Editor's note: These instructions are excerpted from The Complete Book of Year-Round Small-Batch Preserving by Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard. They originally accompanied the following recipes:

Old-Fashioned Raspberry Jam
Jalapeño Mint Jelly
Sweet and Chunky Apple Butter

Below is the step-by-step procedure for processing foods that require less than 10 minutes processing time. Use this procedure for all sweet spreads as directed in the recipes.

If the recipe requires a preparation and cooking time longer than 20 minutes, begin preparation of the ingredients first. Then sterilize the jars while the prepared food is cooking. If the ingredients require a shorter preparation and cooking time, begin heating the canner before you start your recipe.

Recipe notes

Dulce de Leche

Make this versatile caramel at home with our slow-simmered method using milk and sugar—or take one of two sweetened condensed milk shortcuts.

Grape Dumplings

Native American people made these with cornmeal dumplings, simmering them with wild grapes, which were harvested at their peak sweetness.

XO Sauce

Developed in the 1980s by a chef in Hong Kong, this sauce is all about umami.

Wampanoaug Clam Fritters

The clams’ natural briny sweetness serves as a surprising foil for the tender fritter batter—just be sure to pull off the tough outer coating of the siphon.

Not-So-Secret Burger Sauce

Every sauce needs a few secrets. Ours is smoky, sweet, and savory—use it for burgers, fries, tenders, and more.

Palets Bretons

Palets bretons are oversize cookies that feature butter, and because they’re from Brittany, they’re traditionally made with beurre salé, salted butter.

Mississippi Mud Cake

This cake was created from thrift and was supposedly named after its appearance, which reminded people of the muddy Mississippi River bottom.

Kimchi Bloody Mary

The kimchi brine is the secret hero here; just a splash of it brightens the cocktail while deepening it with a little funky je ne sais quoi.