Slow Cooker Monday: Blueberry Lavender Butter
Monday, 20 June 2011
Update: I made blueberry lavender butter with frozen berries too.
Summer is my favorite food time of year. I can do without the crazy heat, but I love all the amazing produce that it brings. Northern California is an especially wonderful place for fresh fruits and veggies. While browsing the farmer’s market last Saturday, I found a nearly endless supply of cherries mixed in with all kinds of berries, peaches and some vegetables too I’m sure (I recall seeing broccoli and daikon, but honestly I am way more excited about the awesome fruit selection at this time of year).
In particular, blueberries are one of my favorite fruits and I love eating fresh, plain blueberries right out of the box. Last week, however, I sacrificed 2 entire large boxes of blueberries and pureed them in my blender (it was kind of painful – I wanted so badly just to eat them all!). This fruit butter is actually totally worth the sacrifice. I adapted a recipe from Food in Jars and added lavender to the blueberry puree, which is a fantastic flavor combination. The texture is lovely – velvety, smooth and creamy, this thick butter is the perfect addition to your breakfast table.
This recipe is also very simple and easy to make. Don’t let canning or the use of a slow cooker dissuade you from trying this blueberry lavender butter. Imagine slathering it on warm toast, fresh scones, or mixing it into thick Greek yogurt…mmm!
How do you enjoy your favorite summer fruit?
Recipe:
Slow Cooker Blueberry Lavender Butter
- 8 cups pureed fresh blueberries
- 1 T dried lavender
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 1/2 – 2 C sugar
- 1 bouquet garni bag (like these or use cheesecloth and string to make your own)
Place pureed blueberries in slow cooker and turn to low. Fill bouquet garni bag with lavender and tie shut. After 1 hour stir blueberry puree and add bag of lavender. Prop open lid with a spatula or wooden spoon and continue cooking on low, stirring occasionally. After 4 more hours, add lemon zest and sugar to taste. Remove lid and cook on high for 1 hour. Remove bouquet garni bag of lavender and discard. Place butter in food processor or blender and process to desired consistency. Pour into sterilized jars, leaving 1/2 inch of head space, wipe rims and screw on lids. Process in boiling water canner for 10 minutes. Store jars in cool, dark place.
No. 1 — June 20th, 2011 at 4:02 pm
Wow! That sounds amazing! I would have never guessed lavender…..I, too, love summer produce.
No. 2 — June 20th, 2011 at 4:55 pm
Mmmm…this sounds SO good! Can you use fresh lavender instead of dried?
No. 3 — June 20th, 2011 at 5:37 pm
@Ann – thanks! The lavender goes great with blueberry.
No. 4 — June 20th, 2011 at 5:37 pm
@Jennifer – hmm, I don’t see why not. I’ve never cooked with fresh lavender. Give it a try and let me know!
No. 5 — June 20th, 2011 at 11:05 pm
Looks delicious! Hooray for summer and Farmer’s Markets!
No. 6 — June 21st, 2011 at 8:57 am
@Stacy – thanks! I agree!
No. 7 — June 21st, 2011 at 10:08 am
how about a blueberry cake recipe too?
No. 8 — June 21st, 2011 at 2:35 pm
SEriously I need to head to costco and pick up some blueberries! I love fruit butters so yummy – this would be great in oatmeal too. Do you think this would work with frozen blueberries (for when they are not in season)?
No. 9 — June 21st, 2011 at 3:46 pm
Oh my! I can only imagine how this must have smelled!
No. 10 — June 21st, 2011 at 7:25 pm
@foodie – great idea! I’ll see what I can do…
No. 11 — June 21st, 2011 at 7:26 pm
@Lindsey – I’m not sure what would happen with frozen blueberries but I’m tempted to try it. I’ll let you know if I do!
No. 12 — June 21st, 2011 at 7:26 pm
@Tiffany – it smelled soo good…:)
No. 13 — June 21st, 2011 at 7:48 pm
It looks delicious, and the recipe is so easy too!!
I assume that this works for any berry fruit, right?
No. 14 — June 21st, 2011 at 8:14 pm
@Kathy – yes, I bet it would be great with other berries!
No. 15 — June 22nd, 2011 at 4:52 am
Oh my goodness. This sounds Delish. I’ve never canned though. Kinda scared.
No. 16 — June 22nd, 2011 at 5:02 am
Love, love, love this recipe! I make my apple butter in the slow cooker and can second you on the ease of making butters this way. I have everything but the blueberries. When the heck am I gonna be able to get to the farmers market?!
No. 17 — June 22nd, 2011 at 5:06 am
Color is just amazing!
