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Spiced Muscadine Butter (vegan/gf recipe) | seasonal plant-based recipes via The Sweet Miscellany Blog

A small forage of wild muscadine grapes is transformed into a thick, sweet-tart fruit butter with warm spices. This vegan and gluten free fruit butter is perfect for spreading on toast or stirring into oatmeal or yogurt!

For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated by being able to forage for food. As a kid, I loved going with my Dad to find dewberries patches at the beginning of summer. It seemed so satisfying to partake in all of the foraging activities and it even made the berries themselves taste that much better. We had a pecan tree and a pear tree in our backyard so as a kid I would often pretend that I was collecting my food supply for a life in the outdoors. I would ferret my collections away in my playhouse. I would also sneak kumquats from a neighbor’s tree from time to time. I think I find it so much more satisfying to be able to do the work of finding, picking, or growing food for myself. It’s much more personal and involved than driving to a grocery store and buying say an apple. I would rather go to an orchard, take in the beauty, and do the work of harvesting apples myself. Maybe that’s why I’ve become such an avid proponent of supporting farmers markets!

It’s late summer in East Texas which means it’s muscadine season. Muscadines are a type of grape that are found growing in the wild throughout the South. From my experience, the vines love climbing up trees and tend to be in season in the late summer/early fall. In years past I’ve not been successful in picking any because the ones I see tend to grow at heights that would require a ladder. I got lucky recently while on the trail and spotted some within reach. I made a mental note of their location and returned to pick as many as I could manage. You can eat muscadines raw, though it’s quite a chore as the skins are tough and they have a seed in the center that is not edible. They have a musky and sometimes peppery scent and taste, making their name rather appropriate.

My original plan with these was to make more of a jam, but I ended up completely pureeing the skins in my blender so I went with a fruit butter instead! The resulting butter is a gorgeous deep purple color with a velvety, thick texture. It has a nice sweet/tart flavor and pretty much tastes like fall in a jar thanks to the spices. I’ll probably end up rationing it out to make it last a while unless I find another surprise cache of muscadines. 🙂

Spiced Muscadine Butter

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Author: Courtney West
Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Yield: 1 cup 1x
Diet: Vegan

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Description

Ingredients

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2 cups muscadine grapes, rinsed well
2–3 tbsp maple syrup (or honey if not making it vegan)
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cloves
water as needed

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Instructions

Working over a medium sized saucepan, cut a slit in the top of each grape and squeeze out the pulp/seeds into the sauce pan. Place the skins in a blender and set them aside.

Cover the pulp/seeds with about 1/2 inch of water, then place it on a burner set to medium-high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer. Cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, until the seeds separate from the pulp (about 15-20 minutes).

While the pulp mixture is cooking, add just enough water to the blender to cover the skins, then blend until smooth. If your blender does not allow you to get a smooth puree/juice mixture, it will still work. You will just end up having more of a jam than a butter.

When the pulp mixture is ready, strain out the seeds, then return the pulp mixture to the pan along with the blended up skins. Stir in the maple syrup and spices and set the mixture over medium-high heat. Once it comes to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook the mixture for 30-60 minutes or until it thickens to an applesauce-like consistency. As the butter is cooking, make sure to stir it regularly to keep it from burning on the bottom. Also, skim off any foam that may rise to the surface.

Once the mixture has thickened, remove it from the heat and put it into a clean jar. Store the butter in the fridge. It will keep for several weeks. Makes 1 heaping cup.

Notes

This recipe has not been formulated for canning.

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Category: preserve

Minty Watermelon Lemonade (vegan/gf recipe) | seasonal plant-based recipes via The Sweet Miscellany Blog

Juicy and sweet watermelon is juiced with lemon, mint, and ginger for a refreshing summer juice. This vegan and gluten free watermelon lemonade is perfect served over ice!

I’ve mentioned here many times how the only saving grace to Texas summers is the produce. At the moment, figs, peaches, blueberries, and watermelon are all simultaneously in season. I’m doing my best not to gorge myself on too much fruit these days, though I can’t say I’ve been successful lately. Summer produce at its peak is just too damn good to resist! This week the issue is the shear amount of fruit that I acquired at the market. Without thinking, I bought a large watermelon, about 9 peaches, and a pound of figs. I already had blueberries in my fridge so needless to say it’s been a fruit party all week. I suppose there are worse problems to have than a glut of ripe summer fruit.

The problem I’ve been dealing with this week is trying to use up all of the fruit before it goes bad. I absolutely hate having to throw out produce that is past its prime. I think maybe it’s because it makes me feel so wasteful. And also, it sort of makes me feel like I failed at adequately utilizing everything I had. So, to avoid any garbage mishaps, I resorted to the best way to use up a ton of fruit: JUICE IT!

My juicer has been neglected the past couple of months because I got really tired of cleaning all of the parts. Reading that sentence makes it seem really silly and petty but I know I can’t be the only person out there that hates cleaning a juicer. I decided to show it a bit of love yesterday and make a really easy and delicious version of lemonade. It’s actually only lemonade in the sense that it has some lemon in it. There’s no added sugar, just wonderful summer watermelon. Since I have a mint plant, and since the flavors pair so well together, I threw a handful of it in the juicer along with a bit of ginger for some zing. The ginger is optional but I highly recommend it. What’s listed below makes enough for one ample serving so multiply to your heart’s content. If you are feeling like something a little more substantial, you can try the watermelon and mint lassi that I created for the Summer 2013 issue of Chickpea Magazine. It can be found here.

Minty Watermelon Lemonade