Henny Penny Farmette

Apricots tossed with lemon juice preserves the lovely color

I admit to having a weakness for palate-pleasing soft spreads made from fresh fruit. My taste for fruit spreads started in my childhood with my grandmother, who introduced me to the process of picking and preserving the fresh seasonal fruits we found on the farm–mulberries, damson plum, blackberries, gooseberries, and peaches.

My grandmother would load the breakfast table with hearty farm-to-table foods and hot, freshly made biscuits that we slathered with butter. I could always count on at least a couple of bowls of jams or jellies. For us farmers, breakfast and lunch were the most important meals of the day, providing us with energy for the hours of toil that followed those meals.

Later, as an avid traveler, I fondly remember breakfasts in the United Kingdom and throughout Europe, especially France, where my petit déjeuner included strong coffee, juice,  and bread (usually some type of roll such as brioche or croissant), butter, and an exquisite soft spread of jam, jelly, fruit butter, or conserve. You might wonder, what’s the difference?

Jam:  made from fruit, sugar, and pectin (to thicken) that are boiled to achieve a spreadable consistency

Jelly: made from juice (from various ingredients or  fruit that has been crushed and strained), sugar, pectin, and acid, gently boiled to render clear color and firm shape

Conserve: fruit and nut spreads that are chunky; they make a nice condiment for certain meat dishes and cheeses, like a goat cheese with fig-walnut conserve

Preserves: fruit in jelly

Fruit Butter: made from fruit that has been slow cooked until creamy and color is opaque or translucent

Ripe cherries will be made into preserves or mixed with oranges for a marmalade

As I write this, I have four cases of organic ripe apricots and cherries on my kitchen counter from the farmer’s market. So, like my grandmother, I’m going to eat my breakfast and then work for the next several hours preserving these delicious seasonal fruits into spreads for future breakfasts.

Tags: blackberries, cherry marmalade, damson plums, fig-walnut conserve, goat cheese, gooseberries, mulberries