighten the bands finger tip tight.

IMG_3788 copy

Process the jars in a boiling water bath canner, covered by at least 1-2 inches of water for 10 minutes, starting the time when the water reaches a full rolling boil. After the 10 minutes, turn off the heat, remove the canner lid, wait 5 minutes and remove the jars to a hot pad or towel. Cool the jars 12-24 hours, remove bands, check seals, wipe clean, label and store.

IMG_3826 copy

*this post contains affiliate links, please see the “About the Blogger” page for more information

Kiwi Daiquiri Jam

Caitlin 7 Comments

The other day they had local kiwis for sale at one of my favourite farm stands just outside of town. “Local Kiwis! Whaaat. Don’t mind if I do,” I thought to myself. So of course, despite having any idea what I might do with them, other then eat a few, I bought a box. Luckily, I found this recipe for Kiwi Daiquiri Jam in my Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.

IMG_3623 copy

Kiwis are so pretty! Doesn’t it look like eyes with really long lashes?

IMG_3632 copy

Ingredients:
2 cups crushed, peeled kiwifruit
2/3 cups unsweetened pineapple juice
1/3 cup lime juice
1 package regular powdered pectin
3 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup rum (plus a shot for yourself)

Here’s how we made it:
Prepare the canner, jars and lids. This yields about 4-5 half pint jars.

Peel and crush the kiwi. Combine in a stainless steal pot with the pineapple juice, lime juice and pectin. Premeasure the sugar into another bowl for later, the rum into a measuring cup, and a shot for yourself into a shot glass (and one for your helper if you have one).

IMG_3633 copy

Heat the jam to a boil over high heat, while stirring frequently. Once you reach a boil that can’t be stirred down, add the sugar all at once. Return to a boil, and boil for one minute, starting the time once a full boil is reached. After the one minute, pour the 1/4 cup of rum into the jam, and take your shot. Stir it in, and remove from heat.

IMG_3647 copy

Fill the jars, leaving a quarter inch head space. Wipe rims, apply lids, and tighten bands finger tip tight. Process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes covered by at least 1-2 inches of water, starting the time when a full rolling boil is reached.

IMG_3656 copy

After 10 minutes, turn off the heat, remove canner lid, wait 5 minutes and remove the jars to a hot pad or towel. Cool 12-24 hours, check seals, remove bands, and wipe clean. Label and store.

Gosh dang that’s a pretty jam. This one would make a really pretty gift. And the combo of pineapple, lime and kiwifruit makes for a lovely, tropical flavour.

IMG_3733 copy

 

Kiwi Daiquiri Jam on Punk Domestics

*this post contains affiliate links, please see the “About the Blogger” page for more information

Strawberry Freezer Jam

Caitlin 4 Comments

IMG_3289 copy

Freezer jam is a super quick and easy alternative to making canned jam. I love canning, and think everyone should learn how (do it, do it now!!) but there are also a few advantages to freezer jam. First, you don’t have to cook the berries at all. This means you can keep a little more of the natural consistency and taste of the uncooked berries. It’s also faster, and you don’t need a canner, jar lifter or anything like that. I think it’s a great gateway into canned jams, although I did about a million jars of canned jam before ever trying it. But, if you have a little bit of extra freezer space, all you need is the jars, pectin and the berries to make quick an easy freezer jam.

IMG_3286 copy

Ingredients:
4 cups crushed fruit
1.5 cups sugar
1 packet freezer jam pectin

For this endeavor I used Mrs. Wages freezer jam pectin, but Ball and many other brands also make freezer jam pectin.

First, wash, hull and crush the berries.

IMG_3292 copy

Separately, combine the sugar and pectin together and stir to evenly mix them.

IMG_3293 copy

Stir in the crushed berries and then continue to stir the jam for 3 minutes.

IMG_3298 copy

Now all you do is pour it in jars. Leave a half inch or so of head space for the jam to expand when it freezes. Put on the lids and bands. Let it set up at room temperature for a half hour or so prior to freezing it.  You can leave it longer if you want, just not longer than 24 hours. After that just pop it into the fridge or freezer. It will keep around 3 weeks in the refrigerator or a year in the freezer.

IMG_3301

Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Now you really have no excuse to buy store bought jam anymore. This takes under a half hour and yields about 5 jars.

