Friday, July 24, 2009

Great Expectations

So I picked some raspberries the other day. Due to all the rain a lot of them had fungus or mold on them. Ew, gross. So, I carefully picked the nice ones, six quarts worth. I amde cherry raspberry jam from the "Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving". Man, was I stoked. The flavor was amazing but it didn't set. Really I should have went with my gut and cooked it for a longer period of time. And I should have had my trusty dish in the freezer to test the set.

So, here's what I did with my unset jam... so far, as I have about 4 more 1/2 pints to use.

I made Raspberry Cherry Fool. A light version of it. (Stir in about a tablespoon of the unset jam to the yogurt and add some fresh fruit.)

Then I made Raspberry Fudge Brownies. I know I probably got your attention there.

Melt in your mouth, delicious. I mixed some of my unset jam with fresh raspberries to make a quick "jam".

The jam. Take my advice and cook it down a little longer and make sure you test the gel.

Cherry Berry Jam
adapted from Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving

3 cups (750ml) raspberry pulp (raspberries put through a sieve or a food mill)
4 cups ( 1 liter) sugar
3 cups (750ml) pitted sweet cherries, including juice

Prepare canner, jars and lids.

In a glass, stainless steele or plastic bowl combine raspberry pulp and sugar, set aside.

Bring cherries and their juice to a boil in a stainless steel deep pot. Cook about five minutes, until they are tender. Stir in raspberries and cook seven minutes more. Test gel. Cook longer if you need to.

Ladles mixture into hot jars and process in canner for ten minutes. Remove lid, wait five minutes. Remove jars.

Raspberry Fudge Brownie Bars
This recipe from Recipezaar

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk chocolate chips
2 cups fresh raspberries combined with cherry berry jam or (3/4 cup raspberry preserves)
1/4 cup fresh raspberry (for garnish)

In a double boiler, melt together butter and chocolate. In a seperate bowl with a wire whisk, beat sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix this mixture into the chocolate mixture. Let cool slightly; Gradually stir in flour and baking powder just to combine; Fold in almonds and chocolate chips.

Spread about 3/4 of the batter evenly in a 13" x 9" x 2" pan that has been coated with a non stick spray; Carefully spread raspberry preserves on top of the batter; Drizzle remaining batter evenly over preserves swirling top lightly with a spoon; Gently smooth top.

Bake for about 20 - 25 minutes at 350° or until the top is slightly puffed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely if you can stand it.

16 comments:

Nicole Feliciano said...

The jam would be a great hostess gift. I hope you can link up to my recipe exchange.

http://momtrends.blogspot.com/2009/07/friday-feasts-baked-flounder.html

Mary Bergfeld said...

That is one great brwonie recipe!

chow and chatter said...

wow those brownies like divine

Lynn said...

Don't those raspberry brownies look good!
I've used jam that didn't set right as sweetener for iced tea, and also as a topping for pancakes or ice cream. I'll bet it would freeze ok if you wanted to use it throughout the year . . . Isn't that a bummer when it doesn't set? Aaargh.

Marta said...

Oh wow, those brownies look so moist and delicious!
I got a giant batch of raspberries the other day from the farmer's market. They looked great... except only the top layer was healthy, the rest was moldy, Boo!!!!

Lori said...

Nicole- I will check that out. I actually just signed up for a an international jam exchange at Steph CHows.

Mary- It is- I am going to be making another batch with some other flavors.

Chow and Chatter- thank you.

Lynn- I hadnt thought of the iced tea. I do use it on pancakes though. I have found that even witht he excess sugar it keeps in the jar just fine.

Marta- boo is right. I hate when they do that. Ya know, I have come to know the farmers but that doesnt mean I dont get burned once in a while. Or find a gem from the ones who do that. eh, it will come back to them, right? Farmer karma.

Donna-FFW said...

This looks so delicious. Those brownies, homemade jam, so good.

Ingrid_3Bs said...

Ha, you had my attention the moment I spotted raspberries in that jar unfortunately it looked like cherry tomatoes in there with it so I was (at first) liek EWWWWW! :) Then you said raspberry fool (ha-ha) and raspberry brownies(yum!).
~ingrid

Zurin said...

Hi Lori, those brownies look ammazing!

btw I left an award for you on my blog. Pls drop by if you'd like to pick it up.:)

Murasaki Shikibu said...

I'm not a big fan of using jam and fruit in my baking but...in this particular situation, i.e. the jam didn't set - I'd do it for sure. What a brilliant idea...and I'll bet it tasted good too because you used this freshly made (unset) jam. The raspberry brownies look great but I like the other execution too.

Lucy..♥ said...

Loving the combination of the raspberries & cherry in this jam... both the fool & brownies look great! Yummy!

Is there no way to recover an unset jam? I haven't had that problem, but then I again I've only made it a few times. Just curious if reheating would/could fix it?

Selba said...

Everything looks so good and I love the brownies one :)

Katy ~ said...

Delicious and creative recovery from the unset jam. Both of your recipes look soooo good!

ellie said...

I almost had a chutney disaster this week but it did set eventually- but maybe yours not setting has actually worked out well because those brownies look amazing!
You could make amazing oaty fruit squares with the jam or fill cupcakes so they have a moist centre?
x

grace said...

yeah, the mere mention of raspberry brownies definitely gets my attention. sorry the jam didn't set, but i love how you're rolling with it!

kat said...

We've decided any jam that doesn't set is sauce to use in making or on ice cream