EMBER & VINE
- Melanie Grant
- 12 minutes ago
- 6 min read
TRANQUIL • LUMINOUS • ROOTED
Stories from the studio, reflections on process, and the art of the handmade.
Ember & Vine, an Unexpected Way to Preserve the Tomato Harvest
There comes a moment every summer when the tomatoes begin to ripen.
At first, it is wonderful.
One perfect tomato. Then three. Then six.
And suddenly you walk into the garden and realize that apparently every tomato plant has received the same memo.
Today is the day!
There are tomatoes on the counter, tomatoes waiting on the vine, tomatoes tucked into bowls, and another handful that will almost certainly be ready tomorrow.
It is one of the great pleasures of a summer garden.
It can also leave you wondering:
What am I going to do with all these tomatoes?
Tomato sauce and Tomato soup are always a good answer. But this summer I wanted to find another way to preserve some of that abundance, something smaller, more concentrated and perhaps a little unexpected.
The answer became Ember & Vine, a slow-roasted tomato jam with balsamic, thyme and the faintest hint of cinnamon.
And yes.
Tomato jam.
It isn't a typo.
WHAT EXACTLY IS ROASTED TOMATO JAM?
Somewhere between a condiment, a preserve and a spread, tomato jam takes everything wonderful about a ripe tomato and concentrates it.
Tomatoes are cooked with a little sweetness, acidity and seasoning until their juices reduce and the mixture becomes thick, glossy and spoonable.
The result is both savory and sweet.
Unlike ketchup, it retains texture and has a much deeper, more concentrated flavor. And while it can resemble a chutney, this version isn't heavily spiced or filled with additional fruits and aromatics.
The tomato remains the star.
But in Ember & Vine, we take one additional step before the tomatoes ever reach the saucepan.
We roast them.
WHY ROAST THE TOMATOES?
Most tomato jam recipes begin with raw chopped tomatoes and cook them down on the stovetop.
I wanted something different.
Roasting transforms tomatoes.
As they spend time in a hot oven, excess moisture evaporates, their natural sugars concentrate and their edges begin to caramelize. The flavor becomes deeper and richer before we even begin making the jam.
Those wonderful juices left behind on the roasting pan?
They go into the jam too.
Nothing good gets left behind.
And then there is another difference between this recipe and many traditional preparations:
I don't peel the tomatoes.
I know.
Somewhere, someone is already reaching for a pot of boiling water.
But the skins soften considerably during roasting and become part of the rustic texture of the finished jam. For this recipe, I don't find the extra step of blanching, peeling and handling two pounds of slippery tomatoes adds enough to justify it.
Late summer has already given us enough to do.
THE FLAVOR OF EMBER & VINE
Once roasted, the tomatoes are combined with slowly softened sweet onion, balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, thyme, black pepper and a little Dijon mustard.
And then there is the ingredient you might not expect.
Cinnamon.
Only ⅛ teaspoon goes into the entire batch.
The goal isn't to make the jam taste like cinnamon. In fact, if cinnamon is the first flavor you identify, we've gone too far.
Instead, that tiny amount settles somewhere behind the tomato and balsamic, adding warmth and depth that is difficult to identify but surprisingly lovely.
It is one of those ingredients that makes you take another bite and wonder exactly what you're tasting.
PRESERVING WITHOUT CANNING
There is something wonderfully old-fashioned about rows of jars cooling on a kitchen counter after a day of canning.
There is also something wonderfully appealing about closing the freezer door and being finished.
For Ember & Vine, I choose the freezer.
This recipe was developed for flavor rather than formulated as a tested shelf-stable canning recipe, so I don't water-bath can it.
Once the jam has cooled, I spoon it into small freezer-safe jars, leaving approximately ½ inch of headspace for expansion. My favorite is small Weck jars with plastic freezer lids.
One jar can go into the refrigerator while the others go into the freezer.
The small jars are especially useful because tomato jam is something you tend to use a spoonful or two at a time. Rather than opening one large container, I can thaw a little jar whenever I need it.
And somehow a tiny jar filled with deep ruby-red tomato jam feels like capturing a little piece of August when there is two feet of snow on the ground in Northern Idaho.
WHEN TWO POUNDS OF TOMATOES ISN'T ENOUGH
If your garden is particularly generous like mine is, Ember & Vine can easily be doubled.
