preserving Archives | Page 2 of 6

Ripe loquats are cooked down into a thick and lightly sweetened vegan and gluten free fruit butter. You can leave it plain or add flavorings like ground cinnamon or vanilla!

Loquat Butter | via the sweet miscellany blog

I’ve always been fascinated by fruit trees. When I was a kid, I used to love sneaking fruit off our neighbor’s loquat tree, running away to enjoy them in the secret of the playhouse in my backyard. It was thrilling, both the sneakiness and the taste of those golden fruits. I remember telling my dad that I regularly pilfered loquats and his straight-faced reply was something along the lines of “well I hope you don’t swallow one of those seeds because if you do, a loquat tree will grow in your belly”. It didn’t stop me from eating them but it sure did make me obsessively remove the seeds from there on out.

We’re currently in the middle of loquat season here in Houston. They’re among the first fruits of the year to come into season not counting all of the lingering citrus fruits that cling to trees in late February and early March. There are several loquat trees along the trail I regularly walk so I’ve been enjoying watching their life cycle from the first blooms in November to the limbs heavy with round, yellow fruits today. Loquats, also called Chinese plums, taste like a mash-up of plums, apricots, and tart cherries. Though the name sounds similar, they are not to be confused with kumquats which are a citrus fruit.

I had a moment of sheer delight when I was gifted a large bag of loquats earlier in the week. It occurred to me, standing there simultaneously snacking on them and spitting the seeds aside, that I had never made anything with loquats. So, I figured a fruit butter was in order! It’s a damn tedious process to remove the seeds but I have a feeling you’ve got some extra time on your hands at home these days.

Loquat Butter

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

No reviews

Author: Courtney West
Total Time: 60-90 minutes
Yield: dependent on amount of fruit used
Diet: Vegan

Print Recipe

Description

Ripe loquats are cooked down into a thick and lightly sweetened vegan and gluten free fruit butter. You can leave it plain or add flavorings like ground cinnamon or vanilla!

Ingredients

ripe loquats
fresh lemon juice
sugar, honey, or maple syrup to sweeten
any other flavorings you’d like (cinnamon and ginger are good options but if you want to add vanilla extract, make sure to do it at the end of the cooking process)

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Rinse your loquats if you haven’t already. Cut off and discard the blossom end and seeds/seed membrane from every loquat. This is the tedious part! You can look at it like a working meditation.

When you’re done processing all of your loquats, add them to a blender with a splash or two of water. Blend the fruit until you get a puree. If the blender doesn’t seem to be blending the fruit easily, add a splash more water.

Measure out your puree then add it to a large pot (you want a large pot because the mixture will sputter as it cooks and this will prevent you and your stove top from being covered in loquat juice). For every cup of puree, you’ll add 2 tsp of fresh lemon juice and 1 tbsp of your sweetener (I used organic cane sugar) to the pot with the puree. For instance, I ended up with 3 cups of puree so I added 6 tsp lemon juice and 3 tbsp sugar. If you’ve decided to use any spices, add those now as well.

Heat the mixture over medium. Cook it over medium, stirring every minute or so, until most of the liquid has cooked out and it has the consistency of thick applesauce. The cooking process ending up taking a total of about 30 minutes for my batch.

Store your loquat butter in a jar in the fridge for up to 2 weeks (or freeze it to save some for later). For reference, I started with 3 cups of loquat puree and ended up with about 1 3/4 cups of butter.

Ways to enjoy your loquat butter: swirled into yogurt or oatmeal, on toast, on sandwiches, on ice cream, baked into breads and muffins in place of pumpkin puree or mashed bananas, dolloped on thumbprint cookies, or dolloped onto a soft chocolate cookie as shown in the photos 😉

Notes

Fruit butters are essentially low sugar fruit purees that have been cooked down to evaporate a good deal of the moisture and intensify the natural flavors (think apple butter). Luckily loquats are lower in overall moisture and really high in pectin so they don’t take too terribly long to cook up into fruit butter! The recipe is formatted so that you can adjust the amount of sugar and lemon juice based on how much loquat puree you end up with. Feel free to add in any spices or flavorings that you want!
For every cup of puree, you’ll need 2 tsp of fresh lemon juice and 1 tbsp of sweetener

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30-60 minutes
Category: sauce

Cranberry Marmalade + a Handmade Gift Guide | plant based magic via the sweet miscellany blog

This vegan cranberry marmalade has the loveliest ruby hue and it tastes and smells like the holidays! You can either can your marmalade for long term storage (instructions included in the recipe) or park it in the fridge if you plan to enjoy it within a month.

Every now and then I reminisce about the days when Sweet Miscellany wasn’t just this blog but also a small business selling vegan/gluten free baked goods and local fruit jams at a farmers market. I did everything myself. EVERYTHING. The good, the bad, and the ugly. The only reason I ended up making jams to begin with was the fact that my signature cookie was a thumbprint and I wanted to be able to make my own jams to fill it. I also wanted to be able to take advantage of local fruit when it was in season so canning made sense logically.

I went about canning like I do most new things: I read as much as I can and take copious notes. The first jam I made was a blood orange marmalade to be used exclusively for my thumbprint cookies. It’s the MOST labor intensive of any of the jams I’ve made because it’s a tedious process that spans two days. But the result is SO WORTH IT. It has the most brilliant burnt orange hue and the perfect balance of tart, bitter, and sweet.

