Confit, compote, confiture, coulis and jam are sweet fruit concoctions. But what are they exactly and what makes them different? And do they all go nicely alongside your favourite pâté? I researched these sweet treats to satisfy my own curiosity and—since you might be curious too—I put all the answers together for you in this helpful article.  

So … what’s the difference between confit, confiture, jam, compote and coulis?

Confit and confiture are French words based on the verb confire, to preserve. In baking, confit is candied fruit, cooked and preserved in sugar. Confiture is the French word for jam, preserves or marmalade but we also say confiture in English. Compote is fruit, either fresh or dried, slow cooked in a sugary syrup and often served as dessert; unlike jam, fruit in compote maintains its shape. Coulis is a fruit (or vegetable) purée, used as a sauce or decorative element.

Now you know the basic differences, let’s dig deeper into what each of these fruity dishes are.

[If you’re wondering about confit made of delicious meat, I’ve got you covered! Check out my meaty confit articles, Confit: Preserving Yummy Meats the French Way and Is Confit Cooking Healthy? The Pros, Cons & Alternatives. Or if veggies are more your style, read Vegetable Confit? What, Why and How: The Ultimate Guide!]

What is (fruit) confit?

Confit is a way of cooking and preserving fruit in a sweet syrup.

In their article, From Orchard to Candied Fruit, Les Fleurons D’apt says, “The candying process is to replace water contained in the fruit by sugar.”

Replacing the water in the fruit with sugar water is what preserves the fruit confit. You don’t want to cut down on sugar too much, because, as with jam, the sugar serves a purpose.

In the Serious Eats article, Ask The Food Lab: What The Heck is Confit?, author J. Kenji López-Alt, talks about why sugar levels are important in confit. He says, “Sugar syrups in low concentrations are a good medium for bacteria, while higher concentrations become increasingly more hostile.”

Fruit confit can last for years so there’s no pressure to eat it up as soon as you make it.  

The basic method for making (sweet) confit:

• Heat the cooking liquid and sugar until the sugar dissolves. Your liquid can include sweet wine or port, if you like.
• Trim your fruit, add it to the cooking liquid and cook until the fruit softens up (but don’t let it go mushy). This cooking time can be anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour, depending on the fruit you use and how large the pieces of fruit are.
• Sterilize some glass jars.
• Remove the fruit and put it into the sterilized jars. If the syrup isn’t as thick as you’d like, let it simmer for a while longer.
• Add the syrup over the fruit in the glass jars. (Note: just because you sterilize the jars doesn’t mean you’re canning the fruit; that would also require boiling the filled jars in a water bath.)
• Store in your fridge.

Even though fruit confit can last for years, not all recipes indicate this. Some indicate the fruit confit will last a year, some indicate it lasts for a couple weeks in the fridge. If you’re looking for long-term preservation, look for a recipe that talks about this specifically.

What do I eat with fruit confit?

The black cherry confit made by L’Epicurien, a French artisanal jam company, leaves no question. Right on the label it says, “For sheep’s cheese.”

In the Fig Confit recipe on her Cuisine Fiend website, food blogger Anna Gaze says, “Fig confit is the nicest possible condiment to have with cheese, cold beef, charcuterie, sausages, meatloaf, ploughman’s sandwich, cheese…”

Of course, you could also serve it with crackers, toast, pâté en terrine, ice cream, whipped cream and anything else that captures your imagination. Plus, it would likely go great with meat confit as fruit confit is light and the sweetness would compliment the richness of the meat confit. A dollop of fruit confit beside a crispy duck leg … yum.

What is confiture?

According to Dictionary.com, confiture is “a confection; a preserve, as of fruit.”

The Google English dictionary, provided by Oxford Languages, goes further to say that confiture is, “a preparation made by preserving fruit with sugar; jam or marmalade.”

Confiture is a French word that gets translated into jam, preserves or marmalade. This is one of those French cooking terms we’ve adopted in English, though it’s less common to say confiture than jam. When was the last time you had a peanut butter and confiture sandwich, for example?

In the article, The Taxonomy of Jams, Preserves, and Confitures, on the Food52 site, Cathy Barrow—aka Mrs. Wheelbarrow—says, “Whole or elegantly sliced fruit suspended in syrup is a confiture, which comes from the French verb confire, meaning “to preserve.” In confitures, the fruit is shown to great advantage, glistening in a clear gel; the texture tends to be looser than that of jam.”

You’ll see from this quote that confiture is quite similar to how fruit confit is described, except the fruit is not suspended in syrup with confit. Confiture is more gelled than confit.

So, it’s easy to understand why Mrs. Wheelbarrow says she uses “the words “jam,” “confiture,” and “preserves” interchangeably.”

The basic method for making confiture:

• Put your fruit in a pot with sugar.
• Simmer the fruit and sugar until the fruit is softened, from between 20 minutes and 60 minutes (the time depends on the size of your fruit and your desired thickness for your confiture).
• Add spices and flavourings according to your recipe, for example cinnamon, almond extract, etc.
• Add gelatin or pectin (optional, depending on your recipe).
• Put in jars and let cool.  

