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Highbush Cranberry-Ginger Jelly

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Highbush cranberry ginger jelly recipeThe more I cook with Highbush cranberries The more I enjoy them, and one of the best things they can become is a brilliant red jelly. 

Highbush cranberries are not the easiest thing to make into jelly, and I should know, I’ve been testing this recipe for a couple years now, and am only sharing it after I finally got the hang of getting it to set. 
 
Here’s the skinny: highbush cranberries are acidic, and it can be hard to get the juice to set. If you’ve cooked with them before, you may be familiar with the two schools of juice extraction: cold and hot. A cold extraction of juice (mashing the berries or buzzing with a handblender and straining without heating) is the finest tasting, but I’ve found it difficult to set, especially without added pectin. A hot extraction (heating the berries with water to cover, the n buzzing and straining, can impart a subtle bitterness to the finished product from the seeds, but has a slightly higher, stronger yield in my experience. For all intents and purposes, know that you can use both methods here, but it will help if you’re an experienced jelly maker if you use cold extracted juice. If you prefer one method over the other, by all means, use what you prefer. 
 
Highbush cranberries or Viburnum trilobum

Highbush cranberries.

Mind your temp: 225-230F

 
The biggest thing that helped me though, was disavowing my tendency to adhere to old time jelly rules, specifically regarding setting temp. When I went back to check my recipe I’d liked from last year, I did a double take when my notes said to cook it to 225-230. With some jellies, especially if you add pectin, that temp can give you a stiff, pasty, opaque jelly. With high hush cranberries, I can pretty confidently say now that you’re going to need to go a little higher than the typical 220F standard setting temp to get the texture we all love. 
 
The other thing I think it’s important to mention about highbush cranberries is the flavor. First off, you need to make sure you’re using a species that tastes good, which is going to be Native American highbush cranberries, or Vinurnum trilobum. European highbush cranberries (Viburnum opulus) taste bitter, with an awful aftertaste like wet dog. A good highbush cranberry should taste pleasantly tart, with a hint of funk, not bitter and disgusting. 
 
Highbush cranberry ginger jelly recipe

I like jelly that’s barely set, still a bit wiggly.

Even with V. trilobum, tastes between different trees I’ve had can vary, and I’ll also mention that Sam Thayer has three different cultivars he’s named that all have enormous fruit and a fantastic flavor superior to any other highbush I’ve tasted. But, to get one of those, you’ll need to buy them from Foragers Harvest in the fall. If you attend the Midwest Wild Harvest Festival, Sam usually brings a few transplants to sell. 
Highbush cranberry ginger jelly recipe

The jelly has a good red color like raspberry or currant.

 

Infusing the juice for deep flavor 

 
Back to the flavor. High bush cranberries are tart, and beautifully red, but they don’t have the deep, rounded flavor of say, a raspberry. Basically, to me, highbush cranberries are Just nice, tart berries. Their similarity to cranberries is useful, and I like combining them with flavors cranberries like. Things like orange peel, cinnamon, and especially ginger are really good, and all of them are used here. A fine jelly should be crystal clear though, so, to impart flavors and add depth, I infuse the juice overnight with aromatics, and strain it out. It’s a great way to add a little extra character to what would otherwise be a beautiful, but mellow and sweet jelly. Oh, adding habanero peppers when you make the infusion, just one or two chopped up, makes for a nice kick, if you like that. The jelly is good with goat cheese, and other salty things. It’s also good melted and mixed with stock, mounted with butter to make a glaze for meat. 
Highbush cranberry ginger jelly recipe
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Gingered Highbush Cranberry Jelly

Tangy jelly made from highbush cranberries scented with ginger. Makes 4 cups
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time45 mins
Infusing Time8 hrs
Course: Breakfast, Condiment
Cuisine: American
Keyword: highbush cranberry
Servings: 10

Ingredients

  • 5 cups roughly 25 oz highbush cranberries
  • 4 cup water
  • ¼ cup white wine vinegar
  • 1/2 cup fresh ginger coarsely grated, crushed or finely chopped
  • 1 inch stick of cinnamon
  • Zest of one large orange grated on a microplane
  • 4 teaspoons powdered pectin preferably Cuisine Tech brand
  • 4 cups sugar
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 1 oz habanero pepper (2 medium) Optional! chopped rough

