Monday, September 23, 2013

Blueberry Pomegranate Butter: Toast Topper #32

I love being able to blend the seasons when I'm making a recipe if I know that the result won't become a muted, muddled mess. Whether it's Winter figs and Spring strawberries, Fall carrots and early Summer radishes or this mixture of wild Summer blueberries and Winter pomegranate juice, the quality and longevity of the ingredients matters as much as what you do with them. I find some of the best applications to be preserves and sauces, especially those with berries, because their whole purpose is to be a flavourful creation for your morning bagel, and berries are freezer-stable enough that they can be found year round with all the flavour of fresh.

Blueberry Pomegranate Butter

When I pulled my bag of locally harvested wild blueberries out of the freezer, my initial idea was to simply remake the Blueberry Butter from last year to include in a gift basket I was putting together. That's when I remembered that I had some pomegranate juice and lemons in the fridge, and on a whim I zested a lemon and added it with the juice to the pot along with the berries, apples, sugar and spices. I had forgotten how delicious the original smelled as it was cooking, but was soon reminded as the mixture simmered away. I made sure to save myself a little to taste before canning the rest, and immediately knew I had to make another batch ASAP to play with in the kitchen!

Shared with Marvelous Mondays

Blueberry Pomegranate Butter
Makes about 1 1/2 cups, 12 (2-tbsp) servings
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen (unthawed) wild blueberries
2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and diced
1 cup sugar
zest of 1 lemon
pinch salt
1/4 tsp allspice
pinch nutmeg
1/4 cup pure pomegranate juice
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract 
  1. Combine all the ingredients except vanilla in a heavy bottomed sauce pot.
  2. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer 1 - 1 1/2 hours, stirring frequently to prevent sticking and mashing the fruit against the sides of the pot to smooth it out.
  3. The butter is done when it is thick and spreadable. Just before canning, stir in vanilla.
  4. Can in a water bath for 15 minutes or spoon into clean jars and keep in the fridge up to 6 weeks.
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 96.6
Total Fat: 0.1 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 1.5 mg
Total Carbs: 25.3 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.4 g
Protein: 0.3 g

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