In my research, I also discovered something called confiture de lait which seems like the French version of dulce de leche. Although this is slightly off topic, it wouldn’t feel right to keep this discovery from you. If confiture de lait sounds like your kind of confiture, check out the Confiture de Lait recipe on the Meilleur du Chef website.

What do I eat with confiture?

Since confiture is basically fruit jam, it goes well with much of the same things as jam would. However, to get you started with ideas, I put together a list for you.

Foods to eat with confiture:

• Hot meat such as a crispy duck leg, roast beef, pork belly, sausages, etc.
• Cold meat such as charcuterie, pâté, terrines, as part of a ploughman’s lunch, etc.
• Bread, crackers, waffles, crêpes or pancakes.
• Sweets such as ice cream, whipped cream, strawberry shortcake, cheesecake, etc.
• Breakfast foods such as yoghurt, oatmeal or bacon and eggs (to add a lively visual element).

Really, the only limit to what foods you can eat with confiture is your imagination.

What is jam?

Jam is “a preserve of whole fruit, slightly crushed, boiled with sugar,” according to Dictionary.com.

But what about the texture?

In the MasterClass article, What’s the Difference Between Jam, Jelly, and Marmalade?, they say, “The consistency of a good jam should be textural, soft enough to spoon and easily spreadable, with pieces of fruit in it.”

I’ve had jam like this, but I’ve also eaten firmer jam—the kind you can still spread but is firm enough to retain its shape before you spread it. [If you’re making jam at home and you like a firm texture, look for a recipe that calls for extra pectin and a longer cooking time.]

To make jam, you need a proper balance of pectin and acids. Fruits can be high or low in both pectin and acid which is why it’s important to follow a recipe that accounts for these factors. For example, peaches are low in pectin so a peach jam recipe should call for extra pectin.

The basic method for making jam (canning):

• Put your clean jam jars and lids into a water bath to kill all the germs for the time specified in your recipe (you can leave them in there until you’re ready to add the jam).
• Prep for jam ingredients.
• Cook your jam ingredients.
• Put your jam into the jars, remove air bubbles and wipe up any drips on the top of the jar.
• Put the sealing disc and lid on each jam jar and put them back into the water bath (again follow the times in your recipe).
• Let cool for a day.
• Remove the lid ring to check the sealing disc on each jar; if it’s sealed, put it in storage. If it didn’t seal, put it in the fridge and eat it within a month.

Jam canning safety issues

When you can jam, don’t wing it. Get a real recipe and follow it.

In her article, How to Stay Safe Canning Homemade Jam & Jelly, Melissa K. Norris, 5^th generation homesteader, says, “You cannot take any freezer jam recipe and turn it into a canning recipe. Canning recipes must have the proper acidity level and no added ingredients like chia seeds that don’t have tested recipes and times for canning safety.”

The safety issue with improper canning is botulism, a rare and even deadly illness most often caused by a germ called Clostridium botulinum. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says, “You cannot see, smell, or taste botulinum toxin, but taking even a small taste of food containing this toxin can be deadly.”

Which is probably why the National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP), in their article Be Safe Eating Your Homemade Gifts, says, “If someone gives you a jar of their home canned vegetables, or soup mixes, it is extremely important to know their [sic] followed properly tested canning processes and procedures for preparing the food as well as operating the pressure canner.”

The basic method for making jam (freezer jam):

• Wash your glass or plastic containers with hot soapy water and rinse.
• Prep for jam ingredients.
• Cook your jam ingredients.
• Put your jam into the jars, remove air bubbles and wipe up any drips on the top of the jar.
• Add the lids and let your jam jars sit out for 24 hours.
• Put the jam jars in the freezer. If you put some in the fridge, it should keep for a few weeks.

You can take recipes for canning jam and turn them into freezer jam without any safety concerns.

What do I eat with jam?

Jam is a sweet, versatile dash of flavour so it goes with a lot of things. But in case you’re blanking out, I put together a list for you, which is much the same as what you’d eat with confiture.

Foods to eat with jam:

• Peanut butter and bread, of course.
• Hot meat such as a crispy duck leg, roast beef, pork belly, sausages, etc.
• Cold meat such as charcuterie, pâté, terrines, as part of a ploughman’s lunch, etc.
• Bread, crackers, waffles, crêpes or pancakes.
• Sweets such as ice cream, whipped cream, strawberry shortcake, cheesecake, etc.
• Breakfast foods such as yoghurt, oatmeal or bacon and eggs.

Let your imagination guide you!

What is compote?

Compote is “fruit stewed or cooked in a syrup, usually served as a dessert,” according to Dictionary.com. Compote can be made with dried or fresh fruit, either chopped up or served whole. A pear compote is a whole-pear showstopper, for example.

Unlike jam, confit and confiture, the purpose of a compote isn’t to preserve fruit. Instead, it turns fruit into a yummy dessert that won’t last long!

The basic method for making compote:

• Clean your fruit, remove pits, if any.
• Add fruit, sugar and liquid (if using) to a pan and bring to a gentle boil.
• Let cook until the compote reaches your desired thickness.
• Serve and enjoy.

