Sweet Spreads: Nut Creams, Nut Butters, and Spoonable Fruit

Sweet spreads are anything that tastes sweet on bread and isn't jam: nut creams, pure nut butters, chocolate spreads, and chunky fruit preparations. In this category, the focus is on the nut – roasted, ground, or mixed with cocoa. In addition, there are two jars of fruit from Austria that belong more in a dessert than on breakfast toast.

Three Ways to the Nut

A nut butter consists essentially only of ground nuts. During the grinding process, the oil is released from the nut, and the mixture becomes creamy on its own. The Pine Nut Butter from TAIGA Naturkost is such a product: 100% Siberian pine nuts, slowly ground in cooled granite mills, without oil or salt. It has a delicate nutty taste and can be used for both sweet and savory dishes.

A nut cream combines nuts with sugar, often with oil, cocoa, or vanilla. The percentage in the ingredient list reveals how much nut is in it. Brandgut from Hamburg uses a third method: the nuts are first roasted with sugar, like candied almonds at a fair, and then ground. This preserves small caramelized pieces that crunch in the finished cream, while a pinch of sea salt adds a salty contrast.

From Pistachio to Pine Nut: The Varieties

Every nut brings its own character. Pistachios taste green and slightly sweet, almonds mild and marzipan-like, hazelnuts toasted. Cashews are particularly soft and mild, pecans resemble walnuts, to which they are botanically related. Strictly speaking, the peanut is a legume, but it tastes hearty and nutty. Pine nuts are the seeds of the Siberian stone pine and taste soft and delicately nutty.

A chocolate spread can also consist primarily of nuts. When nuts make up the largest portion and cocoa only sets the tone, the cream tastes of both, and using dates instead of table sugar gives it a well-rounded, almost caramel-like sweetness. This is exactly how the Pine Nut Chocolate Cream from TAIGA is composed. The Brandgut creams, on the other hand, rely entirely on the roasted nut; cocoa does not appear in any of their ingredient lists.

Brandgut, TAIGA, and Fruit Magic

Brandgut makes six varieties with 45 to 52% roasted nuts. Very popular is Peacetazie, a pistachio cream with a caramelly crunch and a sea salt finish. Mandelikat tastes like roasted almonds, while with Haselgenuss, the hazelnut takes center stage rather than cocoa. Peanut Butter has the highest nut content of the range at 52%, Cashjuhu tastes mild and delicately nutty, and Yes, Pe Can is the only one without added oil and is reminiscent of pecan pie.

TAIGA Naturkost from the Palatinate processes pine nuts from certified organic wild collection in the Altai. In addition to the pure butter, there is the vegan Pine Nut Chocolate Cream made from 68% pine nuts, dates, and cocoa; the sweetness here comes from the dates.

Our bestseller in this category, however, comes from Eastern Styria: the Cherry Ragout with Tonka Bean from Gruber's Fruchtzauberei. Sweet cherries are cooked down with sugar and refined with tonka bean, which is reminiscent of vanilla and almond. From the same farm comes the chunky Apricot Compote, a stewed fruit made of apricots with spices.

From School Lunch to Ice Cream Sundae

The salty notes of the Brandgut creams are best enjoyed on hearty sourdough or rye bread, while the sweet ones work better on a soft roll. Haselgenuss belongs in crepes with banana, Yes, Pe Can on pancakes, Mandelikat on warm waffles or in a baked apple. Spread Peacetazie on ricotta and top with a few raspberries. Peanut Butter mixed with a little soy sauce and lime becomes a dressing for rice noodles. Stir the pine nut butter into dips or mix with water to create a pine nut milk. Briefly warm up the cherry ragout and apricot compote and add them to Kaiserschmarrn, curd dumplings, or vanilla ice cream; cold, they fit perfectly into yogurt and dessert cups.

Buying and Storing

• Nut content: The higher the percentage, the more intense the nut flavor.
• Stirring: Oil can separate in nut creams and nut butters over time. Give it a good stir, and everything will be creamy again.
• Storage: Keep nut creams at room temperature; they become firm in the refrigerator. Once opened, the cherry ragout and compote should be refrigerated.
• Allergens: All nut creams contain tree nuts or peanuts; you can find precise details on the respective product page.
• Vegan: Pine nut butter and pine nut chocolate cream are labeled as vegan.

More Spreads for Your Breakfast

These sweet spreads belong to the Breakfast & Spreads category. If you want something fruitier, you can find hand-cooked jams from Styria and organic fruit spreads from Leipzig under Jam & Preserves. For something on the savory side, check out our savory spreads, featuring porcini pâté, truffle cream, and fish spreads.

Order Sweet Spreads Online

Whether a jar of pistachio cream for Sunday waffles or a few nut varieties to try out: at Leni & Hans, you can order sweet spreads online, and your package will be with you in 1–3 days.