I barely managed to make a jar of strawberry preserves! However, I got some magical preserves from the strawberries purchased when we returned from the Delta!

Well, using my Mom’s recipe, I needed:

180g small strawberries

180g sugar

45ml spring water

juice from half an organic lemon

After Marcel cleaned and washed them, I let the strawberries sit with the sugar for one hour. Then, I added the lemon juice and the water. I let everything boil, then simmer for half an hour.

Then, I poured the preserves into the jar.

We still have a small amount of preserves left in the jar. We don’t want it to end; it was that tasty! ♥

1kg raspberries

1kg sugar

juice from one lemon

Behind this recipe (still my Mom’s recipe) are my childhood friends Erzsi and Hilda. Hilda made me drool when she prepared raspberry preserves. Erzsi delivered the raspberries grown and picked by her sister, also in Bod. ♥

Marcel made the preserves and it turned out wonderful.

Place the raspberries in a pan; add the sugar and let it sit for several hours. Of course, you will end up with some juice in the pan. Squeeze the lemon.

Place the pan on low heat. Let the mix simmer for 50 minutes after it starts boiling.

When the preserves has cooled, transfer it into jars. (We got two large jars and a small one.)

I haven’t been able to get to Sviniṭa this year to get figs. I was glad, though, that the figs came to Braşov. It was short-lived, however. It rained over them on the terrace and I wasn’t able to process them, so Marcel saved precisely 

350g figs

I also needed—

90ml water

175g sugar

the juice from half a lemon

How to make the preserves?

Boil the water and the sugar in a pan, on low heat, until the sugar dissolves.

Meanwhile, wash the figs and cut their tails. Add them whole in the already hot liquid.

After 20 minutes, squeeze the lemon half, all the while removing the foam from the mix as often as possible. 

Boil the preserves for 20 minutes more. Turn the heat off. Let the preserves cool a bit and pour it into a 300g jar. It’s all I got.

I was still grateful for my first fig preserves and its deliciousness! ♥

500g blackberries

500g sugar

125ml water

juice from half a (large) lemon

We went blackberry picking last Sunday; they are so flavourful! I placed some in the freezer for winter, ate some others, baked some desserts with them, and couldn’t help but make preserves out of them.

I used an old recipe of my Mum again. It goes like this (the fast version)—

Clean and wash the blackberries well.

Place them into a pan, add the sugar and squeeze the lemon. Then, add the water.

Let it immediately simmer on low heat.

When the texture is syrupy, place the pan aside (it took 45 minutes in our case).

Pour the preserves into jars. We got 1 big jar and 2 small ones.

I can’t wait to taste it in the morning!

It turned out wonderful, caramelised as much as needed!

Ever since I can remember, my favourite preserves has been sour cherry preserves... made by my Dad. He gave me the recipe earlier this year and I ended up making some delicious cherry preserves. The good thing is that they resembled sour cherries a lot.

Do you want the recipe, too?

I used

800g cherries (without stones)

530g sugar

vanilla extract

juice from half a lemon

Remove the stones from the cherries (I used a metal straw to do that), wash the cherries and place them into a big pan.

Add the sugar and let it sit with the cherries for one hour. 

Then, add the vanilla extract and the lemon juice.

Let the mixture boil for 5 minutes on medium heat and then for 1 hour more on low heat.

Wash the jars. When the preserves is ready, pour a tablespoon of the hot preserves into each jar (I got 2 jars). 2-3 minutes later, fill the jars and lid them immediately.

You’ll get your summer memories back when it rains and it is cold and you are munching a toast with butter and cherry preserves!

400g blueberries

400g sugar

100ml water

juice from half a lemon

I’ve told you before: this year – this summer, actually–, I’ve had a love story with blueberries. Marcel bought the last blueberries at the market a while ago; I used them for Pavlova and crema catalana, but I still had 400g left. Even if they were wild, the blueberries kept well in the fridge until I found a use for them.

An old recipe of my Mum helped.

It goes like this—

Clean and wash the blueberries well.

In a pan, alternate blueberry layers and sugar layers and add the water.

[You can now leave the pan in the fridge for 7-8 hours.]

As a fast version, let it immediately simmer, on low heat, and squeeze the lemon.

Remove the foam. When the texture is syrupy, remove the pan from the heat (it took 45 minutes in our case).

Pour the preserves into jars after it cools. We got 2 small jars (250ml) and a half.

Place the jars in a cool environment.

Our blueberry preserves turned out delicious!...

...and it goes great with papanaşi (I tested it)! :P