Time for.....some baking with jam!

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends!

Recently I went to the Hampton Court Flower with my mum, to swoon over the beautiful flowers. As well as the wonderful plants on display and on sale there is always a great selection of food sellers at the show. And this time I had the pleasure of meeting Louise and John from Louise's Larder and discovering their fabulous range of artisan jams, chutneys and cordials all homemade in Devon.

Lot's of jams and chutneys!

The range is all cooked in their cottage kitchen in Devon, where Louise uses traditional methods but with a fantastic blend of flavours. Her Rhubarb, Rose & Cardamom Jam and Gingered Fig & Rhubarb Chutney have both scooped top awards from food industry judges.

Louise and John from Louise's Larder

The jams include Apricot & Lavender, Plum, Orange & Star Anise, Raspberry & Violet and Rhubarb Rose & Cardamom. And the chutneys include Gingered Fig & Rhubarb, Pear & Plum  ad Spiced Tomato.

I tried the Raspberry and violet jam and loved it - the violet is subtle, but adds a wonderful flavour to the jam. As I talked to John we discussed how I could use the jam at home....the obvious thing being spread generously on toast....which I can confirm made a scrummy breakfast.....

Raspberry & Violet jam on toast from Louise's Larder

But then John suggested adding some to vodka to make my own cocktails at home...so I thought why not and when I got home I got my trusty cocktail shaker out....

I added a shot (or two) of vodka and dolloped in some jam, added in ice and gave it a good shake! I poured this into a glass, topped with a little lemonade and garnished with some raspberries....

It was really delicious (maybe a bit too delicious!) and refreshing. If John's reading this I'd like to thank him for this top tip!

The other thing I knew this jam would be good for was a spot of baking. I combined another big dollop of the jam to some vanilla cake batter and baked it in a fancy mould to make a pretty pudding....

Louise's Larder raspberry& violet jam baked into cake!

The violet and raspberry tasted wonderful with the vanilla sponge, light and delicate - a real treat!

Pop by the Louise's Larder website to see the full range of products on offer, you'll also find some gift items too. They also have a list of events that Louise will be at this year.

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel