Jam and preserves

[lperry]

The fruit has been excellent this year and I find my shelves overflowing with jams and preserves. I have enough for the gifts that I usually give, so I'm trying to come up with other ways to use up my supply. I've got mango/lime, pineapple/ginger, cherry, mayhaw, pear/ginger, and peach. I don't use added pectin, so everything is of fairly soft consistency. So far I've come up with the following ideas:

1. Fill a cake or sandwich cookies

2. Mix into a plain ice cream base (will this work?)

3. Eat biscuits and jam for breakfast every morning for the rest of my life (not a bad notion)

Any suggestions would be appreciated. It's only July and I have always had a strange compulsion to put food in jars all summer long. Please help!

Thanks,

Linda

[SushiCat]

It is hard to stop, isn't it!

Make some savory items or chutneys that can be eaten with other meals! This is what I started doing when the jam storage seemed overwhelming and it is quite fun!

Otherwise, your cake idea is a very good one, people will start raving about your cakes (this happened to me) and I find that I can eat jam easily for both breakfast and lunch, just have to put your mind to it! Toppings for ice cream very good, I'm sure incorporating into it would be good too!

pickled green beans?

Enjoy!

[andiesenji]

Various types of parfait are both tasty and attractive and can be made in advance of a meal and held in the fridge.

To keep it from being overpoweringly sweet, add some sour cream to your heavy cream and chill it well before whipping, adding sugar to taste along with your preferred flavoring.

Stack cakes, are another way to use preserves, jams and jellies. You can make small ones using tart rings on a sheet pan or just make thin layers in regular cake pans - I find that they hold together better than cutting regular cake layers in half.

[lperry]

It is hard to stop, isn't it!

←

No kidding! I think it's one of those ant and grasshopper things. I just feel better with a full larder.

I've been doing some chutneys, and I think that's where the next batch of mangoes will go. I like the parfait idea as well. That sounds nice and summery.

[jackal10]

Yes it does make a nice icecream, either plain or as a ripple (sieve first)

For the jams:

Jam tarts

Jammy dodgers (biscuits with a jam centre)

Jam in donuts

PBJ sandwich

Coulis

Other ways of preserving: dried, fruit leathers, candied, IQF (individually quick frozen)

Rumtopf (fruits in spirit)

I've stopped. I still get the urge, but then I look at the preserves cupboard, still groaning from last years...

Edited July 10, 2005 by jackal10 (log)

[SushiCat]

jam sandwich cookies, the name escapes me ...

[Comfort Me]

I make a babka and instead of a chocolate filling I spread the dough with a little merengue and the peach preserves or persimmon preserves. Then roll it up like usual and bake it off. It is delicious!

I make broiled apricot marmalade every year -- it started as a plain apricot that I let scorch once, and we all loved it. So much I now toss the cut apricots with a little of the sugar and broil them until slightly charred. I'm going to try this with peaches this year. (I'm picking up a couple of bushels on the way home from vacation!)

Another thing I like is breakfast or dessert "onigiri". Since, living with me, people have a tendency to gain weight, I try to find ways to be good when I'm not being bad. So if I have rice left over, I will take a handful, fashion a well in the center, place a teaspoon or so of preserves int he center (this only works with thick preserves) and close of the well. I've rolled them in toasted sesame seads before and also chopped almonds. Delicious. (On a tangent -- I want to make onigiri filled with a chocolate/ginger/coconut ganauch...I think they'd be great!)

[ruthcooks]

I make a plain vanilla pudding (or cornstarch custard or pastry cream) that doesn't have much sugar in it, or only sugar substitute. Sometimes it's tapioca or rice pudding. First I chill, and then top a small bowl of it with a spoonful of jam and heavy cream. Raspberry is my favorite.

I've heard Brits refer to pudding with jam and cream, and if this is it, it's wonderful.

[Pam R]

Rugelach

[lperry]

So far I've made a few batches of "raspberry" shortbread bars with different flavored jams. Thanks for the suggestions. I have been eyeing the rugelach recipe in Baking with Julia for a while now.

-Linda

[anzu]

Linzer torte

[scordelia]

You can also fill madelines (make the small ones). I recently stumbled on this when I had a bunch of lemon curd leftover and was trying to figure out what to do with it before it went bad. Delicious little cookie/cake treat.

[CanadianBakin']

You could make danish or a variation of and instead of using cherry or apple pie filling, use jam.

