Mes Confitures: The Jams and Jellies of Christine Ferber by Christine Ferber

    • Categories: Jams, jellies & preserves; Spring
    • Ingredients: carrots; sugar; lemons; cinnamon sticks
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Notes about Recipes in this book

  • Strawberry with black pepper and fresh mint

    • franchimou on April 22, 2026

      can’t really taste the mint or black pepper with the quantities recommended. also it tastes kind of like a strawberry candy? i prefer Camilla Wynne’s strawberry jam in terms of flavor.

  • Rhubarb and whole strawberries

    • metacritic on October 07, 2021

      Starting with the end product, which I opened some three months after putting the jam into jars. It was very good but, like all the recipes in this book, on the sweet side of things. Sufficiently sweet that it obliterates what's purest about the fruit. Her actual jams that you can buy don't appear to have the same excessive amounts of sugar. I'm not sure what's going on. For years I only used her recipes but recently started using the Sqrl jam book and prefer their ratios and descriptions. I might start adapting her recipes with their ratios and cooking instructions. Ferber jams are always beautiful and this is no exception. The instructions were incredibly unclear, maybe even inaccurate. The recipe seems to suggest that you start the strawberries and rhubarb at the same time, even as the cooking instructions only make sense if you start the rhubarb one day later. It's a lot of small steps over multiple days, though not a huge amount of work.

    • rittingerv on May 12, 2023

      Not only do you macerate overnight twice, but on the third day you bring the mixture to a boil 5x every 8 hours (so 32 hours in total). So technically you actually start the rhubarb on the third day, so it can macerate while you’re doing the boils on the strawberries. I’m not done yet but I know that no jam will be worth a 4 day process.

  • Bergeron apricot with vanilla

    • Bloominanglophile on September 15, 2013

      Apricot is my favorite jam. This recipe elevates it into the heavenly realm! I do find it rather sweet, and have taken to adding half a pound more apricots to the recipe. If you live at higher altitudes like me (6500ft.), you might also have trouble bringing your boiling temp up to 221F. I just watch the cooking jam carefully, and do the cold plate test where applicable. If I remember correctly (having purchased them in the past), a lot of her jams are a looser set. So no worries--do try this at home!

  • Apricot with mountain honey

    • KevinSeattle on July 20, 2022

      You do have to plan ahead as it is a 2-day process. Most of Ms. Ferber’s jams are 2-day affairs, but the deeper flavor is always worth the extra time. It is a technique I've to applied to other jams. They honey is surprisingly strong; you might want to cut it back a bit if you are not a fan of that kind of sweetness.

  • Apricot and raspberry with citrus zest

    • MissKoo on July 07, 2020

      This is a lovely and bright flavor combination with hint of citrus, and so pretty in the jars. A bit on the sweet side for me, and would add a few more apricots next time. Being at altitude, the jam doesn't come up to temperature on my thermometer, but using a French copper confiture pan it's generally easy to reliably eyeball the set. Recipe made 10 4-ounce jars, a nice size for small gifts.

  • Raspberry

    • abrownb1 on July 06, 2021

      Used this method for black raspberries and it was super easy and delicious! Reduced the sugar a bit to 700 g/1000g of berries and it worked perfectly.

  • Seedless raspberry

  • Wild blueberry

    • cespitler on November 02, 2012

      A simple, tasty jam that really shines without being too sweet.

  • Wild blueberry with lemon

    • cespitler on November 02, 2012

      Wow! I couldn't resist the 10lb box of blueberries at the market so it was definitely time to make jam. The addition of lemon brightens up the jam beautifully. It tastes like summer (versus the wintery tones of the blueberry butter with cinnamon and nutmeg I also made that I think I'll use with a linzer dough). This lemony jam would be great as a layer in a lemon cake or plain on toast. This is a two-day process, but overall doesn't take that much active time.

  • White peaches with saffron

    • fprincess on March 31, 2019

      Made with yellow peaches

  • Alsatian quetsch plum

    • fprincess on July 24, 2017

      Made with Santa Rosa plums. I cut the plums into smaller pieces because that is the texture I prefer in my jam, also I cooked them a bit longer than what she calls for (again, based on my preference). What a spectacular jam! Tart, bright, beautiful color as well. I mixed very ripe fruit with fruit that wasn't so ripe which gave a great depth of flavor. https://forums.egullet.org/topic/153585-what-are-you-preserving-and-how-are-you-doing-it-2016%E2%80%93/?do=findComment&comment=2112453 https://forums.egullet.org/topic/153585-what-are-you-preserving-and-how-are-you-doing-it-2016%E2%80%93/?do=findComment&comment=2112501

  • Green tomato, apple, and orange

    • Bloominanglophile on November 20, 2021

      I had a plethora of green tomatoes at my disposal this year, so after making mincemeat and chutney, I thought I would try this recipe. It IS unusual, but tasty, and rather grows on you! I think the texture is more preserve-like than jam, and the orange gives it subtle marmalade flavors. Was fun to try!

  • Blood orange

    • cespitler on November 02, 2012

      This jam is absolutely gorgeous to look at in the jars and is equally delicious.

  • L'Alsacienne

    • Bloominanglophile on October 21, 2013

      I made this jam two years ago, and thought it had good flavor. As with her other recipes I have tried, I have a hard time bringing my jam up to 221F--it takes too long and starts to burn and the resulting set is too firm. I am assuming this is because I am over 6000ft in altitude. I would use the cold plate test instead to help gauge when the jam is done.

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  • ISBN 10 0870136291
  • ISBN 13 9780870136290
  • Linked ISBNs
  • Published Sep 30 2002
  • Format Paperback
  • Page Count 286
  • Language English
  • Countries United States
  • Publisher Michigan State University Press
  • Imprint Michigan State University Press

Publishers Text

Ferber is a fourth-generation French patissiere whose speciality is her unusual, delicious jams and jellies, which have gained an international following among chefs and other gourmands. This book, a best-seller in France, presents dozens of recipes, organised by season, for preserves from Black Cherry with Pinot Noir to Greengage and Mirabelle Plum with Mint; a number of them include chocolate, not a standard addition. Few of the recipes include headnotes, although translator's notes identify the more exotic ingredients; instructions are on the brief side. However, any jam maker will find Ferber's book fascinating. Recommended for all canning and preserving collections.

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