That is until these cold crisp sunny wintry mornings when one of those jars gets snapped open.

Or until they are handed out as Christmas or winter birthday presents.

Or until the lid is pried off and you discover a layer of chocolate to crack through like the sugar hat of a creme brulee.

Lets chalk this chocolate jam trick up to one of the many lessons learned from Christine Ferber’s Mes Confitures. Stirring in 250g of chocolate to a 1 kg fruit batch of jam is mentioned in several of her chocolate jam recipes. My experiments indicate that doubling this amount of chocolate is all good too, especially as the chocolate seems to visually disappear as it is added to your hot fruit mixture. Additionally, I added a layer of finely grated chocolate to the top of the hot jam after it had been spooned into the jam jar. This helps visually cue the jar opener to the presence of something special in this jam.

Adding chocolate to your jam recipe will not adversely affect the preservation of your jam. As usual in jam making considerations- keep your chocolate clean to prevent mold contamination in your jars. Do this by keeping your chocolate covered, use only clean sterilized tools and wash your hands before touching.

chocolate jam recap

• In a 1 kg of fruit batch of jam, add 250-500 grams of chocolate.
• Chocolate can be dark, milk or white.
• Chocolate is stirred in as the very last step before adding the jam to the jars.
• Additional chocolate can be added as a thin layer to the top of the hot jam just before it is lidded and heat treated.
• As is usual in jam making- keep your tools clean, and in this particular case your chocolate minimally exposed to the air to prevent mold spore contamination.

more uses for jam

• Jam Soda: use jam as the flavor base and sweetener for homemade soda
• Fruit Popsicles: jam adds a nice flavor kiss when used to sweeten popsicles
• Fruit on fruit: double your flavor punch of thawed frozen berries by tossing them with jam to gloss and sweeten

When its too darn hot outside, do I want to fire up the stove top to turn these fruity gems into jam? No.

To deal with over-ripening fruit super quick, my answer is to make popsicles. It’s a great answer for when your fruit is a ticking time bomb, developing a pool of juice love at the bottom of its storage container.

And when made with a judicious hand, these treats are perfectly allowable as guilt-free breakfast treats, (I say typing one handed with a cantaloupe black pepper pop). I like to think of them as summer’s answer to homemade poptarts, but even better.

Summer fruit popsicles

You don’t really need to be told how to make popsicles, but here’s a break down to help stir up your creative juices.

• First step: is to clear a bit of space in the freezer.
  A two-birds-with-one-stone approach to this process is to find some frozen fruit from last season you need to clear out and make this the target of your popsicle fixation.
• Second step: is to build the body of your pop up with your target fruit.
  Either stick your fruit in a blender (melons) or mash them up with a fork or potato masher (strawberries) to get a good sludge going.
• Third step: consider your options for popsicle body additions. Do you want these to be no-nonsense popsicles, or adventurous, creamy, chunky, caffeinated popsicles?
  
  • salt: I always add a touch of salt when making my popsicles. It helps get the juices flowing and always makes them taste even better.
  • extra sweetness: honey, agave nectar, rice syrup, jam, maple syrup, molasses, dissolved sugar (white granulated, brown, or palm).
  • chocolate: if I want chocolatey popsicles I like to mix up 2 Tbs of cocoa powder with ~2 Tbs boiling water. Add enough additional water to make this into a pudding like consistency.
  • liquid: water, juice, dairy, coconut milk, coffee, tea, vinegar.
  • dairy: keifer, yogurt, sour cream, milk, half and half, cottage cheese, custard or pudding.
  • toothsome bits: more fruit left whole or chunky, cocoa nibs, coffee grounds, bits of nuts, cookie crumbs, soaked cake cubes, vanilla bean specks.
  • spices and flavors: cinnamon, peppers (black pepper or chili), saffron, curry, cilantro, nutmeg, vanilla, mint, lemon, fresh garden herbs.
• Fourth step: pour your popsicle concoction into the mold of your choice.
  My favorite is my 1/2 cup Food Cuber.
• Fifth step: stick consideration.
  Add your popsicle sticks immediately if your mold is designed for such, or just pop them into your popsicles about 1 hour after freezing.
  
