SFBG’s Diana Dunkelberger gets the scoop on yummy local edibles
With whimsical, childlike labels, and playful names like “ridiculously raspberry jam,” “a smokin’ hot apricot jam,” and “grrr! wild olallieberry jam,” each jar of cmbsweets jam is a small-scale expression of happiness.
Carolina Braunschweig, the “cmb” of cmbsweets, made her first batch of jam just a few years ago, when she discovered she had more farmers’ market strawberries than she knew what to do with. After experimenting with varying amounts of sugar, she eventually settled on adding just a third the amount of sugar as most jams. The result is an intensely vivid fruit flavor that has half the calories of other jams.
All of Carolina’s jams work extremely well with toast or scones, of course, but they can also be used to sweeten yogurt or enliven a bowl of vanilla ice cream.