Ten thick preserves, nearly all cooked at 1:4 sugar to fruit.
The whole pantry on one ledger: plum and apricot lekvar, low sugar jams, three fruit butters and a quince paste for cheese. Each line shows the fruit, the ratio, how firm it sets, the sizes, the season and the from-price per 8 oz.
The catalogue ledger
| Product | Fruit | Sugar : fruit | Set | Sizes | Season | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plum Lekvar | Prune plums, skins on | 1:4 | Spoon stands, bake-stable at 375°F | 8 oz, 16 oz, 2 lb tub, 5 lb pail | Late summer cook, all year from the pantry | $11 / 8 oz |
| Apricot Lekvar | Dried and fresh apricots | 1:4 | Dense paste, natural pectin, bake-stable | 8 oz, 16 oz, 2 lb tub, 5 lb pail | All year | $12 / 8 oz |
| Damson Plum Butter | Damsons, sieved after cooking | 1:4 | Smooth, firm, holds on a board | 8 oz, 16 oz | While the year's damsons last | $13 / 8 oz |
| Sour Cherry Jam | Montmorency cherries, whole and halved | 1:4 | Thick, sits in a thumbprint | 8 oz, 16 oz | All year | $13 / 8 oz |
| Quince Paste | Quince, cooked five hours | Ask | Firm block, slices clean | 8 oz wrapped block | Autumn cook, kept through winter | $14 / 8 oz block |
| Hill Country Peach Preserves | Texas Hill Country peaches in chunks | 1:4 | Soft set with whole chunks | 8 oz, 16 oz | June to August only | $12 / 8 oz |
| Fig and Orange Jam | Figs, thin-cut orange peel | 1:4 | Thick and seedy | 8 oz, 16 oz | All year | $13 / 8 oz |
| Pear Cardamom Butter | Pears, crushed green cardamom | 1:4 | Smooth, spoonable | 8 oz, 16 oz | All year | $11 / 8 oz |
| Cider Apple Butter | Apples reduced in fresh cider | 1:4 | Dark, smooth, spreads cold | 8 oz, 16 oz, 2 lb tub | All year | $10 / 8 oz |
| Blackberry Jam | Blackberries, seeds left in | 1:4 | Firm, holds between sponge layers | 8 oz, 16 oz | All year | $12 / 8 oz |
From-prices are indicative for an 8 oz jar. They are an estimate, not a quote. We confirm the price by phone or email before anything is made. Sugar ratios are by weight and are the standard batch; any jar can be asked for as a reduced-sugar 1:6 batch at $1 more per 8 oz.
Lekvar, jam, butter, paste. Four different things.
The filter chips above sort by these four. They behave differently in a pastry and on a plate, so pick by what you are going to do with the jar.
Cooked until it stands
Fruit reduced for hours with skins on and no boxed pectin, until a spoon stands up in it. The kolache and hamantaschen filling. Plum takes about nine hours. No pectin from a box. Apricots and quince bring their own.
Fruit you can still see
Pieces and seeds left in, set firm rather than loose. For toast, thumbprints, sponge and yogurt. They are thicker than shop jam but they are not built for a 375°F oven the way lekvar is.
Smooth and spoonable
Cooked down and sieved or blended smooth. Damson for cheese and roast meat, pear for oatmeal, apple for biscuits. Spreads straight from the fridge.
Firm enough to slice
Quince cooked past the butter stage into a block. Cut it with a knife, lay it on sheep's milk cheese. Sold wrapped, never in a jar.
What the price of a bigger size is based on.
An 8 oz jar is the base. A 16 oz jar runs about 1.85 times that, a 2 lb tub about 3.4 times and a 5 lb pail about 7.8 times, because the glass and the labour per ounce drop as the container grows. Six units or more takes 8% off, 24 or more takes 14%, 72 or more takes 20%.
Tubs and pails are only made in the products that pipe and bake well: the two lekvars and the apple butter. Ask for a tub of cherry jam and we will tell you why not.
Is it on the shelf right now?
Why is there no stock count on the ledger?
Because three of us cook in batches of a few dozen jars, and a number on a website would be wrong by lunchtime. Send the inquiry and we tell you what is actually on the shelf the same way we would on the phone.
Can I mix products in one order?
Yes. The quantity break counts every unit in the order, so three plum and three apricot jars already reach the six-unit break.
How do I get the jars?
Pickup at 68 Oak Lane, Office 12, Austin, at a time we agree, or local delivery inside Austin for a flat $8 per order. We do not ship across state lines.