  The popsicle sticks can be many things: spoons, cinnamon sticks, flat skewers (I use wide flat bamboo skewers cut down to an appropriate size- as seen on amazon or your local cooking supply stores), chopsticks, or good ole clean recycled popsicle sticks.
• Sixth step: finishing touches to fancy-up your popsicles.
  Homemade magic shell is divine on strawberry popsicles. White chocolate magic shell on lemon pudding popsicles? You could even sprinkle ground nuts or sprinkles onto the magic shell right before it hardens, (but then you’d have clown popsicles).
• Storage: most popsicles can just be left in their popsicle molds, in the freezer. However, if mold space is at a premium because you have more popsicles screaming to be made, just pop your finished popsicles out into an air tight container. I use either large ziplock bags or large mason jars. As flavors can sometimes migrate, its best to keep different flavors separate, unless you want that chipotle banana mocha popsicle to mingle with your mango yogurt pop.

Enjoy!

Yeah- I know how odd that is… I had some silly convictions I carried with me through childhood as a picky eater. Strawberries use to be in that category of untouchable foods -like tomatoes. But now that I’m enjoying foods in season, strawberries have revealed themselves to be the nirvana that I had always heard about.

This summer has given me practice in my favorite way to prepare my sliced strawberries. This makes strawberries taste restaurant Grandma quality good, and is better than sprinkling strawberries with sugar. Your strawberry shortcake will thank you!

For a pint of juicy strawberries with amplified flavor:

• - core, then slice 1 pint of strawberries and place into a jar or bowl.
• - sprinkle with a pinch of salt
• - in a small bowl make up a strawberry syrup by mixing 1 Tbs of strawberry jam with 1-2 Tbs of hot water. Stir till the jam is broken up and is now syrup consistency. Putting the bowl in the microwave for 10-15 seconds on High will help loosen up the jam.
• - pour this strawberry jam syrup over the sliced strawberries and allow to sit at room temperature 30 minutes before use.

Not only are these extra juiced up berries good on ice cream and cake, but they’re wonderful spooned over yogurt.

Well, now you’re going to know my secret source for intriguing new recipes.

Delving into the world of raw recipes can seem daunting at first (it really is a whole new world of summer suited dehydrating and freezing techniques) but one is quickly rewarded in the development of a new arsenal of food preparation techniques.

And Yes, reading a raw recipe book can be a nice kick in the butt to eat more fruits and vegetables to supplement my cooked diet. However, Ani Phyo’s raw recipe books serve primarily to remind myself of how successful simple, bright wholesome flavors are.

Her latest book Ani’s Raw Food Desserts: 85 Easy, Delectable Sweets and Treats contains a wide range of raw recipes. From classic coconut oil based chocolates, nut based scones, dairy and tofu free “cream” concoctions, to simple unrecipes of Fleur de Sel Kissed Watermelon and apples dusted with fresh rosemary; Ani Phyo presents ample opportunities to enjoy your summer fruits in a new way.

New tricks I learned: using cacao powder, pairing mesquite flour with chocolate, and playing up agave syrups. Reading through Ani’s Raw Food Desserts shook up my conservative approach to using this sweetner. Now I can’t wait to toss fresh lavender blossoms in agave syrup, or to create a whole bottle of cinnamon nutmeg seasoned syrup for yogurt drizzles.

Featured below is one of the new recipes from Ani’s Raw Food Desserts: Sesame Snap Cookies. These speckled fruit patties are bombs of flavor: tart apricot with crunchy pistachios and sesame seeds that pop in the teeth, and they’re super easy to make with the use of a food processor. I think these will be my new super quick breakfast to grab out the door, when I’m not imagining them covered with chocolate, that is.

Sesame Snap Cookies

From the book Ani’s Raw Food Desserts by Ani Phyo. Excerpted by arrangement with Da Capo Lifelong, a member of the Perseus Books Group. Copyright (c) 2009. Find out more at www.dacapopresscookbooks.com.

