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Award-winning chef, author and forager Alan Bergo. Food is all around you.

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Classic Rowanberry Jelly

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Classic rowanberry jelly recipeRowanberries / mountain ash berries (Sorbus americana) are one of the more difficult fruits to work with I know of. At first I really, really wanted to find ways to use the fruits that made use of the entire fruit, and, yeah, it’s difficult.

But, traditional rowan jelly is supposedly a good condiment for game, so I’ve been meaning to work out a version. I didn’t have high expectations, but the jelly ended up being one of the most interesting I’ve had. The flavor is excellent, and the bitterness is there, but tempered by the perfume of apples and the sugar. 

Edible rowanberries or mountain ash berries

Rowanberries have a brilliant orange color

Pick your berries after multiple hard frosts

The berries are horrifically bitter, and they stay bitter if they haven’t seen multiple hard frosts, which makes things doubly difficult since there’s a number of the trees in areas I forage around the Twin Cities, but, every year, the cedar wax wings stripped the trees bare before I can get to them.

To beat the birds, I would pick the berries early, and try to work with them, but the results were always very bitter. It wasn’t until I started finding the trees on the North Shore, north of Duluth where they grow in mass quantity, that I really got berries palatable enough to cook with. 

The rowanberries on the North Shore were much better since they were exposed to multiple hard frosts, and for whatever reason, the birds don’t seem to pay them as much attention as they do the berries a few hours south. So, if you’re in the area and wondering, the key is to go get them in say, mid-October if you want to make something you can eat. 

Back to the jelly itself, one of the reasons I was excited to make this was that it would be my first foray into a no-pectin added jelly. I usually add pectin just for the sake of covering my bases, but, as traditional rowan jelly includes apples that are strained out specifically for the purpose of pectin (and flavor and color) I saw no reason to add commercial pectin.

Rowanberry jelly recipe

There’s nothing wrong with having it on toasted, buttered english muffins, or crumpets.

The result was is one of the best sets I’ve had in a jelly, and if you’ve ever wondered if making pectin-less jelly by adding apples is possible, trust me, it is, and it’s great.

The flavor is a sort of crescendo, a pleasant bitterness and deeply rowan flavor underscored with sweetness. It’s addicting, and the gentle set from the natural pectin seems to be a bit more forgiving than commercial pectin, the set on it is just perfect, barely holding together, quivering and jiggly. It’s wonderful. 

I haven’t tried it with game yet, but rest assured, that’s in the works. 

The flavor is an acquired taste, but the sugar tames it enough so that even people unfamiliar with the berries will probably reach for seconds. Here’s some of my favorite things I’ve eaten with it so far. 

Use Ideas 

  • With strong flavored cheeses, especially goat, sheep and blue cheese like gorgonzola
  • It likes cured meats, and salty sausages. 
  • The bitterness and sweetness is a good foil for liver, just add a splash of wine to the pan some liver was cooked in, add a good glob of jelly, a knob of butter, a dash of lemon juice, whisk and reduce until thickened, and voila, pan sauce. 
  • Mostly I’ve just been eating it for breakfast, and it’s delicious on a buttered, toasted english muffin to show off the deep orange color. 
  • The bitterness reminds me a bit of bitter orange, so the next thing I’ll be making is the same jelly here, but with orange peel cut into fine julienne. 

Rowanberry jelly recipe

Rowanberry jelly recipe
Print Recipe
3.5 from 10 votes

Classic Rowanberry Jelly

Makes about 5 cups
Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time30 mins
Course: Breakfast, Condiment
Cuisine: British
Keyword: Jelly, Rowanberries
Servings: 5

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs apples
  • 2 lbs rowanberries
  • 2.5 lbs (5 cups water)
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 1 oz chopped fresh ginger optional
  • 4 cups Sugar or as needed (1 cup per cup of juice)

Instructions

  • Cut the apples into pieces including the skins and seeds.
  • Gently mash the rowanberries with a potato masher or something similar.
  • Combine the apples, ginger, berries and water and bring to a simmer, then turn the heat to low and cook uncovered for 1 hour. Strain the liquid into a strainer lined with a double thickness of cheesecloth or a jelly bag and allow to drain until cool. Do not squeeze the liquid from the cheesecloth.
  • Discard the spent apple-berry mix.
  • Combine the reserved liquid (you should have 4 cups, if you don’t reduce the liquid until you have 4 cups, or adjust the sugar accordingly, using 1 cup sugar for each cup of reserved, strained liquid).

Doing set tests

  • Put some chilled plates, bowls, or other small containers in the freezer for doing set tests, preferably you testing bowls are made of metal as it conducts heat and cold quickly. Mix the liquid and sugar, then bring to a boil, turn the heat to medium, and cook until the temperature starts to hover around 220F. Begin doing set tests a little after the mixture hits 220F. 225F was about perfect for me, but let the set test be your guide.
  • You really want the jelly to boil hard for a bit, so adjust the position of the pan as needed to prevent it from overflowing. Cooking and reducing the jelly will take about 25-30 minutes, don’t be tempted to do set tests until around that time. Depending on the pan I’m using and how high the sides are, I may move it halfway off the burner to allow me to still use high heat without the pan overflowing. Cleaning up jelly overflows is, sticky and not fun.
  • For the set tests, pour a tablespoon or so into frozen metal bowls or spoons and allow to cool while the jelly simmers. Once you can see a gentle wrinkle on the top of the of the test surface when it cools you’re good, beat in the lemon juice, and pour the jelly into sterilized jars. Screw on lids and rings, and allow to cool. The jars will naturally seal themselves.

