Concord Grape!

Concord grapes are a deliciously annoying fruit. My first hands-on experience with them was during an internship at a fine dining restaurant, and I was shocked and appalled by how seedy they were, and by the work required to render them edible (unless you enjoy crunching seeds). I still feel this way, but every fall for the last three years, I’ve made myself go through with incorporating them some way, some how, into baking.

This post is a round up of those techniques and a recipe or two. I’m including short-cut ideas where possible with the knowledge that perhaps not everyone gets a kick out of lengthy kitchen processes, or at least not all the time. (….though I have to admit that the from-scratch results are best in terms of flavor! less artificial candy, more musk and depth.)

Ah, and so, before I get much further, I have a confession about this year’s Concord grape extravaganza. I set out to make I know not what, some kind of grape sauce/compote situation, and then before I knew it, I was introducing eggs and butter to make a curd. The curd turned out just right, but unfortunately I didn’t keep track of measurements. Because I’m maniacally tackling a few different pre-baby to-do lists, I don’t think I’ll revisit Concord grape curd this year, but next year with more organized intentions!

First up from 2015, the delicious Momofoku peanut butter & Concord grape pie. I recall that being a lengthy project…and so, so worth the time.

Second! I made this Concord grape jam from Epicurious last year, to slather between biscuits with butter, and to liven up a cream cheese danish at the bakery. It’s straightforward and excellent.

This year, I’ve enjoyed the unmeasured Concord grape curd in the following ways, and assure you that jam (homemade or store-bought) can work in its place:

a) swirled into cream cheese frosting and sandwiched between cookies of your choosing–peanut butter, gingersnaps, shortbread…!  If using homemade cookies, I’d recommend rolling your dough into logs (1.5-2″ in diameter), and wrapping them tightly in parchment paper which you can freeze, and then slice and bake as desired.  This will give them a uniform, flat finish and an even surface area for filling, resulting in a quite civilized cookie sandwich (less like stuffing your face with an actual yo-yo).

b) used as hand-pie/pop tart filler! Simply roll out your favorite pie dough into a large rectangle, divide it into equal rectangles, brush one half of the rectangles with water and top with 2-3 tablespoons of jam.  Top with the remaining rectangles and crimp around the edges to seal in the jam.  Freeze for at least 4 hours or up to a few weeks, and bake when desired!  (pre-baking, brush with egg wash and sprinkle with turbinado sugar)

Getting a little weird this morning, with one of those songs I thought I hated until I didn’t have time to push “next” on Pandora just seconds in, and it played out and hooked me–