Roast the tomatoes on two sheet pans rather than crowding them onto one. Giving the tomatoes plenty of room allows their moisture to evaporate and their edges to caramelize rather than steam.
For a double batch, use a wide Dutch oven or large, heavy-bottomed pan for the final reduction. The greater surface area will help the additional liquid evaporate.
Double the ingredients proportionately, including the cinnamon. For 4 pounds of tomatoes, use ¼ teaspoon cinnamon.
A larger batch will take longer to reduce, so don't rely entirely on the clock. Let the jam tell you when it is ready. It should be deeply colored, glossy and thick enough that a spoon drawn across the bottom of the pan leaves a trail before the mixture slowly comes back together.
And if four pounds of tomatoes barely makes a dent in what is sitting on your kitchen counter, congratulations.
You have officially reached tomato season.
A Note About Yield
Ember & Vine is a small-batch preserve by nature. As the tomatoes slowly roast and simmer, they give up much of their moisture, concentrating into a rich, deeply flavored jam. A single recipe makes approximately 1½–2 cups, depending on the tomatoes and how far you cook it down.
If you have an abundance of ripe tomatoes, this is one recipe worth doubling. I doubled my batch and came away with just five small Weck jars, a lovely little stash for the freezer, but not so much that it will linger there for long. I’ll likely make another batch or two as the tomatoes continue to ripen through late summer.
A Jar for the Table
Ember & Vine may begin with summer tomatoes, but it doesn’t need to stay in the summer kitchen. I think of it as one of those jars to keep within easy reach, something that can turn the simplest meal into something a little more memorable.
Spoon it into a grilled cheese made with good nutty bread, tuck it beneath melted cheese on a burger, or pair it with creamy burrata or goat cheese and warm grilled bread. Its sweet, savory, gently spiced character is especially good with rich cheeses, toasted bread and anything with a little char around the edges.
And perhaps that is my favorite thing about it. Ember & Vine doesn’t ask you to make something elaborate. Sometimes dinner is just a sandwich, a burger, or some cheese and bread.
A spoonful from the jar does the rest.
Sharp Grilled Cheese Buratta and Nutty Bread Grilled Burger
FROM THE SUMMER GARDEN
I think this may be my favorite part of preserving food.
It isn't really about trying to make summer last forever.
It is about paying attention when something is abundant and asking what else it might become.
A tomato can become sauce.
It can become a tart.
It can be sliced while still warm from the garden and eaten with nothing more than salt.
And sometimes it can be roasted until its edges darken, simmered slowly with balsamic and thyme, touched with the smallest amount of cinnamon and tucked into a little jar for another day.
Because when the tomatoes decide to ripen all at once, and they will, it's good to have another idea waiting.
EMBER & VINE: Roasted Tomato Jam with Balsamic, Thyme & a Hint of Cinnamon. Simple ingredients. Thoughtful preparation. Gathered at the table.
Studio Page
Below you'll find my Ember & Vine Studio Page, a printable recipe that has become one of the true foundations of my Studio Pantry.
It's intentionally simple, wonderfully versatile, and you can reach for this preserve again and again throughout the year.
I hope it becomes one of your favorites as well.
📄 Ember & Vine Studio Page
A beautifully designed Studio Page for your Studio Pantry binder or recipe collection.
🖨️ Ember & Vine Kitchen Copy
A clean, printer-friendly version designed for everyday cooking.
New to the Studio Kitchen?
If this is your first visit, I invite you to begin with Welcome to the Studio Kitchen, where I share the philosophy behind these seasonal recipes, pantry staples, and stories from the garden.
It's the place where this collection begins.
This is where I'll preserve not only the harvest, but the recipes and stories that accompany it.
From the Studio
The Studio Kitchen grew from a simple idea, that creativity doesn't end at the studio door.
Sometimes it takes shape in handmade books, collage, and paper. Other times it begins in the garden, continues at the kitchen table, and ends with a recipe shared among family and friends.
Whether you've arrived here through my artwork, the Studio Kitchen, or simply a love of thoughtful making, I'm so glad you're here.
Thank you for spending a little time with me today.
From the garden • Through the studio • To the table
Melanie Grant — Northern Idaho
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