Summer produce has a special place in my heart and today I'm sharing 5 easy recipes for preserving all that beautiful summer fruit! This is a great way to "save the season" with all the delicious stone fruit, berries, and more. When summer is in peak fruit season, these are the 5 recipes I return to time again. And if you don't want to incorporate canning methods you can make small batches of each and freeze for the winter months ahead. Scroll down to see which 5 recipes made the cut!
Preserving Summer Fruits Recipes 1: Freezer Friendly Fig Jam
This recipe for fig preserves incorporates the fresh fruit with a bit of fresh rosemary for a truly delicious Fig Jam. We cook down the fruit in a bit of maple sugar and fresh lemon juice. This is a recipe that does incorporate water bath canning so check out the recipe for instructions. The best thing about this fresh fig jam is that we can make it for the refrigerator and enjoy all week or freeze jars of fig jam for up to six months!
Preserving Summer Fruits Recipes 2: Strawberry Peach Compote
Compotes are some of my favorite things to make and this Strawberry Peach Compote is one delicious variation! They’re less fuss than a jam and are a great topping for whipped ricotta toast, yogurt bowls, swirled into chia pudding or even overnight oats. This compote truly preserves the taste of summer. It's a recipe that is a great option for using overripe fruits so use this with your strawberries and peaches that look like they've seen better days. It's a great way to reduce food waste in the process.
Preserving Summer Fruits Recipes 3: Easy Cherry Compote
I love this compote for preserving stone fruit like cherries. This Easy Cherry Compote creates a lusciously heavy syrup. The end result is a fabulously flavored compote that is perfect for all the breakfast dishes you want to make. We need just a pound of fruit to make this recipe. The compote yields 2 cups which can be stored in 2 8-ounce jars of fruit compote. Because compotes really involve a simple process of cooking down seasonal fruits in a bit of sugar and a hint of citrus, it's really the easiest way to use any type of fruit and freeze for winter.
Preserving Summer Fruits Recipes 4: Blueberry Compote with Lemon and Thyme
Blueberries are in abundance at my local farmers markets and this Blueberry Compote with Lemon and Thyme is another favorite of mine to make. Light brown sugar helps to craft our sugar syrup in this compote. The lemon and thyme add different flavors that complement the blueberries beautifully in this compote that's perfect for topping ice cream, yogurt, pancakes, french toast and oatmeal.
Preserving Summer Fruits Recipes 5: Low Sugar Blueberry Butter
This Blueberry Butter is a favorite fruit butter to make that uses about half the amount of sugar you'll find in other jam or fruit preserve recipes. The fact that it uses less sugar means we can focus on highlighting the beautiful flavor of the fruit. Accented with lemon and thyme, it's a prepared fruit preserve that belongs in your summer recipe collection. I love swirls of this fruit butter in a bowl of yogurt or morning oats. The use of maple sugar is also a great way to use less sugar and tap into the natural sugars of these summertime berries.
Final Tips and FAQ
I love these mason jars for their small batch size and freezer-friendly nature. Make sure to sterilize your jars before use. You can do this either through the dishwasher or placing them in a hot water bath on the stove. Make sure to allow any fruit preserves you've made to cool down to room temperature completely before storing in freezer to prevent the glass from cracking.
Homemade preserves can definitely be processed in a water bath method. You can also use the dry oven method for canning. I'll share more about that in a forthcoming post as I'm always looking for ways to make homemade jam making as easy as possible.
Most of the fruit preserves recipes I've shared here will store well in the freezer for up to a year. If using a water bath canner as your preservation method, your finished product can be stored in your pantry from anywhere from 6 months to a year. Make sure the top of the jar is sealed tight to keep air out and prevent air bubbles. Keep your prepared jars in a cool dark place in your pantry.
These 5 summer fruit recipes are perfect for easy preserving. Need a few ideas on what to use them with? I highly recommend these pancakes for the perfect Sunday Breakfast. You can also top your favorite ice cream, french toast, Dutch baby, and more with any of the above mentioned recipes. It's the perfect way to bottle up the flavors of summer!
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