This started as a way to indulge my love of baking and support my community too.
Every week I bake and donate desserts to The Joy Bus Charity here in Phoenix.
This has now led to making and selling jams, preserves, marmalades, jellies, fruit butters and baked goods. We donate a portion of each 1/2 pint sale to The Joy Bus Charity.
My original background is in the fields of chemistry and geosciences. Specifically, on the atomic level, looking at Beryllium-10 in soils from China as a rainfall measure over thousands of years and as a way to see how the Asian monsoon has changed over time.
Baking became my outlet while taking a break or to fill free time. It’s also something that I can share with family and friends (and now hopefully with you!) on any occasion (birthdays, holidays, fun game nights, movie nights, parties for the Super Bowl and more).
My first batch of jam was made as a quick money-saving move. I was baking a three-tiered sweet 16 birthday cake for my niece and needed Strawberry Jam to fill between layers of chocolate cake. I needed a lot of jam and store bought was never as flavorful as I wanted. I found fresh strawberries on an insanely good deal, found a reliable recipe and was off to the races! I quickly learned just how amazing fresh, homemade, fruit-forward jam tasted. I made A LOT of Strawberry Jam – enough to fill all the cake layers and extra to have on toast, scones, oatmeal, yogurt, fill macarons, in PB&J sandwiches, with pound cake and ice cream, anything really…
From then on, I started making small-batch jams for myself, gifts, and of course, for baking projects. Apricot Preserves (my favorite) for PB&J on raisin bread, Apricot Lemon Bars, and glazing fruit tarts. Blueberry Jam to fill vanilla cupcakes and stripe buttercream frosting swirled on top for my birthday. Strawberry Jam to sandwich between strawberry shaped macaron shells for the onset of strawberry season. Meyer Lemon Marmalade and Curd to use the abundance of Meyer lemons growing on my backyard tree and destined for use in tea cakes, lemon bars, cake filling, made into lemon mousse and more. Plum Preserves to fill Pryaniki cookies at the holidays (a gingerbread-like dough filled with plum preserves and baked). A Fig-Pomegranate Jam for accompanying cheese boards, filling Ma’amoul cookies, and holiday gifts. Bourbon Peach Jam to mix with fresh peaches and spoon on split shortcakes and top with whipped cream. Apple Butter to use freshly picked local apples and spread on British style scones, banana bread, pumpkin bread, and cinnamon toast. Raspberry Jam for jam thumbprint cookies, layered with cookie crumbs and lemon mousse for a light treat on a hot day, and swirled into fresh churned ice cream. Blackberry Jam stirred into lemonade and seltzer water for a refreshing afternoon drink in summer, and spread over pancakes and waffles.
Now, I want to share these jarred fresh flavors with everyone else so you too can see how wonderful fresh fruit-forward jam is and all that you can do with it. From sweet dessert and breakfast dishes to savory lunch and dinner recipes, let your imagination run wild!
Contact me directly to plan, price and order Wedding Favors, Client Gifts, Bulk Orders, Store Inventory Orders, etc. The Contact form on this website can be completed and sent to me or an Email can be sent to me @ periodyc.baker@gmail.com. Check the Where To Find Us page on the website to find a Farmers Market nearby and come check out the jams. I would love to work with you to fulfill special orders.
Hi I’m Lara & I’m the PErIODyC BaKEr!