When is butter not butter? When it’s Jersey Black Butter, that’s when.

A few weeks ago, after spotting a Tweet asking if anyone wanted to try Jersey Black Butter (OMGYESPLEASEMEEEE!) I was sent a jar of this lovely stuff. I’ll let Rachael, the lady who sent me the jar, explain it for me.

“I’m working with the Jersey Tourist Board. We’re about to launch a month long Facebook competition (it goes live this Friday). The main prize will be a holiday to Jersey but we’re also holding themed weeks where we’ll be giving away daily prizes. Week 3 is…food & drink. We’ve confirmed Jersey Black Butter as a supplier

(http://www.jerseyblackbutter.com/products.html)

as it’s something quite unique to Jersey (as lovely as the fudge is, you can get fudge in most places!) It should be noted that the Black Butter is actually a spiced, fermented apple conserve, rather than actual butter. I had visions of very confused food bloggers opening the packages!

So, in tandem with this and to help raise awareness of the competition, I’ve been contacting food bloggers to review this yummy black butter. “

And here is the copy about the competition. G’wan, enter, you know you want to. I know that I certainly want to, I’d love to go to Jersey and not just because I had a massive crush on Bergerac.

With a beautifully warm climate and lush green fields, Jersey is an island packed with culinary delights. From the island’s own vineyards to its fresh seafood and a wide range of delicious dairy products made from the rich, creamy Jersey milk, there’s plenty to discover for the gastronome. To help you discover the island, this June Jersey Tourism are giving two people the chance to win a 3 night stay on the island, complete with a complementary walking tour by Jersey-born naturalist Arthur Lamy.

As well as this 3 night stay, which includes flights and 5-star accommodation for two, there’s also a chance to win prizes every day – from Friday 15th – Thursday 21st you can win delicious hampers of Jersey fudge,chocolate & black butter from La Mare Estate! (http://www.lamarewineestate.com/shop/)

Visit the Jersey Tourism Facebook page to enter – http://on.fb.me/KkZeYW

I’ve always wanted to pet a Jersey cow too.

Now it’s on to the butter!

My husband’s cousin used to make an apple butter, and I remember him mentioning how nice it was, back when we first met, so an apple butter is not a strange thing to me but this….

I have had this jar in my cupboard for a while now. It’s time to open it…

The strong, fruity smell hits you as soon as you take the lid off. It’s dark, and rich and smells of bonfire night and Christmas. It has that depth of smell associated with ginger cake and toffee apples, slightly burned but not in an unpleasant way at all. My immediate thought was that I wanted to bake apple muffins and put this in the middle. I keep on sniffing the jar, it smells so good. Imagine Jamaican Ginger Cake smooshed with roasted apples and extra cinnamon and you are almost there.

I think it would be incredible mixed in with plain vanilla ice cream, or a light sorbet. It has so much flavour that it is hard to pair it with anything but I suspect it would add life and zing to anything creamy.

I admit that I’ve already tried it simply spread on some good bread

 

and that I accidentally got it into my bacon sandwich. *ahem* I should have checked the butter knife BUT it was really nice in that!

We’re going to try it with vanilla ice cream later, or perhaps in some Greek yoghurt, or maybe on toast…

Thank you very much Rachael for sending this to me, it’s delicious!