Irish Black Butter
A conserve of apples, cider, brandy, and spices, Irish Black Butter has a uniquely deep, caramelized apple flavor with subtle spice notes and an almost earthy, smoky finish. It’s made by cooking down the country’s famous Armagh Bramley apples until they developed a rich molasses-like quality and warm complexity; the apples themselves have a Protected Geographic Indication recognized by the European Union. Irish Black Butter has an excellent smooth, spreadable texture that is a bit thicker than store-bought apple butters; it isn’t silky or gelatinous on the tongue but rather has a very fine granularity like any good homemade apple butter. We absolutely love this award-winning paste for its depth of flavor—it’s the best apple butter you’ll ever have.
Marchesi di San Giuliano Orange Slices in Syrup
We can't get enough of the warm, vibrant flavor of these orange slices in syrup, which our food editor, Matt Card, liken to deconstructed marmalade. To make them, organic blood oranges are hand-picked from the producer's own orchards, sliced finely with the rind still on, then briefly blanched to remove some of their bitterness and carefully layered in jars. The orange slices are covered with a reduction of orange juice, sugar and a touch of brandy—no pectin or artificial sweeteners—which contributes a vanilla-like roundness as well as sugary depth and richness. In addition to their rich flavor, we love the amazing texture of these orange slices, with a wonderful contrast between the silky pulp and surprisingly tender rind, which can be cut through with a fork.
Eat This Yum Heirloom Cranberry Compote
This bright-red holiday favorite from small-batch jam maker Eat This Yum starts with ripe cranberries grown in New Jersey. Because cranberries are the star here—they’re blended with only a little d’Anjou pear, candied ginger, port and freshly grated orange zest to help the tart fruit shine. The compote tastes more savory-tart than sweet, a perfect companion for holiday roasts. With a silky texture and traditional flavor, this compote is for anyone looking for a tart cranberry sauce. Get yours while you can—Eat This Yum only makes a little of this every year, depending on how many cranberries they can source, so inventory is limited.
Blake Hill Preserves Pumpkin Maple Butter
This Pumpkin Maple Butter is the perfect, understated addition to your autumn pantry. Made with pumpkins, Vermont maple syrup, apple cider vinegar and spices, the resulting butter is creamy and smooth—and refreshingly restrained compared to most pumpkin spice products. With its soft, silky texture and delicate spice, the pumpkin butter is perfect for stirring into oatmeal or porridge, fall soups like butternut squash, and holiday desserts (we also love it right out of the jar). This jam is nut-free and gluten-free.
Marchesi Di San Giuliano Red Grapefruit Marmalade
Zesty and with an appealing pink hue, this marmalade lends itself particularly well to cocktails. Try a spoonful in an Aperol or Campari spritz; add seltzer and a splash of lemon juice for acidity. We also like to substitute red grapefruit marmalade for the simple syrup in a classic pisco sour.
Marchesi Di San Giuliano Sicilian Lemon Marmalade
There's a saying among Sicilian locals that a lemon is not a lemon unless it was grown in Sicily. The higher acid content among lemon varietals produced on the island in fact makes for a tarter flavor, which in turn yields a fresher and tangier marmalade. We like to use this in baked goods: Substitute it for lemon curd in a pie, or mix some into lemon bar filling for complexity and texture.
Yakami Orchard Yuzu Marmalade
Juicy, flavorful and wonderfully textured Yakami Orchards Yuzu Marmalade is made with fresh, local yuzu from a collective of family farms in Japan’s Miyazaki prefecture. Balanced out with honey and sugar, this yuzu marmalade is bright, tart and warmly sweet with every bite. Just by opening a jar of Yakami Orchards’ product, you’ll be able to smell the bright and subtly floral aroma of yuzu. We love the plentiful chunks of yuzu rind, which are thinly sliced and add texture without making the marmalade clumpy. The yuzu pieces contribute a pop of piney bitterness that is a pleasant counterbalance for the overall sweet spread.
Eat This Yum Balsamic Caramelized Onions Jam
A little sweet, a little savory, this Balsamic Caramelized Onion spread from Eat This Yum is a cheese board’s best friend. Two varieties of onion, Vidalia and red—paired for well-rounded flavor—are diced and cooked down with balsamic vinegar. The onions get jammy but stay intact for a chutney-like texture—unlike some jams that can feel overly gelatinous. And it’s surprisingly well balanced: Balsamic vinegar shines in this, cutting through the jam’s sweetness for tang and umami. Made with just five simple ingredients, this versatile onion jam pairs well with a variety of savory recipes.
Marchesi Di San Giuliano Bitter Orange Marmalade
Bitter oranges, also known as Seville oranges, are the go-to for classic British marmalades because of their natural pectin content and thick, dimpled peels. San Giuliano's hand-cutting method showcases these oranges' superior texture. The almost spicy quality of this marmalade pairs well with the crystallized ginger in our marmalade bundt cake.