Makes 10 cookies

• 1 cup dried apricots
• 1/2 cup shelled pistachios
• 1/2 cup sesame seeds
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract or lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon agave syrup

Place the apricots in the food processor and process into a paste. Add the pistachios, sesame seeds, lemon extract, and agave syrup and process to mix well.

Scoop the dough by 1 1/2 teaspoons onto a sheet tray lines with parchment and flatten into cookies.

Will keep for a week in the fridge or for several weeks in the freezer (thaw before eating).

Variations:
If you love herbs, try adding 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme or tarragon to the dough. Or add 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger for zing.

A beginner in that I learned how to put up jam only last year. More so, a beginner in that I don’t quite have a handle on realizing I have to eat what I’ve preserved.

The jars of green beans and peaches were a delightful surprise. However, the many many jars of pantry jam have me realizing I don’t eat that much toast, or jammy cookies.

My jam guilt turned my mind to resourcefulness, and I now have a quart of apricot vanilla soda in my refrigerator, by the graces of my beginning jam excursions. Oh yes. I don’t even have to suggest what a bounty this could be… bourbon mixers, sodas, Italian cream sodas in any flavor of jam you have?

A little warm water, a soda siphon, and your tasty summer efforts are all you need to create an amazing array of flavored sodas.

Jam soda

makes one quart

materials:

• 1 quart pyrex measuring cup, or similar sized mixing vessel with a pouring lip
• whisk
• 1 quart lidded jar
• strainer
• funnel
• soda siphon
• CO2 cartridge

ingredients:

• 1 cup of jam (or a half pint jar)
• hot (almost boiling) water
• lemon juice

instructions:

• Measure into the 1 quart pyrex measuring cup the half a pint of jam.
• Slowly whisk in the hot water, 1/2 a cup at a time till you have one quart of jammy liquid.
• Pour the hot jammy liquid into the 1 quart size storage jar and refrigerate until cold.
• When cold, strain the jammy liquid of any fruit solids into the quart sized pyrex.
• Add 1 Tbs of lemon juice to the strained jammy liquid.
• With the funnel in place, fill the soda siphon with the strained jammy liquid.
• Lid and charge with one CO2 (soda) charger and shake vigorously.
• Pour into an iced cup and enjoy straight up or with a drizzle of half and half.

More lovely things to do with jam

• Orangette, Brown Butter Spoon Cookies with Jam: “they turn out smooth and curvy, the approximate size and shape of a flattened egg. They’re pale gold and flecked with toasted bits of butter, and you sandwich them with a festive sash of jam across the waistline. They’re sophisticated but still approachable, eminently edible. If they were human, you’d want to pinch their cheeks and buy them a drink.“
• 101 Cookbooks, Rombauer Jam Cake Recipe: “moist, with berry undertones, a sugary crispness from the brown sugar icing. Delicious. A perfect autumn and/or holiday cake –just be sure to use a good quality jam.”
• Chez Pim, Homemade Pop Tarts: “if you’re one of those who think a great pie is all about a good crust–I am of course one–these pop-tarts are perfect for you. They are filled with just enough delectable jam to punctuate the flavor without obscuring the buttery, flaky goodness of the crust.”
• the Kitchn, Easy Appetizer Template: Jam + Pork + Cheese: “The combination of sweet, salty, and creamy is sure-fire success, trust us, and you can mix up the components in dozens of different ways.”

Homemade candy this good has a catch though- it takes 2 – 3 weeks to make. So steel yourself and find that zen place of candy patience in your heart. It will be worth it, I promise.

What makes these candied orange slices better than the easier candied orange peel? These candied orange slices retain their pulpy fruit and are steeped in a sugar solution without heat. This minimal use of heat offers up an orange candy that has a more juicy, lighter fruity flavor than candied orange peels have.

Candy Orange Slices

modified version of procedure for candying fruit by Jean-Pierre Wybauw in Fine Chocolates, p70. Wybauw’s method utilizes a sugar refractometer- the following method doesn’t.