Over my time at the market I created nearly 30 different jam, marmalade, and fruit butter recipes. My absolute favorite ended up being the cranberry marmalade I’m sharing with you today. It tastes and smells like the holidays. Since it’s been formulated to be shelf stable once canned, it’s made with cane sugar instead of the usual maple syrup that I reach for these days. You can use any orange you like here. For this batch I used cara cara oranges but originally I would make it with navel oranges.

Once canned, the marmalade is shelf stable for up to a year. This makes it perfect for gifting because it doesn’t require refrigeration! Since I’m a fan of handmade gifts (and baked goods), I’ve included a list below of my favorite gift-able items from the blog archives. And, I’ve paired them with suggestions for packaging and gifting!

Homemade Gift Guide

+ b a k e d g o o d s +

For a waste-free option, package cookies in wide-mouthed jars that can be used for storage once the cookies are gone. You can use simple mason jars or opt for pricier Weck jars. Feel free to tie a bit of yarn or twine around the top for a simple, but festive touch. Or, go the route I took with the marmalade, affixing a square of fabric under the lid ring.

These are my favorites for gifting: cocoa oat biscuits with rosemary & flaky sea salt, fresh mint & toasted coconut chocolate chip cookies, vanilla spice sugar cookies, & candied ginger snowballs

+ o t h e r e d i b l e g o o d s +

Canned jams and preserves already come in the perfect gifting vessel, just add a little fabric or yarn and you’re golden! If you want to go a step further and actually “gift wrap” them, try placing them in canvas or linen reusable produce bags. For items like tea, use jars, small tins, or compostable cello bags. You could also go a step further and buy a mug or teapot to accompany the tea.

These are my favorites for gifting: this cranberry marmalade (recipe below), homemade applesauce (this is a good one if you’ve got access to an abundance of local apples!), preserved lemons (citrus is in season in Texas right now so you might be able to find a tree and snag some!), digestive tisane (multiply the recipe times 10 or so and gift the tea with steeping instructions), & winter season sip (to make a larger amount, mix up equal parts tulsi & chamomile and print the meditation to go along with the tea)

Happy Holidays friends!! <3

Cranberry Marmalade

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

No reviews

Author: Courtney West
Total Time: 55-70 minutes
Yield: 4–5 half pint jars 1x
Diet: Vegan

Print Recipe

Description

Ingredients

Units Scale

6 cups (about 2 standard bags) of fresh or frozen cranberries
2 oranges (I used cara cara but navels are a good standard)
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
3 cups organic raw cane sugar
1 1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
5 half-pint (8 oz) mason jars with 2-piece lids

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a clean rimmed baking sheet with a clean kitchen towel. Take your 6 jars and unscrew the lids/rings. Set the jars and lids/rings on the kitchen towel on the baking sheet. When the oven is at 250, place the baking sheet in the oven. Leave the jars in the oven for at least 30 minutes to sterilize. This gives you time to make the marmalade.

If the cranberries are fresh, rinse them well and set them aside to drain. If you bought them frozen, they are already washed and ready to go. Prep your oranges by rinsing them well. Slice off the top and bottom of each orange, then cut them into long wedges. Remove any seeds you see and discard them. Take each wedge and slice it width-wise into small triangles. Add the cut oranges to a large stock pot along with the cranberries, orange juice, sugar, and spices. Stir to combine.

Bring the marmalade mixture to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium. Continue to cook the marmalade, stirring regularly, until most of the cranberries have burst, the oranges are tender, and the mixture has thickened to a jammy consistency. This will take between 15 and 25 minutes. Once it is done, remove the marmalade from the heat.

Remove the tray with your sterilized jars from the oven. Leave the jars on the baking sheet to make the process easier. Carefully fill each jar with marmalade leaving at least a quarter inch of headspace at the top (in other words, leave at least a quarter inch free between the top of the jar and the marmalade). The marmalade will fill 4 or 5 jars. Once you have your jars filled, use a clean knife to stir the marmalade in each jar a bit to help remove excess air bubbles. If the rims of the jars have any jam on them, clean it off with a damp towel. Screw the lids onto each jar until they are just finger tight (no need to put any muscle into it). Place the baking sheet with the filled jars back in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes remove the tray and set it aside so that the jars can begin to cool.

Let the jars sit undisturbed for one hour. You’ll hear the popping sound of the lids depressing as the jars cool and they seal themselves. After one hour check to make sure that the lids are sealed (the center “button” will be depressed). If any jars have not sealed, put them in the fridge and consume within a few weeks. Allow the sealed jars to cool overnight or for at least 12 hours. Un-opened sealed jars can be stored at room temperature in your pantry for up to one year.

Makes 4-5 half pint jars.

Notes

If you want to can these to be shelf stable, you’ll need to use mason jars with 2-piece lids made by Ball or Kerr. Make sure you’re using lids that have never been used/sealed before.
If you don’t want to can your marmalade, skip the canning steps and simply put your marmalade in a container in your fridge. Enjoy it within a month.
I’m using the oven method here instead of the water bath method because it’s much easier and doesn’t require the purchase of a canning pot!

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 45-60 minutes
Category: jam