Rowanberry jelly or mountain ash berry jelly

Related

Previous Post: « Highbush Cranberry-Ginger Jelly
Next Post: Baked Fish with Black Trumpet Crust »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jacques-Alexandre ARMEDE

    October 18, 2020 at 3:38 am

    5 stars
    i’ve been thinking that a liquor would make good work of those berries.

    I love your blog, a true goldmine

    Reply
  2. Cal

    February 2, 2021 at 12:44 pm

    I’ve tried this in the past but ended up with something that was unpleasantly bitter and puckery. Frost being the answer and birds being the problem, do you think that picking the berries early and freezing and thawing them for a coupe of cycles would reduce the bitterness in the same way?

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      February 3, 2021 at 9:05 am

      This jelly is delicious, but collections can vary a bit in taste. That being said, since the whole berries aren’t being used, it’s quite milder than most who’ve tasted fresh rowanberries would expect. Picking and freezing the berries hasn’t done anything for me. I would give this jelly another shot, it’s one of my favorites.

      Reply
  3. Andrea

    August 21, 2021 at 10:29 am

    I am so happy to have found your information about Rowan berries, as I have a Rowan tree in my yard! I’m curious about this recipe. There doesn’t seem to be any sugar listed in the ingredients, but the instructions say to add a cup per cup of liquid. So do we add around four cups of sugar? Thank you!

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      August 21, 2021 at 10:48 am

      Andrea, thanks, I could see how that could be confusing, I adjusted it, and, yes, it is a classic jelly, with equal parts sugar and strained liquid. No pectin is needed. Let me know how it turns out for you-and do try to get them after a frost if at all available.

      Reply
  4. Susan Fraser

    August 1, 2022 at 6:37 pm

    I have a mountain ash in my yard and never realized the berries could be used until someone from England was excited to see it. His partner uses the berries for medicinal recipes. So I set upon doing some research and found your blog. Thank you for the recipes which I will give a try in several months after a frost. I live in the north end of the Okanagan Valley in BC so it won’t be for a while.. we just had a week on close to 40 degrees Celcius.

    FYI I have made no pectin Quince Jelly for the last 5 years. But my access to the Quince tree has gone as my friend sold her home with her orchard this year. So I have been on the lookout for replacement jellies

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      August 4, 2022 at 2:15 pm

      Thanks Susan, glad you found it helpful. The rowan jelly is one of the best I’ve had.

      Reply

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Alan Bergo
I liked the staff meal I made for Mondays shoot so I liked the staff meal I made for Mondays shoot so much we filmed it instead of the original dish I’d planned. 

Cooked natural wild rice (not the black shiny stuff) is great hot, cold, sweet or savory. It’s a perfect, filling lunch for a long day of berry picking. 

I make them with whatever I have on hand. Mushrooms will fade into the background a little here, so I use a bunch of them, along with lots of herbs and hickory nut oil + dill flowers. 

I’m eating the leftovers today back up in the barrens (hopefully) getting some more bluebs for another shoot this week w @wild.fed 

#wilwilwice #wildrice #chanterelles #campfood #castironcooking
Baby’s first homegrown mushrooms! Backyard wine Baby’s first homegrown mushrooms! Backyard wine caps on hardwood sawdust from my lumberjack buddy.

Next up blewits. Spawn from @northsporemushrooms

#winecaps #strophariaaeruginosa #allthemushroomtags
It’s wild cherry season. I’ll be picking from It’s wild cherry season. I’ll be picking from my favorite spot tomorrow a.m. and have room for a couple helpers. It’s at an event on a farm just south of St. Cloud. 

If you’re interested send me a message and I’ll raffle off the spots. Plenty of cherries to go around. I’ll be leading a short plant walk around the farm too. 

#chokecherries #foraging #prunusvirginiana #summervibes
Special thanks to the beach in Ashland for hooking Special thanks to the beach in Ashland for hooking it up with on-site garnishes. Beach pea flowers taste strong and leguminous, similar to vetch, or like a rich tasting pea shoot. 

#lathyrusjaponicus #beachpeas #peaflower #foraging #northshore #bts
Great, long day of filming in near the south shore Great, long day of filming in near the south shore of Lake Superior yesterday. 

Blueberries were sparse, and some kind of blight seems to be affecting the serviceberries. Chanterelles weren’t as good as 2020, but they were there. 

Quick dip in the Lake Superior after we broke set was a bonus. 

W/ @barebonesliving  @misterberndt @jesseroesler

#barebonesliving #foraging #lakesuperiorrocks #serviceberries #chanterelles #bts
Green ramp seed make a great lactoferment. Just pu Green ramp seed make a great lactoferment. Just put the green seeds in brine in a jar, leave for 2 weeks. 

After they’re sour they can be water bath processed, although I’ve stored them at room temp without an issue too. 

Finished product is great minced or puréed into places where you’d like garlic, capers, or both. 

Makes a great tzatziki with a little crumbled, dried bee balm. 

#tzatziki #ramps #rampseeds #foraging #fermentation
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