By Kristine Hansen | Photos (L-R): Ann in a Jam; Blue Vista Farm
What better way to taste Wisconsin’s farms and orchards than through its jams and preserves?
From Door County cherries to Bayfield apples, culinary artisans around the state cull the local land for inspiration. Some even grow and harvest the fruits themselves. These fruit bombs in a jar not only make great gifts, but they’re also fun ways to amplify a charcuterie or cheese board, or have on hand to spread on toast at breakfast.
Here’s a sample of what small-batch jam makers are doing around the state. Many make it a goal to use seasonal fruit, capturing the flavors at their best, and then turning that into a product you can enjoy year-round, and unlike fresh fruit, it won’t spoil as quickly. The best way to find these jams is to visit their websites and social media pages, to learn where they’re sold. You can often snap up jars through online sales or learn when to visit them at farmers markets or at their farm store, as well as which retailers they partner with around the state. Through visiting a farm store or farmers market, you might even meet the jam makers in person.
ANN IN A JAM, LODI
Using fourth-generation family recipes, Ann in a Jam founder Ann McGrath was inspired to start her business after she inherited her husband’s late grandmother’s canning pot. She’s really good at combining savory and sweet ingredients in one jar, such as Strawberry Basil, Blueberry Thyme Jam and Peach Jam with Honey Whiskey and Sage. A fall favorite is Ann in a Jam’s Apple Butter, born out of the same apple variety that her husband’s great-great-grandmother swore by. anninajam.com
BAYFIELD APPLE COMPANY, BAYFIELD
As the orchard’s name suggests, what this family-run business does well in the jam category involves apples. While the orchard dates back to 1982, and jam was first made by then-owner Einar Olsen in 2000, the Kositzke family took on ownership in 2009. Jams are made not just with apples, but also blueberries, pears, cherries and currants, for a nice variety. In some cases, fruits are blended, like with the Apple Raspberry Jam and Apple Raspberry Jelly, but there are also single-fruit options that also include crab apples and peaches. Pear butter is an equally tasty alternative to Bayfield Apple Company’s apple butter, too. bayfieldapple.com
BLUE VISTA FARM, BAYFIELD
Grown at this 40-acre, family-owned fruit farm and orchard near Lake Superior are apples, raspberries and blueberries, which are also used to make and sell jam. That jam is sold in Blue Vista Farm’s farm store, for a pure expression of this farm’s terroir. In 2021, Lizzie (an Air Force veteran and California native) and Sam Hughes (originally from Alaska) bought the farm, continuing its history, and continuing to keep the farm on visitors’ and locals’ radars, with new products such as merchandise featuring the farm’s logo. bluevistafarm.com
BUSHEL & PECK’S, BELOIT
Operating a farm in Monroe and a store in downtown Beloit — a 10,000-square-foot facility, with a preservation kitchen, market and café — Bushel & Peck’s line-up of jams includes apricot, black raspberry, cherry lavender, pineapple pepper, plum, raspberry, red currant gooseberry, blackberry raspberry, strawberry and rhubarb ginger. “Sweet and spicy” options are raspberry habanero, peach jalapeno and strawberry habanero. You can also buy blueberry butter and apple butter or opt for something completely unique, akin to a “cake in a jar”: Pineapple Upside Down Cake Jam. Tomato jam means you can snag a taste of summer long after Labor Day. bushelandpecks.com
ELSIE MAE’S SWEET SHOP, KENOSHA
Founder Kelly Deem named her bakery and jam company after her grandmother and uses fruit sourced from throughout Wisconsin and Michigan, resulting in options that celebrate seasonal fruit but also with a fun twist, like strawberry mojito, gingered Asian pear, cherry apricot, orange rhubarb and pomegranate cherry. Because Elsie Mae’s Sweet Shop also sells fruit and cream pies (including adorable mini pies), cookies, macrons, doughnuts, bars, croissants, artisan breads and more, you’ve got everything but coffee and juice to create a fun breakfast spread. elsiemaescanningandpies.com
HAPPY HUNTER FARMS, GAYS MILLS
What began as making jams for friends and family as gifts is now a full-fledged commercial business. The options are diverse, from savory (like hot pepper jam and tomato jelly) to sweet (including Sangria Jelly; Very Berry Jam; Apple Cinnamon Jelly; Connie’s Peachy Summer Jam; Blueberry Cobbler Jam; ‘Bama Bramble Jam, with blackberries and peaches; Midnight Peach Jam, featuring blueberries and peaches; and Raspberry Sunset, combining raspberries and apricots), as well as a blend of sweet-and-savory with raspberry jalapeno jam and strawberry basil jam. happyhunterfarms.com
HAUSER’S SUPERIOR VIEW FARM, BAYFIELD
On a visit to this century-old-plus farm, which dates back to 1908, drop by the Red Barn Store — a mail-order Sears, Roebuck and Co. building from 1928 — and scoop up some jams, made by this farm since 1988. Today the farm is on its fifth generation of ownership (with the third and fourth generations also employed) and still in the Hauser family.