IMG_3304 copy

Strawberry Jam with Liquid Pectin

Caitlin 2 Comments

Yes, I did already post a strawberry jam recipe a few weeks ago, you didn’t hallucinate it, but we made strawberry jam again and had liquid pectin on hand, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to highlight the difference between using powdered and liquid pectin. Also if I’m going to make every recipe in Ball I need to make the liquid pectin ones too of course 😉

Ingredients:
4 cups crushed strawberries
7 cups sugar
4 tbsp lemon juice
1 pouch liquid pectin

How to make it:
Crush the berries and put them in a deep, stainless steel pot.

IMG_2463 copy

Mix in the sugar and the lemon juice. This recipe has an absurd amount of sugar in my opinion and is too sweet, but liquid pectin doesn’t come in a low sugar version as far as I know. Yes, I’m posting a recipe I wouldn’t necessarily make again, I think it’s informative though. The sugar added here is the major difference when using liquid pectin. The sugar goes in at the beginning, then you bring the jam to a boil, then add the liquid pectin. With powdered pectin, the pectin goes in at the beginning and the sugar is added once you reach a boil. They are not always directly interchangeable, but you can often find a recipe for either, especially for berry jams. For example there is a lot more sugar in this recipe than the powdered pectin one I posted earlier, so you can’t just use the same recipe with a different pectin always.

IMG_2469 copy

Bring to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down, and squeeze in the pectin.

IMG_2476 copy

Boil hard for 1 minute, remove from heat, and skim the foam. Personally, I think that liquid pectin has it’s place, but this may not be it. The liquid pectin is great for jellies I think though, like the pepper jelly I posted recently. Adding the sugar at the beginning seems to cause this jam to get really foamy. Plus I like to reduce the sugar and use low sugar pectin with strawberries since they are so sweet already. But the full sugar makes a nice gift and could be good for later season, less sweet berries.

IMG_2485 copy

Fill the hot jars, leaving a 1/4 inch head space. Wipe rims, apply lids, and tighten bands finger tip tight. Place the jars in the canner, covered by at least 1-2 inches of water. Bring to a full rolling boil and process for 10 minutes.

IMG_2490

After 10 minutes, turn off the heat, remove the canner lid, wait 5 minutes and remove the jars to a hot pad or towel. Cool 12-24 hours, remove bands, wipe clean, label and store.

photo 32

Easy Jalapeño Jelly

Caitlin 7 Comments

Last week in canning class we teamed up to make four different soft spreads, and I had made three of the four already, so I chose to work on the jalapeño jelly. This recipe is actually one from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving (thanks class, helping me with my challenge!). It uses pureed jalapeños, rather than actually making juice out of them, making it a quick and easy jelly that is still really pretty and delicious. And has a nice bit of heat to it!

IMG_2417 copy

Ingredients:
12 oz (350g) jalapeño peppers
2 cups cider vinegar, divided
6 cups granulated sugar
2 pouches liquid pectin

IMG_2377 copy

Here’s how we made it:

Stem, cut and seed the peppers. Wear gloves! You really do want to do the peppers by mass for this recipe, it’s kind of hard to do a pepper volume. Take the chopped peppers and puree them in a food processor or blender with one cup of the vinegar.

Prepare your canner, jars and lids. This should yield about 5 half pints, but we put it in the cute little 4oz jars.

IMG_2380 copy

Combine the pepper puree, the sugar and rest of the vinegar and bring to a boil over high. Maintain a boil for 10 minutes and stir constantly. When 10 minutes are up, add the pectin. Yes – 2 full pouches. Boil hard for another minute, then remove from heat and skim foam.

IMG_2396 copy

Fill the jars, leaving a 1/4 inch head space. We discovered when we were out of ladles that pouring jelly with a pyrex measuring cup works great. Wipe the rims, apply the lids, and tighten the bands finger tip tight.

IMG_2399

Place the jars in the canner, ensuring they are covered by at least 1-2 inches of water. Bring to a full rolling boil and process for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes remove the canner lid, wait 5 minutes, remove the jars to a hot pad or towel and listen to the ping ping ping of them sealing.

Cool 12-24 hours, remove bands, wipe, label and store. Later enjoy the jelly perhaps with some crackers and cheese. We tried goat, which if you are into the taste of goats you may enjoy, but I think I’ll try cream cheese or something a little milder next time, as Ball suggests. Deeeelish!

IMG_2641 copy