Friendly Desserts in a Jar.

Friendly Desserts in a Jar

Fruit Jams, Butters and Chutneys

A batch of fruit butter, jam or chutney. Try chutney, a spicy-sweet-sour condiment made with fried seasonal fruits, sugar, vinegar and chiles. Fruit butter and jam are similar; both are sweetened fruit spreads, but fruit butters are made by cooking down the fruit mixture until thick and sticky instead of adding pectin to set the mixture as you do with a jam. jars of peach chutney as a summer party favor or wrap up homemade apple butter for the winter holidays. Here are some fruits we love to make preserves with.

Jam: Strawberry, cherry, peach, blueberry, raspberry.
Chutney: Nectarine and dried cherry; blueberry and dried apricot; cherry and golden raisin.
Butter: Blueberry with lime juice and zest; plum with orange juice and zest. Berries: Remove stems; hull strawberries. Measure whole.

Cherries: Remove stems and pits; halve. Measure halves.
Peaches, Nectarines & Plums: Peel if desired. Cut into 1/2-inch pieces; discard pits. Measure pieces.
Apples, Pears & other fruit: Peel if desired. Quarter, remove seeds and cut into 1/2 inch pieces. Measure pieces.








Preparation:

Butters are supposed to be smooth, and well, buttery, so we prefer to peel stone fruit, such as apricots, nectarines, peaches, apples and pears. If you're making butter with "seedy" berries, such as blackberries, raspberries or even blueberries.