Drunken Apricot Spread

I have been canning for quite a while now, and although its a hobby I really enjoy, it has also lead me to can things I'm just not going to eat. For instance, I don't really eat jam, but when I come across a ton of fruit that is either free or very cheap, I have a hard time not turning it into jam. Thus I tend to have jars of it lingering in my fridge for far to long with only one scoop taken out. Understandably I get pretty excited when I come across a recipe for my overabundance of the sweet stuff.

This recipe is great because it cuts the crazy sweetness of the jam so it doesn't overpower my savory inclinations at breakfast time. It also has booze it in, and who doesn't love having an excuse to pull out their jug of bourbon at 7:00 in the morning? I did accidentally pour too much bourbon into my measuring spoon. My automatic reaction was to drink the extra (like licking the spoon when baking a cake). Luckily I remembered that this was booze and it was only 8:00 am before I drank it. Back into the bottle went the extra. I swear.

 The original recipe called for peach preserves, but I think any stone fruit would pair fine with the spiciness of the bourbon. I happened to have apricot so that's what I used. The original also called for 1/4 of preserves. While that ratio looks prettier, I wanted the apricot flavor to come through a little stronger.

Drunken Apricot Spread
original recipe can be found here

1/2 cup of room temperature salted butter
1/4-1/2 a cup of apricot preserves
1 1/2 Tbsp. of bourbon
1 Tbsp. lemon zest

Directions
1) Cream the butter with a hand held mixer.
2) Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
3) Spread a nice thick layer on a grainy piece of toast and enjoy.