Honeycrisp Apple Conserve is one of our most eagerly anticipated seasonal specialties, available each year only during November and December. In it, tiny cubes of sweet apple meld with the traditional warming notes of star anise and the delicate spice of white pepper. Take a peek at how we go from 800 pounds of Honeycrisp apples to 800 jars of Honeycrisp Apple Conserve.

Wildly popular Honeycrisp apples are beloved for their crisp sweet-tartness. Unlike many cooking apples, these beauties retain their delightful texture, signature sweetness, and gorgeous color when cooked.

We start with twenty bushels of Honeycrisp apples from Friske Orchards in Charlevoix.

We partially peel the apples, retaining some of the peel to preserve their gorgeous color, then carefully dice them into tiny cubes.

After the diced apples have been macerated with sugar–which helps to concentrate their flavor, we simmer the mixture of apples and their sweetened juice in our kettles with star anise, white pepper, and lemon zest. Then each jar is filled and labeled by hand, about 30 jars at a time.

The warm sweet-spiciness of our Honeycrisp Apple Conserve is a deliciously sophisticated accompaniment to both sweets and savories, and it sells out every year. This holiday season, serve it with warm banana bread, blue cheese, potato pancakes, or pork tenderloin for impressive holiday entertaining.