Fruit Prep:

• Clean three oranges by scrubbing under warm water.
• Slice into thin rounds. This candying method worked on all thickness of slices I tried up to 1/4 inch thick.
• The slices can be kept as circles, or cut into halves or quarters (hemi-circles and quarter-circles).

Blanching:

• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.
• Have a bowl of ice water near by.
• Add the sliced oranges to the boiling water (may need to be done in batches depending on the size of your pot). Scoop from the boiling water when the slices float to the top and place into ice water to cool.
• When cool, drain and remove the slices from the ice water and transfer to a container large enough to hold all of the slices.

Candying:

• Bring to a boil: 1 kg of sugar and 600 g of water. This step is to just dissolve the sugar (not to cook the syrup).
• Pour the hot syrup over the orange slices. If the orange slices float, weigh them down to keep them fully submerged. Weighing down method I used the first week: placed a plate on top of the orange slices and a glass jar of water on top of the plate.
• Store the submerged orange slices in a dark cool place, like a cupboard or closet for the duration of the candying. I didn’t refrigerate them.
• Each day increase the sugar content of the orange slice sugar solution. Do this by draining off the sugar solution the slices are submerged in, add 100g of sugar, heat the solution to just dissolve the sugar, and pour back over the orange slices.
• Complete this increase-sugar step daily for two weeks.
• Notes

  • I didn’t follow the schedule as written: I skipped a couple days of the increase-sugar schedule, and just resumed the increase-sugar step when I was able to. My impression is that this recipe is not very picky about increasing the sugar each day. I think the variable of time is important though- don’t try to shorten the duration of this recipe.
  • Storage: the orange slices may be stored in the sugar solution indefinitely. No need to refrigerate, they can be stored in a cool dark place, like a cupboard.

Drying and dipping
The orange slices are removed from the sugar solution. Finishing can take multiple different routes:
arrange on a drying rack out at room temperature till less tacky, 1-2 days then

• roll in sugar (plain, vanilla, or with a touch of citric acid),
• or dip in chocolate (white, dark or milk- tempered holds up best).
• or you can do both- like in the picture: dip 3/4 of the orange slice in chocolate and sugar the exposed portion.

Storage of finished candies
In an air tight container is best to keep out humidity. I gifted these in glass canning jars or crunchy cellophane bags. The survivors of my nibbling suggest that these candies hold up well: at least a month, probably more.

Variations
The subject of your candying is the first variation that leaps to my mind. Keeping your choices in the citrus family is easy:

• lime
• lemon
• grapefruit
• buddah’s hand

Finding other fruits and vegetables for this process would be a great experiment too. I don’t know what the parameters for likely subjects are. But here’s some ideas:

• persimmon
• ginger
• pineapple
• apricot
• peach
• tomato
• cucumber
• cherries
• garlic clove
• jalapeno
• onion ring
• carrot
• chestnut

I’d love to hear what you try.

A long process- yes. But the bounty if offers will reward you and your friends over and over.

Cheers

Alcoholic snow cones? You bet. Can’t let kids have all the good things.

This golden treat is based off of Sub Rosa’s Golden Orb recipe concocted to show off their Saffron Vodka commingling with mango.

Saffron Vodka Mango Elixir for Snow Cones

makes over 10 servings

Combine:

• 1 cup saffron vodka
• 1/2 cup orange liqueur
• 1/4 cp lime juice
• 1 cup mango nectar
• 1/2 cup simple syrup

Pack clean fresh snow into a cup or paper cone. Drizzle the Elixir over the top and enjoy!

Some tips-

• Ice cream scoops work great for packing snow into cups.
• A clean liquid soap pump works perfectly at holding your snow cone Elixir. The pump tops lets you easily dispense the Elixir without splashing it about.
• If you are without saffron vodka- add saffron to your simple syrup instead.

I try to make the most of these sunny bursts by declaring popsicles for dinner. A proper popsicle menu consists of an appetizer, main, and dessert course- at least!

This popsicle recipe is the dessert course entry from our popsicle dinner night: smoky spicy BBQ Chocolate. I started with a fudgesicle recipe from the Scharffenberger recipe book / chocolate bible, the Essence of Chocolate and gussied it up with chipotle, orange, and a touch of smoked sugar. The flavor combination is a winner- alluring, sultry, warm yet cold.