Marchesi Di San Giuliano Nova Clementine Marmalade
Made with a juicy varietal of mandarin, this succulent marmalade pairs well with dairy. Try it with whole-milk ricotta on crusty toast as a snack or on vanilla ice cream with pistachios and Amarena cherries for an Italian-inspired dessert. For a savory Sardinian twist, we simmer marmalade with chopped artichoke hearts to accompany charcuterie. Click here for the recipe to this unlikely yet addictive combination.
Blake Hill Preserves Berry Collection — Set of 3
Featuring some of the best jams we’ve tasted—and recognized with Good Food Awards—this berry trio comes from Blake Hill’s botanical “farm and forage” collection, which combines edible wildflowers with seasonal farm-fresh fruit. All of Blake Hill’s preserves are perfectly balanced between sweet and tart and have a plush, silky texture. This collection includes our three favorite flavors; all are nut-free and gluten-free.
Blake Hill Raspberry with Wild Bergamot Jam
Bergamot, a Mediterranean citrus grown at their Vermont farm, adds a peppery, floral note to bright, perfectly tart raspberries. The jam works beautifully in sweet applications, added to a linzer torte cookie or layered into coffee cake batter. We like it with savory dishes as well, like game meats—try it in a sauce for duck, or simply serve the jam alongside.
Blake Hill Wild Blueberry with Lavender Jam
A classic combination, the fragrance of the house-made lavender syrup hits the nose first, but upon tasting, the floral flavor is actually quite subtle and mellow—the tart Vermont blueberries shine here. And the texture from pectin is brilliant, too—the jam flows off the spoon and isn’t overly gelatinous.
Blake Hill Strawberry with Wild Rose Jam
Blake Hill gets the balance of floral and fruit just right here—local wild Jacobite roses add a hint of subtle aroma to the sweet, early-summer strawberries, without overpowering it with perfumy flavor.
Mymouné Fresh Fig Jam
Made from indigenous white figs, harvested from Lebanon’s rich soil and cooked within 24 hours, Mymouné’s Fresh Fig Jam is a revelation in bright sweetness. Bursting with fresh, fruity fig flavor—thanks to the quick turnaround between harvest and cooking—this sweet golden jam is flecked with crunchy fig seeds. Firm enough to spread but light enough to scoop, slather it on toast with butter or ricotta, tuck it into in a sandwich with roasted meats, add to a cheese or charcuterie platter, layer on desserts like carrot cake or use to glaze roasted meats.
Blake Hill Heirloom Apple Butter
To make their traditional apple butter, Blake Hill—maker of some of the best jams we’ve tried—simmer juicy, crisp heirloom apples in Vermont maple syrup until they break down into the creamiest butter. While many apple butters are all spice, this one leads with full, clean apple flavor: Maple syrup, brown sugar and cinnamon provide warm, toasty notes, but nothing overpowers the sweet-tart fruit. Simple ingredients, cooked slowly until we’re left with an elegant, not-too-sweet apple butter—that’s it. It’s excellent paired with sharp cheddar cheese, slathered on scones and toast or served with roasted pork or chicken.
Mymouné Strawberry with Rose Petal Preserves
Both grown in Lebanon’s rich soil, the local strawberries and fresh roses in Mymouné’s Strawberry with Rose Petal Preserves are handpicked to capture peak flavor in every jar. Made using a special type of Damask rose, called an Ispahan rose, the large-petaled flowers are known for being very fragrant—a perfect complement to sweet, fresh strawberry. Firm enough to spread but not too stiff, these preserves balance the taste of subtle rose and clean strawberries beautifully. While most rose-flavored products often taste perfumy or soapy, these preserves offer a present but not overpowering flavor of rose. Spread on toast and pastries, dollop on top of oats or slather on bread for an elevated PB&J. These preserves are also a wonderful filling for sandwich cookies, rugelach and cakes.
Mymouné Apricot Preserves
Mymouné Sundried Fig Preserves
This dense, intensely flavored Lebanese Sundried Fig Jam is perfectly balanced and only moderately sweet. It consists of 75% fruit, so you can taste all the richness of the figs. We like how the decadent, warm sweetness is accented and made more interesting by subtle savory notes from aniseed, while the sesame seeds in the jam enhance the figs' natural texture. This thick, decadent fig jam also has chunks of fruit for a more satisfying bite. Spread it with butter or ricotta on toast or in a sandwich. You can also feature it on a cheese tray, paired with creamy goat cheese, or even add a little to a meat stew to balance heavier flavors. Or smear a little between layers of carrot cake along with cardamom-scented cream cheese frosting.
Mymouné Mulberry Preserves
This may be my favorite jam in the world, other than my favorite Sicilian Orange Marmalade. It is astonishingly refreshing and intriguing, with a flavor that balances sweetness and wild blueberry with wild herbs. It tastes undomesticated, as if it had been made in the far hills of some undiscovered country or something offered at the table in a Greek myth. It is great as a spread for pancakes (I love my own maple syrup but mulberry jam on pancakes is one of life’s rare treats), on toast, or on a fresh, hot corn muffin. Just delightful!