What do I eat with compote?

You can eat compote on its own as a dessert or make it an addition to another food or dessert items. I made a little list to get your imagination going.

Foods to eat with compote:

• Sweets such as ice cream, whipped cream, frozen yoghurt, custard, cheesecake, rice pudding, etc.
• Breakfast foods such as yoghurt, oatmeal or smoothies.
• Bread, waffles, crêpes, French toast or pancakes.

You can also add compote to your barbeque sauce to give meat an element of sweetness.

What is coulis?

In Garde Manger: The Art and Craft of the Cold Kitchen, Fourth Edition, The Culinary Institute of America defines coulis as, “a thick purée, usually of vegetables or fruit. (In historical usage, meat, fish or shellfish purée; meat jus; or certain thick soups.)”

A coulis made of fruit is typically used with desserts whereas a coulis made of vegetables or meat is generally served in or with savoury dishes.

Also, that “s” is silent; coulis is pronounced koo-lee.

The basic method for making fruit coulis:

• Combine your ingredients together and cook for a few minutes (in the microwave—gasp!—or on the stovetop).
• Blend the ingredients until smooth.
• Strain the purée though a fine-meshed sieve or tamis.
• Serve and enjoy!

The basic method for making vegetable coulis:

• Roast or sauté the vegetables.
• Purée cooked veggies and liquid ingredients in a blender.
• Strain the purée though a fine-meshed sieve or tamis, as needed or desired.

What do I eat with coulis?

In his article, The art of coulis, author James P. DeWan says, “Because coulis can be made from both fruits and vegetables, they are equally suited to both savory and sweet presentations … Don’t think that vegetable coulis are exclusively savory or fruit coulis are exclusively for dessert. Imagine a sweet cucumber coulis drizzled around a slice of lemon meringue pie, or a raspberry coulis napped across slices of pork tenderloin … it’s not about right or wrong; it’s about what sounds, looks and tastes good to you.”

How liberating! That said, I still put together a few ideas to get you started.

Use fruit coulis as a decorative/design element on the plate of a sweet or savoury dish. Or make it part of dessert or breakfast. Just like all the other fruit dishes mentioned so far, fruit coulis goes great with waffles, crepes, bread, oatmeal, cheesecake, custard, rice pudding, smoothies, etc.

You can eat vegetable coulis as a dip, sauce, cold soup or, if it’s thick enough, as a vegetable side dish (if you get tired of mashed potatoes). As a sauce, your coulis can be used in lasagna, spaghetti, torta or vegetable byaldi, for example. [For more information on vegetable byaldi—also known as confit byaldi—check out my article, Vegetable Confit? What, Why and How: The Ultimate Guide!]

What’s the difference between confit, confiture, jam, compote and coulis?

The differences between confit, confiture, jam, compote and coulis include what they are, ingredients, cooking time, thickness and fruit size.

[The similarities between confit, confiture, jam, compote and coulis include the cooking method (stove top, mostly), the serving temperature (room temperature) and the appropriateness for adding a kick to barbeque sauces (yes). They also all provide a nice contrast to a slice of pâté and/or some nice cheese.]

The differences between confit, confiture, jam, compote and coulis

	Confit (fruit)	Confiture	Jam	Compote	Coulis
What it is	Preserved fruit in a sugary syrup.	Preserved fruit suspended in a sugary jelly.	Preserved fruit (slightly crushed) boiled in sugar.	Stewed fruit served as dessert.	Puréed fruits, vegetables or meats.
Ingredients	Fruit. Sugar. Water. Spices or lemon juice (optional). Wine (optional).	Fruit. Sugar. Spices/herbs (optional). Gelatin or pectin (optional).	Fruit. Sugar. Spices/herbs (optional). Gelatin or pectin (optional).	Fruit. Sugar. Spices/herbs (optional). Wine, juice, brandy, etc. (optional).	Fruit, sugar, herbs and spices (optional) and liquid. Or Vegetables, broth, oil, spices.
Cooking time required	Between 10 minutes and 60 minutes.	Between 20 minutes and 60 minutes.	Between one and 60 minutes.	Between 10 and 60 minutes.	Fruit: between three and 10 minutes. Veg: between 15 and 60 minutes.
Thickness	Solid fruit in thick syrup.	Thick enough to suspend fruit in the jelly.	Slightly runny to thick.	Whole fruit in a thick sauce.	Thick purée.
Fruit size	Whole or chunks of fruit.	Whole or sliced.	Whole, slightly crushed.	Whole or chunks of fruit.	No visible chunks (puréed).
Purpose	To preserve fruit.	To preserve fruit.	To preserve fruit.	To prepare fruit for a dessert.	To enhance meats, vegetables, soups and desserts.

Conclusion

Well, that’s all for now. My main takeaway from all that is … confit, confiture, jam, compote and coulis are all fruit dishes you can eat with waffles and whipped cream. May you enjoy sweet fruit dishes every once in a while, if it so pleases you!