No. 18 — June 22nd, 2011 at 8:13 am
@Yocelyn – don’t be scared! It’s not too hard: I sterilize my jars by baking them in the oven (Google it) and then you just need a big stockpot of boiling water to seal them at the end for 10 mins. If you’re really intimidated though, this recipe doesn’t make a lot and I’ve already eaten 1/3 of it in a week by having it for breakfast everyday. You can store it in a tupperware instead in the fridge.
No. 19 — June 22nd, 2011 at 8:14 am
@Annie – ooh apple butter would be so good too! I’ll have to try that in the fall. I hope you can find blueberries soon! They just appeared here a few weeks ago…
No. 20 — June 22nd, 2011 at 8:14 am
@Medeja – thank you!
No. 21 — June 22nd, 2011 at 11:02 am
[...] I mentioned in my last post about blueberry lavender butter, I love summer fruit season and I feel very lucky to live in northern California, where I’m [...]
No. 22 — June 22nd, 2011 at 12:54 pm
Thanks!! I’m going to do it!
No. 23 — June 22nd, 2011 at 2:36 pm
Mmmmmm. This sounds very delicious. I’m a berry fan too and couldn’t wait for this season. They are available all year long now a days in CA but none is as flavorful as the ones in season. I have to try your magnificent recipe. Thanks for sharing.
No. 24 — June 22nd, 2011 at 2:47 pm
@Yocelyn – yay! Tell me how it turns out!
No. 25 — June 22nd, 2011 at 2:48 pm
@visda – I agree, it’s always best in season. I don’t even know where they get berries in the winter (maybe Chile). Enjoy the recipe!
No. 26 — June 22nd, 2011 at 3:21 pm
This sounds delicious! I never would have thought to put fruit in butter.
No. 27 — June 23rd, 2011 at 9:22 am
@Erin – it’s actually a fruit butter – like a spread, with no actual butter in it. You can also make compound butters though, which is something else -fruit, spices, etc.- mixed into butter (I made a garlic compound butter and blogged about it several months ago).
No. 28 — June 24th, 2011 at 1:34 pm
Just pinned this! It sounds wonderful!!!
No. 29 — June 24th, 2011 at 2:28 pm
@kimberly michelle – thank you!! It totally makes my day to see that people pinned my recipes!
No. 30 — June 26th, 2011 at 4:49 pm
It was delicious! Put it ontop of some fresh biscuits and my husband was in love. Thank you!!!
No. 31 — June 26th, 2011 at 6:58 pm
@Yocelyn – that’s great! I’m so glad you guys loved it! You’re very welcome
No. 32 — June 27th, 2011 at 11:02 am
[...] give you a sense of déjà vu. Slow cooker blueberry lavender butter? Didn’t I post that last week? Why yes, yes I did. But this week, in answer to several people who wondered if it could be done [...]
No. 33 — July 3rd, 2011 at 3:18 pm
Just adapted your recipe today to make a small batch without canning (it’s over 100!). Love it, so thinned it a bit to create a syrup to pour over strawberries and ice cream. Red, white, and blue!
No. 34 — July 3rd, 2011 at 8:56 pm
@Sue – That sounds great! It’s over 100 where I am as well. I’m making food in my slow cooker too – it’s way too hot to cook or can!
No. 35 — July 22nd, 2011 at 12:20 pm
Does it cook down any or does it make 8 cups of blueberry butter? I just want to make sure I have the proper number of canning jars. Any advice? I was thinking of using the half pint jars.
No. 36 — July 22nd, 2011 at 6:20 pm
@Jewels – it does cook down. I believe it filled 3-4 half pint jars for me.
No. 37 — July 23rd, 2011 at 7:24 am
Wow! That doesn’t make very much for the quantity of blueberries! I was thinking that would be a great Christmas gift, but it will be a more expensive gift if I have to get a ton of blueberries!! Hmmm….it just sounds so darn tasty, though. Maybe just the special people will get it
No. 38 — August 23rd, 2011 at 4:39 pm
I’m going to need you to make pumpkin butter in the fall. Dumb question but can I puree blueberries in a blender?
Wheels recently posted Monday Morning Malaise
No. 39 — August 26th, 2011 at 7:08 am
@Wheels – yes for pumpkin butter! And yes, absolutely you can puree in a blender.
No. 40 — August 3rd, 2012 at 6:21 pm
Just needing a clarification– is the 8 cups before or after purreeing?
We just returned from the u-pick blueberry farm about 40 miles south of us (I am on Calif Central Coast, blueberry farm about 30 miles north of Santa Barbara). I ate as many as I picked!! Yummmmmmy!!!
Couple years ago made blueberry-kiwi jam (yummy). This year gonna hoard some of the blueberries to combine with elderberries for a jam (might try lavender there too).
No. 41 — August 3rd, 2012 at 8:00 pm
@KerBearRN – it’s 8 cups after pureeing. Enjoy!
No. 42 — August 3rd, 2012 at 8:09 pm
Thanks!!