Instructions

  • Mix the highbush cranberries with the water and vinegar in a non-reactive pot, heat gently and simmer for 15 minutes, mash gently, then allow to cool until just warm and strain, pressing out as much juice as you can.
  • Mix the juice with the remaining ingredients except the sugar and pectin, warm over a pot of simmering water or in a small pan, then cool and rest overnight in the fridge, or at least for a few hours. Strain the juice naturally through cheesecloth, without pressing on it. You should be left with about 4 cups of juice (see note).
  • Put a small stainless steel bowl or plate in the freezer to do set tests, and stainless steel is preferable as metal conducts differences in temperature faster than most other food-safe items.
  • Mix the pectin and sugar and whisk into the strained highbush cranberry juice.
  • Bring the mixture to a rolling boil, and cook until it gets to 225, then begin doing set tests, dropping small spoonfuls on a frozen metal surface or plate, watching to see when the mixture barely holds it’s shape. My sweet spot is usually around 225-230. When the mixture barely holds it's shape when dropped on a cold surface, beat in the lemon juice, then pour boiling hot into clean jars and allow to seal, or process in a water bath.

Notes

If, for some reason, you get a different amount of juice which can happen especially with smaller fruit, you'll see that the proportions here are: 1 teaspoon pectin, and 1 cup sugar for each 1 cup highbush cranberry juice. Adjust accordingly, the aromatics can be adjusted to your taste as they're strained out anyway. 
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Sam Thayer dropped 25 lbs of his highbush cranberr Sam Thayer dropped 25 lbs of his highbush cranberry cultivars (3 types!) on me before the last snowfall and I honestly don’t even know where to start after processing them. I’d already made jams and hot sauce already and I have enough for a year. 😅

Great time to practice the cold-juice which ensures the juice isn’t bitter. 

Anyone else have any ideas? 

You can still find some on the shrubs if the birds didn’t get them up by the north shore. 

#highbushcranberry #winterforaging #birdberries #sweetnectar #foragerproblems #juiceme #embarassmentofriches #wildfoodlove
100% wild candy bars. I don’t usually make raw v 100% wild candy bars. I don’t usually make raw vegan snacks, but when I read about Euell Gibbon’s wild hackberry candy bars I had to try them. The  originals were just crushed hackberries and hickory nuts, but, I’ve read that Euell grew to dislike the crunch of hackberry seeds later in life. 

Here’s the thing though, if you sift the hackberry flour, you get a fun texture, with no worries about cracking a tooth. 

These are equal parts ground hackberries, dried wild blueberries, and hickory nuts, with a splash of maple syrup to bind.

The end product is a shelf stable, nutrient-packed bite filled with protein, carbohydrates, fats and natural sugars infinitely adaptable to your local landscape.

The texture is chewy and nougat-like, and now I’m curious to see how they’d perform baked in recipes that use frangipane or almond paste. 

#euellgibbons #energybars #hackberry #crushin #paleobreakfast #tradionalfood #wildfoodlove #rawfoods
Hackberry milk spoonbread with black walnuts and c Hackberry milk spoonbread with black walnuts and chokecherry gastrique is one of the dishes @credononfiction and I filmed for @headspace. 

I cook hackberry milk with cornmeal and maple syrup, whip some egg whites and fold them in, then bake. Eats a bit like crust-less pumpkin pie, if pumpkin pie came from a tree. 

#hackberry #souffle #wildfoodlove #chokecherry #blackwalnuts #brunching
Hackberry milk is a sort of rustic nut milk made f Hackberry milk is a sort of rustic nut milk made from ground hackberries and water. I grind the berries to a meal, then simmer with 3x their volume of water, strain through a chinois (without pressing) season with maple and a pinch of cinnamon. Tastes like pumpkin pie in a glass, also a decent cooking medium. 

#hackberries #nutmilk #foraging #wildfoodlove #celtisoccidentalis
Are hackberries a fruit? A nut? They're a bit of b Are hackberries a fruit? A nut? They're a bit of both. They also contain protein, fat, and carbs, and the oldest evidence of humans enjoying them goes back 500,000 years. Right now is the best time to harvest them in the Midwest as the leaves have fallen. The full break down and introduction to them is in my bio. 
#hackberry #celtisoccidentalis #winterforaging #wildfoodlove #traditionalfoods #manbird
If you’re in the Twin Cities the nocino I collab If you’re in the Twin Cities the nocino I collaborated on with @ida_graves_distillery for 2020 is on the shelves @surdyksliquor along with our spruce tip liquor. I’d give it a couple weeks before they sell out. 

Brock did a good job on this one: mellow flavor that almost reminds me of a tootsie roll, with spices and mellow tannins. 

#nocino #liquor #distillery #craftspirits #blackwalnuts #mnwinter
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