You can fill muffins, you know when you put a bit of batter in the bottom, a small spoon of jam and then cover with more batter.

Also, you can put a ribbon of jam in your biscotti when you're shaping it. It's a bit messy but tastes good.

[kitwilliams]

I make a plain vanilla pudding (or cornstarch custard or pastry cream) that doesn't have much sugar in it, or only sugar substitute.  Sometimes it's tapioca or rice pudding.  First I chill, and then top a small bowl of it with a spoonful of jam and heavy cream.  Raspberry is my favorite.

I've heard Brits refer to pudding with jam and cream, and if this is it, it's wonderful.

←

"Fool". I've always used jams and preserves when making fools which can be easily substituted in the recipes linked. Also, substituting yogurt for part of the cream adds a nice tang to your fool!

[Saffy]

How about Louise cake?

It is actually a bar type cookie with a coconut cake base, a layer of jam ( usually raspberry) and a coconut meringue topping.

All baked together for around 30 minutes. slightly chewy and fantastic with a hot cup of tea!

[Katie Nell]

There's a recipe in the September's Martha Stewart Living for a fig newton type cooking using jam in the middle... it looks very good.

[ludja]

Use them in trifles and other types of bread puddings, or just spread on pound cake with or with out sweet butter for dessert.

Alot of the flavors you have would taste great as a filling in a chocolate cake (frosting on the outside).

Besided the open-faced or lattice tarts and crostatas mentioned above, (which use a lot of preserves) I've also seen some recipes for custard pies in which ~ 1 cup of preserves is folded into the custard before baking.

Another variation is a type of frangipane pie or tart. Before pouring in the frangipane, cover the crust with a thick layer of jam.

Use them to fill crepes, then dust with powdered sugar. In the Austrian/Hungarian manner, this can be preceded by a savory soup and followed by some fresh fruit or a fruit compote for a light dinner. Else, they make a very nice dessert or snack.

Similar to the ideas to use in parfaits, puddings, above, they may be nice as a dollop or a swirl with unsweetend or slightly sweetend yogurt, farmer's cheese or fromage blanc.

Make an adult version of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich...a soft, mild goat cheese and jelly sandwich.

Edited September 17, 2005 by ludja (log)

[lperry]

Thank you to everyone for all the ideas. I've filled a couple of cakes, but I'm planning to try some of the more exotic ideas as the weather cools off and I bake more.

I'm starting to worry that I don't have enough jam!

-Linda

[scordelia]

How about filling madelines! Earlier this summer, I made a cake with a lemon curd filling and had some leftover lemon curd. A few days later, I had to bring dessert to a picnic for a group at Ravinia, so I bought strawberries and made madelines. Then I spied my leftover lemon curd hanging out in the fridge and decided to make little madeline sandwiches. They were delish!

Edited September 24, 2005 by scordelia (log)

[heidih]

Odd synchronicity. David posted pink grapefruit marmalade a bit ago. I reached into the bag of citrus gifted from the desert to make nuoc cham - and who shows up.  If I ever get to sleep this may be on deck  https://www.davidlebovitz.com/pink-ruby-grapefruit-marmalade-recipe/#more-45609   (and yes scuzziest cutting board ever)

[heidih]

OK so purring rain, only one grapefruit left so I did a super small batch riffing on David Lebovitz recipe above. Really good balance of flavors. 

[heidih]

Another very small batch. The kumquats are gone - that was 2 great jars. So a big lemon and couple oranges  off trees roughly chopped and soaked overnight with water and a hint of salt. Simmered with sugar this morning, Nice balance of bitter and citrus sweet. I am thinking just a touch of fresh ginger for next batch. 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

We made a last-of-the-season run at Blenheim apricots in Brentwood yesterday.    So greedy we didn't notice that they were VERY RIPE.    So after eating our fill on the drive home, we salvaged a few for our-of-hand eating, and turned the rest  into a glorious pie and a couple of small jars of jam.

[heidih]

There is something so freeing in having the jam, preserve, marmalade skill as a back pocket. Especially for small batch. I did orange with a few craisins throw in the other day. Reduced to almost carmelized, Really happy but not photo worthy due to brown, 

[Smithy]

I am having serious apricot envy out here in Minnesota. Blenheims in the stores? Not a chance. And it's been years since I've been in California during the summer months. Ain't happening this year, either.