Raspberry Preserves {Cultured}
Preserves are fruit prepared with pectin and sugar. Unlike the smooth texture of jelly or jam, large chunks of fruit are suspended in a syrup base.After the salty blueberry preserves debacle it seemed like a fool’s errand to try again, but the thought of sweet and tart yumminess atop Katja’s almond pancakes was too much to resist. Plus, I promised to come up with some easy cultured recipes. 
This is about as easy as it gets. Try boysenberries or blackberries if you’re feeling adventurous, but skip strawberries (they’re too acidic for the fermentation process) and blueberries are just gross for some reason.
Mix in yogurt or serve over pancakes with a generous glug of maple syrup.
Raspberry Preserves
Ingredients
- 6 cups frozen raspberries (pour off the juice or leave it in for a syrup finish)
- 3 tsp unrefined sea salt (where to buy sea salt)
- 1 cup rapadura (where to buy rapadura)
- 1/2 cup whey
- 4 tsp Pomona’s Universal Pectin
- 4 tsp calcium water (comes in every box of Pomona’s Pectin)
Method:
- Place berries in a large bowl and mash down with a wooden spoon or meat hammer until berries are well crushed.
- Add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly
- Pour mixture into a wide-mouthed mason jar (leaving at least one inch of room at the top) and cover tightly
- Place on your counter for two days and then move it to the refrigerator. The preserves will last about two months.
Andrea Brown via Facebook
This looks awesome…with the almond pancakes of course! Thanks for sharing!
Heather
I don’t think I can eat almond pancakes any other way now. LMK if you try it!!!
Rachel J.
I mix a lot of homemade jam into our yogurt. Double probiotics!
Heather
Yum! Care to share your jam recipe?
The Table of Promise
This is a great recipe, but two things….
* What the heck is calcium water? I have never hear of it. What does it lend to the final product? I have cultured veggies before with no calcium water, so I am curious.
* And if you don’t want to use commercial pectin, here is a brilliant substitute! http://figjamandlimecordial.com/2009/03/09/homemade-pectin/
Heather
Calcium water activates Pomona’s Pectin (a packet of the dry mix comes in each box). Thanks for the homemade pectin recipe. I’ll check it out!
Andrea Brown via Facebook
OK! Hopefully soon
Andrea Brown via Facebook
Oh, where do you buy the pectin?
Mommypotamus via Facebook
Most health food stores should carry it. We bought ours at Whole Foods (in the bulk aisle, I think)
Andrea Brown via Facebook
Awesome! Thank you!
Genevieve Mama Natural
Yummy! This sounds delicious. I’ve cultured many veggies in my life but never any fruit type preserves. Thanks for sharing as this DOES sound easy!
Genevieve Mama Natural´s last [type] ..Transform Your Relationship – Part 4- Closing Your Exits
katrina
I really want to make this. Can I use something like a starter or some probiotics in place of the whey, since we’re dairy intolerant?
Heather
Hi Katrina! I’m not really sure if there is another medium that will work like whey. You could try raw apple cider vinegar, but it may or may not work out. Sorry I can’t be more of a help.
Lee
Thanks for sharing this! I’ve been fermenting blueberries for a bit over a year with great success and was wondering what other berries would work well. Mine definitely preserved the blueberry flavor well, but they take on a little more tart and wine-like character. I’ve never tried using pectin though because it seems more complicated. Does it impact the flavor at all, and is it that much better when it’s thicker?
For my blueberries, I used whey as the starter for my first batch, and for batches after that I just used a little from the last batch to start the next batch. Works great. You could just use some of your raspberries to start a batch of blueberries. I just did a batch last week using blueberries from almost a year ago as the starter — they were still good and still strong enough to get the fermentation going in 24 hours. Sharing your fermented berries with friends to use as a starter is also a nice gift, if you have friends who are into this stuff.
Here’s my recipe: Mash about a quart of blueberries (large box from the farmer’s market) in a jar. Add a few tablespoons of honey and a pinch of salt. Add 1/4 cup of live starter culture (whey, or a bit from a previous batch of similar fermentation) and mix together. Make sure there’s at least an inch or more of empty space at the top, as the mixture will bubble up quite a bit. Coat the jar lid with honey, close jar very loosely (gases need to be able to escape) and leave out at room temperature for about 48 hours. Then stir and refrigerate. The starter culture helps to get the fermentation going before mold grows. The honey I believe also helps inhibit mold growth. It will drip down from the lid and form a protective layer on the surface of the blueberries and sides of the jar. So I’d recommend resisting the urge to shake the jar or mix the preserves during the 48-hour fermenting period, so that honey layer stays intact. The more honey you add, the more alcoholic your ferment will become.
I based my recipe off of two others I found in these two books:
http://www.amazon.com/Preserving-Food-without-Freezing-Canning/dp/1933392592
http://www.amazon.com/Nourishing-Traditions-Challenges-Politically-Dictocrats/dp/0967089735/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1307296320&sr=1-1
Angie
What kind of whey do you use? I am new to all of this and is it Whey protein powder?
Heather Ivers
Angie: The whey used in these types of recipes is the liquid that remains when you strain yogurt to make yogurt cheese.
Heather
Oh, thank you for replying, Heather! Sometimes I lose track of comments on old posts
Wardeh @ GNOWFGLINS
Heather, do you know for sure that Pomona’s Pectin is GAPS-legal? I speculate yes because it comes from citrus — where other pectins would not be. I see you’re using it here, so I figure you know.
I am using it in this rhubarb jam recipe and was hoping to know for sure about its GAPS status with the pectin:
http://gnowfglins.com/2012/05/25/rhubarb-walnut-muffins-with-rhubarb-jam
Otherwise, one could simmer with the honey for a little non-pectin thickening. But Pomona’s is so nice!
Thanks.
Heather
Hi Wardeh! Pectin is not GAPS legal (this recipe was posted before we started GAPS). We use the second method you mentioned these days
Wardeh @ GNOWFGLINS
Thank you for clarifying.
Heather
Sure thing!