Don’t leave before popping into the hayloft, where views of the Apostle Islands and Lake Superior are among the best in Bayfield. Among the farm’s most popular jams is Blubarb jam, a blend of blueberries and rhubarb, for a sweet-tart mash-up. superiorviewfarm.com
LAUTENBACH’S ORCHARD COUNTRY WINERY & MARKET, FISH CREEK
In the same family since 1955, this Door County orchard with a farm store specializes in growing and harvesting cherries — including turning some cherries into jam. All in all, Lautenbach’s sells 20-some varieties of jam, mostly folding in cherries, such as cherry strawberry, cherry raspberry, cherry blueberry, cherry almond and cherry amaretto. Cherry butter is also made. Sample a nod to Door County’s cultural heritage with its Swedish Lingonberry jam and Christmas Jam (cherries, cranberries, orange peel and orange concentrate). There are two autumn-themed jams, too: Pumpkin Butter and Harvest Blend (a jam with cherries, raspberries, strawberries, apple and citrus). orchardcountry.com
QUINCE & APPLE, MADISON
You often find Quince & Apple’s conserves (what they refer to as their jams) at cheese shops, which is proof that these are perfect pairings with cheese boards, particularly because of their unique combinations. Many flavors feature tea, for example, white tea and tart cherries in one flavor, as well as figs with black tea, or peach and chamomile. Tomato and Fennel Conserve, along with Shallot Confit with Red Wine, are combinations you’re not likely to find anywhere else in Wisconsin, and fun to play with in the kitchen. In 2023, founders and husband-wife team Clare and Matt Stoner Fehsenfeld sold the brand to Courtney McCarty, who also owns Nitro Beverage Lounge in Madison. quinceandapple.com
SEAQUIST ORCHARDS FARM MARKET, SISTER BAY
Culling from its 1,300 acres of cherries on the Door County peninsula, this family-owned business is now run by the founder’s grandson and great-grandson, with support from other family members, too, continuing their Swedish ancestors’ tradition. The family debuted a farm store in the 1980s and it continues to sell their cherry jams, featuring either just straight-up cherries or folding in amaretto and orange, for example. They’ve also expanded beyond cherries with honeycrisp apple butter, hot pepper jelly and pumpkin butter, plus other fruits to include Christmas jam, strawberry jam, apricot jam, raspberry rhubarb jam, apple cinnamon jam, peach jam, blackberry jam and raspberry jam. seaquistorchards.com
SLACK’S JAMS AND JELLIES, LODI
Violet Slack made her first jar of jam in 1954 and began selling jam door-to-door, along with other goods from her farm, such as eggs and bakery goods. Several decades later, the Slack family continues to make and sell jam in her memory, along with fruit butters (apple butter and pumpkin butter), and has retained the brand’s signature colorful label. Their farm store sells these jams, in flavors ranging from traditional (like strawberry, blueberry and blackberry) as well as off-beat (such as Dutch apple, cinnamon apple or cranberry and rhubarb). slacksjellyfarm.com
SWEETBERRY KITCHEN, UNITY
This jam maker near Marshfield in Central Wisconsin proudly boasts that they make 20-plus varieties of jam, meaning there’s something for every palate. In addition to traditional flavors — like strawberry, cherry, raspberry and blueberry — there’s apple cinnamon jelly, peach jalapeno, elderberry and the Wisconsin Special (a blend of cranberry, apple and cherry), as well as other blends such as raspberry jalapeno, strawberry rhubarb, raspberry rhubarb and cranberry rhubarb. sweetberrykitchen.com
Other Ways to Jam
If spreading jam on toast sounds, well, boring, then why not try folding them into recipes?
- BREAKFAST
Dollop jam on top of pancakes or French toast. - LUNCH
Sweeten up a grilled or cold sandwich, using fig preserves with Italian cold cuts or strawberry jam in grilled cheese. - DINNER
Hearty meat dishes during the cooler months pair well with jam — consider pork with apricot or cherry preserves. - DESSERT
Thumbprint cookies (essentially cut-out sugar cookies with a thumbprint holding jam) are a great way to use up the last few spoonfuls in the jar. Or create a fruit glaze for cakes, donuts, breads or cupcakes by combining the jam with powdered sugar and water. - DRINKS
Mixologists might enjoy playing around with jam as a behind-the-bar ingredient, as a quick sweetener to tropical drinks, such as a pina colada or daiquiri, to make blackberry daiquiri or mango pina colada.
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