Look out for: an instant depth of raspberry flavour, with some sweetness balanced by the clean acidity of the fruit. A few seeds help add to authenticity.
Guest panellist: Chris Galvin, chef patron of Galvin at Windows, W1 (020-7208 4021).
The top three
Waitrose Organic Soft Set Raspberry Conserve, 340g, £1.59
The closest thing here to chomping on a mouthful of fresh raspberries, there’s a sudden burst of flavour that tingles the tip of your tongue. Quite tempting to eat this out of the jar, it’s pretty much perfect.
Sainsbury’s SO Organic, 340g, £1.59
Not as thick-set as the others, you could probably pour this on to your toast. You’re inevitably going to end up with a few of these seeds between your teeth, but there’s a nice tart bite to it.
Bonne Maman Raspberry Conserve, 370g, £1.79
Sweet without being sickly, this will give a real sugar-rush first thing in the morning.
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And the rest…
St Dalfour Raspberry Rhapsodie de Fruit, 284g, £1.45
Ouch… this feels like it’s burning the back of your throat. Sure, it comes in a fancy-looking jar, but has the consistency of Turkish delight and is much too sweet.
Robertson’s Raspberry Jam, 340g, 98p
There’s a waxy consistency that helps the jam coat the roof of your mouth, and the flavour seems like a slightly synthetic approximation. Again, too much sugar.
Frank Cooper’s “Oxford” Raspberry Conserve, 340g, £1.22
Smells burnt and caramelised, plus it has a slightly brown hue that suggests it might have been cooked at too high a temperature. Hard to discern whether it’s raspberry or strawberry.