And homemade fudgesicles- how great is that to find in your freezer!

BBQ Chocolate Popsicles

• unsweetened cocoa powder: heaping 3/4 cup
• granulated sugar: 2/3 cup (I used 1/3 cup smoked sugar, 1/3 cup normal sugar. If you don’t have smoked sugar, add a 1/4 tsp liquid smoke)
• salt: 1/2 tsp
• whole milk: 1 1/3 cup
• half and half: 2/3 cup
• chipotle powder: 1/2 tsp or to taste
• orange oil: 2-3 drops
• maple syrup or agave syrup
• water

Note: recipe written for 4 cups in volume. This is easily adjustable by adding more of less liquid.

In a microwavable bowl, combine the cocoa powder, sugar, salt and enough water to make this a stirable chocolate sludge. Heat in the microwave till the chocolate sludge is too warm to the touch. I like to heat-stir in 30-40 second bouts.

Scrape the chocolate sludge into a blender, and add the milk, half and half, chipotle powder, orange oil and enough water to bring the blender liquid contents to 4 cups (4 cups is the volume held by my popsicle mold. Adjust this volume to fit your molds by adding more or less water). Whirl in the blender till combined.

Sample your popsicle mix and sweeten to taste with the liquid sweetener of your choice: maple syrup or agave syrup. You’ll want to add enough sweetener to make it taste just one step too sweet. Whirl the blender again to combine. Remember that cold desserts like ice cream and popsicles will taste less sweet frozen than they do at room temperature. This is why you’ll want to oversweeten it as you are tasting it non-frozen.

Pour the blender mix into your popsicle molds, adjust your sticks, and meditate on remaining patient while this slowly freezes.

“Oh wow- I haven’t had that since I was a kid!” was the most common reply I received. However, it was the question from my Chinese coworker that really made my brow furrow in an attempt at a reply: “What is Magic Shell?”

Beyond the mystery industry ingredients used by Smucker- what is Magic Shell’s functionality?

Why not just melt up chocolate and pour that over ice cream? It will harden into a shell with snap, just like Magic Shell. One can do that, I definitely have. However, melting chocolate for ice cream tends to yield a topping that would be more accurately described as Magic Glop. The thick layer that melted chocolate over ice cream yields is a formidable force to your spoon- one that will squish the ice cream underneath- not exactly a thin shell.

Additionally, chocolate’s temperature range in which it remains a fast running syrup like liquid is a small window. One that a teenager at a microwave will likely have little patience to experiment with on a weekly (or daily) basis. A free flowing liquid like syrup is easier to pour on ice cream to achieve a thin shell easily snapped with a spoon. Hence, why there is such a thing as Magic Shell in the world.

All this translates into a good science lab example on melting points of mixtures. The melting point of a mixture will be lower than the melting point of mixtures components individually, a property exploited by this topping. Homemade magic shell will melt easier than chocolate, and stay liquid longer too.

How to Make Magic Shell at Home

Food blogger Naomi Poe has a recipe on her blog the Accidental Vegetarian that sounds like the best way to make magic shell. It doesn’t use butter, as a lot of other recipes online do, but instead uses coconut oil, our favorite multitasker! Theoretically, with the correct chocolate, you can even make Magic Shell vegan (the mind boggles at the discongruities in that statement).

Poe’s basic recipe is to simply melt together coconut oil (1 cup) and eating chocolate (1 – 2 cups), adding more chocolate than coconut oil.
At home, I found the following weights to work well for measuring out the ingredients for the Magic Shell recipe:

• 150 g finely chopped eating chocolate
• 100 g of refined coconut oil*
• pinch of salt

* I feel that using a touch of unrefined virgin coconut oil helps aid in the elusive “fake” flavor that store bought Magic Shell imparts. If you really want to go the nostalgia route, try out 80 g refined coconut oil + 20 g unrefined virgin coconut oil.

Combine the ingredients in a pyrex or glass bowl and melt in the microwave till almost, but not completely liquid. Stir to finish the melting outside of the microwave.

