Fruit butters

These colourful and tangy fruit butters will make fantastic edible gifts for your foodie friends.

PREP TIME 30 MINUTES (+ REFRIGERATION & STANDING) MAKES ABOUT 2 CUPS

PASSIONFRUIT BUTTER 4 eggs, beaten lightly, strained 185g unsalted butter, chopped ¾ cup (165g) caster sugar ⅓ cup (80ml) lemon juice

1 cup (250ml) passionfruit pulp

LIME BUTTER

4 eggs, beaten lightly, strained 185g unsalted butter, chopped 1½ cups (225g) caster sugar ½ cup (125ml) lime juice

¼ cup (60ml) lemon juice 1 tablespoon finely grated lime rind green food colouring

BLOOD ORANGE BUTTER 4 eggs, beaten lightly, strained 185g unsalted butter, chopped ¾ cup (165g) caster sugar

1 cup (250ml) blood orange juice

1 tablespoon finely grated blood orange rind 1 For the passionfruit butter, place ingredients in a medium heatproof bowl over a medium saucepan of simmering water. Stir until mixture thickly coats the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from heat immediately. Stand bowl in sink of cold water, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes to stop cooking process. Pour into hot sterilised jars; seal.

2 For lime butter, combine ingredients, except rind and colouring, in a medium heatproof bowl. Cook as per passionfruit butter. Stir in rind and colouring before pouring into hot sterilised jars.

3 For blood orange butter, combine ingredients, except rind, in a medium heatproof bowl. Cook as per passionfruit butter. Stir in rind before pouring into hot sterilised jars.

Sterilising jars

Jars must be as clean as possible. Make sure your hands, the preparation area, tea towels and cloths are clean too. The aim is to finish sterilising the jars and lids at the same time the preserve is ready to be bottled; the hot preserve should be bottled into hot, dry, clean jars. If jars aren’t sterilised properly, the preserve can deteriorate during storage. Always start with washed jars and lids, then follow one of these methods:

Put jars and lids through the hottest cycle of your dishwasher without using any detergent.

Lie jars down in a boiler with the lids, add enough cold water to cover, then place the lid on. Bring to the boil over high heat and boil for 20 minutes.

Stand jars upright, without touching, on a wooden board on lowest shelf in the oven. Turn oven to the lowest possible temperature and leave jars to heat for 30 minutes.

Remove jars from the oven or dishwasher with a towel, or from the boiling water with tongs and rubber-gloved hands; the water will evaporate quickly from jars. Stand jars upright and not touching on a wooden board, or a bench covered with a towel. Fill jars as directed in the recipe. Secure the lids tightly, holding jars firmly with a towel or an oven mitt. Leave at room temperature to cool before storing.