Easy preserves

Summer-fresh fruit flavours
These recipes feature the intense flavour of wild blueberries, stone fruit at the peak of perfection and luscious red tomatoes.

1. Sassy Sweet Salsa
Nicely balanced with fruit and vegetables, this chunky, colourful condiment goes well with any main course. If you want to increase the heat, add 1 hot red pepper, seeded and minced. For even more fire, include the seeds.

2. Wild Blueberry Topping
This dark, shiny topping captures the deep ripe flavour of wild blueberries all year round. Enjoy it with waffles, pancakes, yogurt or ice cream or warm it up and use as a syrup.

3. Preserved Apricots with Bourbon and Vanilla
Bourbon-laced apricots make an elegant dessert to serve on their own or over pound or angel cake. Choose firm, barely ripe apricots so they maintain their shape during cooking. A substitute for the vanilla bean is 2 tsp (10 mL) vanilla added to the boiled syrup.

Best preserving pot
When making preserves, it's important to use the right pot, such as a wide heavy-bottomed Dutch oven. (We used a 24-cup/6 L shallow one.) As a substitute, use a large heavy-bottomed wide saucepan.

There must be enough surface area for water from preserves to evaporate. Before boiling, mixture should come about one-quarter up side of pot to allow for expansion when preserve boils vigorously.

Photography by Yvonne Duivenvoorden

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