Fruit butter or Jam? Do you know the difference? Better yet, do you know which one you prefer? Upon first look, they seem very similar, almost identical even. But believe me, there is a big, BIG difference.
While most of us are familiar with jam and jelly, very few know about fruit butter. Even fewer know the difference between the two. Here on the blog, we’ve already brought you a wide assortment of delicious freezer jams using our freeze dried fruit, including our Strawberry Chia Jam, Apple Pie Jam, and Freeze Dried Apricot Jam. But today we thought we’d take a crack at whipping up some delicious fruit butter using two of our amazing freeze dried fruits. Before we could do that though, we had to find out exactly what the difference was between the two!
Freezer Jam and Fruit Butter start out very, very similar. You take the fruit that you’re incorporating, process it in a food processor or smash it down with a dough whisk, then add it to a pot, throw in some sugar and lemon juice, and begin to boil it. The difference between the two comes in one extra ingredient, as well as cook time. With Jam, when boiling, you typically add pectin, cornstarch, or Ultra Gel, to help thicken it up. Once incorporated, you then lower the heat, pour into your mason jars, and seal it up.
With Fruit butter, no thickener is added. It’s simply fruit, sugar, and lemon juice. Cook time is a lot longer too. You want to keep it at a low boil, constantly stirring, for at least 30-40 minutes. This really breaks down the fruit, giving you a thinner, more spreadable texture. Some people even stick it in the slow cooker for a few hours to help break it down. Where fruit jam is thick and hearty, fruit butter is thin and easy to spread. Whichever you prefer is all dependent on taste and texture!
Now that we have that settled, let’s get to baking! We took two of our favorite freeze dried fruits, blueberries and blackberries, and blended them together to create this amazing, mouth watering fruit butter spread we know you’re going to love. Grab your apron, it’s time to make some Blueberry Blackberry Butter!
Ingredients:
2 cups Honeyville Freeze Dried Blueberries
2 1/2 cups Honeyville Freeze Dried Blackberries
2 cups Water
1 1/2 cups Sugar
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
Directions:
First, process your fruit.
Using a blender or food processor, process your blueberries and blackberries.
You want them to be ground to a fine powder, with as little chunks as possible (Don’t worry, there will still be a few chunks here and there).
Next, add fruit powder, water, sugar, and lemon juice to a large pot and bring to a low boil. Make sure you are constantly stirring ingredients so that they blend well and do not burn. Keep at a low boil, constantly stirring, for 30-40 minutes. This long time helps break down the fruit and sugar.
Once done cooking, pour ingredients into your jam or jelly jars. Seal the tops and store in the refrigerator or freezer.
This delicious, spreadable fruit butter is the perfect fruit spread you’ve been hoping for. Use it on toast, waffles, pancakes, sandwiches, desserts, or anything else you’d like topped, and you’ll wonder how you could ever go back to jam again. The blend of flavors from the blueberries and blackberries give an amazing aroma and taste you can’t find anywhere else. Tasty can’t even begin to describe how good this really is!
Forget the jam, it’s time to try this smooth, delicious Blueberry Blackberry Butter!
