Best Of Cleveland: Jam

Believe the label: The Home Pantry’s Hot Pepper Jam ($7 per 8 ounces) is, indeed, hot. Taste it and you’ll also easily believe it’s the 2-year-old company’s best-seller. Bright and fresh, the home-grown peppers and tart apple cider vinegar are the stars here. The fruit-first (or here, pepper-first) aspect is the point, says owner Alaina Caruso. “A lot of other jams use 50-50 sugar to fruit, while I use more like 75 [fruit] to 25 [sugar].” Caruso’s process, which relies on the reaction of pectins with acids and carbohydrates produced by natural sugars, keeps her output small. “It has to be done in small batches in order for the chemical reaction to take place so the jam will set,” she says. But this allows her to use produce from her backyard, which she recently converted entirely into a garden for this purpose. She grows all the flowers used and most of the peppers, with newly planted berry bushes almost ready to go. Try the Blackberry Lavender ($7 for 8 ounces) or Blueberry Chamomile ($7 for 8 ounces), which offer not only a less-sweet taste that allows the berries to shine, but also a delicate herbal twist that may make you reassess your toast toppers forever. 216-584-8959, thehomepantry.com

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