Pour melted mixture into a squeeze bottle or recycled pancake or maple syrup container. The mixture does not need to be refrigerated for storage. It will be liquid at room temperature in the warm summer months, and will be hard during the winter.

To reheat the Magic Shell to drizzle on your favorite frozen dessert, heat in the microwave (~ 40 seconds twice at 80% power), or sit the closed container in a cup of hot water for about 10 minutes.

Making different flavors and varieties of Magic Shell

Starting from the basic recipe format, several varieties of Magic Shell can be made in your kitchen.

Altering the fat affects flavor
Coconut oil comes in two basic varieties, refined and virgin. Refined coconut oil acts as a neutral fat with minimal flavor. Using virgin unrefined coconut oil imparts a light coconut flavor.

Altering the chocolate changes flavor
Any chocolate can be used in this recipe: bittersweet, semisweet, milk, or even white. Heck, you could melt your favorite dagoba bar or other high end gourmet flavored chocolate bar and use that in your magic shell. Xocolatl Magic Shell with chilies and nibs? Yes please!

Adding fat soluble flavors
Oil based flavors will blend easily with your Magic Shell since it is a mixture of mostly fat. Food grade essential oils are great for this project for that very reason, just use them sparingly as they are very potent. Some flavoring extracts found in grocery stores are oil based vs alcohol based. Just check their labels. I didn’t test alcohol based flavorings. They will probably work, though may run the risk of not staying in solution when the mixture hardens.

Natural sources of flavor (bacon) outside from extracts can be gently heated in coconut oil (bacon) and left in the cooled fat to imbue their flavor (bacon) This is a method used in perfume making as some scents are more soluble in fat than alcohol. Cinnamon, teas, and other whole spices may yield up different flavor notes under this method of extraction.

Adding color to your Magic Shell
Using your typical food coloring to make pretty magic shell colors with the white chocolate will be a bit frustrating. Average food coloring is water based, and fights combining with all that melted fat. If you can find a paste food coloring that is fat based, use it with the white chocolate magic shell for a special colored treat.

Different flavor ideas for homemade Magic Shell

I’m a sucker for variety, and this is a great recipe to play with. Simply toggling a flavor with different varieties of chocolate will yield nice variety.

• Peppermint Patty: drops of mint flavoring with dark chocolate
• Creme de Menthe: drops of mint flavoring with white chocolate and green coloring
• Candy Bar: 70:30 mixture of refined:virgin coconut oil, drops of almond flavoring and milk chocolate
• Silky Orange: drops of orange oil in dark chocolate
• Creamsicle: drops of orange oil in white chocolate with orange coloring
• Spring Lemon: drops of lemon oil in white chocolate with yellow coloring
• Lime Me Up: drops of lime oil in white chocolate, and a sprinkle of salt on the shell as it hardens
• Midnight Chocolate: dark chocolate with smoked salt

See how tantalizing this project gets? One thing is certain, stock up on ice cream now before you resort to eating this off of frozen spoons.

Here’s the dream that’s on my mind. A glass with jumbled layers of warm chipotle gingerbread, pomegranate gems, pear sorbet, caramel ice cream, and salty candied lemon almonds.

A melange of textures makes my mouth happy: soft cake, crunchy pomegranate, snappy nuts, frosty sorbet and creamy ice cream. Perhaps I can stand to endure the groundhog’s proclamation after all.

Recipes perfect for assembling a winter parfait

• Use this praline technique to candy the almonds. I tossed in with my almonds and sugar a handful of diced candied lemon peel and a good grating of pepper.
• Gluten-Free Girl features a wonderful apple sorbet recipe from David Lebovitz’s book The Perfect Scoop. Pears can be substituted for the apples, and water can be substituted for the wine.
• From the master himself, David Lebovitz’s recipe for Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream. I can’t think of a more beautiful string of words.
• Lucky for us, 101 Cookbooks features the recipe for Black Sticky Gingerbread in her spotlight on Regan Daley’s encyclopedic book In the Sweet Kitchen.