Elderberry Jelly
A basic elderberry jelly recipe. Makes about 7 half pints. You can also cut the recipe in half.
Servings: 80 Servings
Calories: 7kcal
Equipment
- 7 Pint mason jars or other canning jars with lids
- 1 Large, heavy bottomed pot (2 gallon capacity, at least 10 inches wide.)
- Strainer or colander
- Cheesecloth
Ingredients
- 32 oz (4 cups) elderbrry juice (you’ll need about 5 lbs of fruit)
- 4 cups Granulated sugar
- 8 teaspoons powdered apple pectin, full-strength I use Ball Classic Fruit Pectin
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice or ½ teaspoon citric acid
- ½ teaspoon unsalted butter for calming the foam, optional
Instructions
Harvesting
- Remove the berries from the vine in whole clusters using a scissors.
Juice the Elderberries
- Process the fruit in a food processor, then pass the juice through a strainer lined with cheesecloth. Squeeze the extra juice from the cheesecloth.
- Alternately, put the elderberries in a pot with a finger's width of water (1 cup), mash, bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.
- Strain the juice while it's still warm through cheesecloth, squeezing out the excess. Save scrap for making elderberry vinegar.
Make the Jelly
- Put small metal pie plate or other thin surface over a bowl of ice for the set tests.
- Mix the pectin and sugar. Whisk the elderberry juice and sugar mixture, add the butter, bring to a rolling boil on high heat and until it starts to approach 220F. There may be a lot of foam-do your best to skim this off and discard. If the jelly threatens to overflow, your pot is too small.
Set Tests
- This is where your intuition plays a role. Once the jelly reaches 220°F, take a ½ teaspoon of it and place it in a cold metal bowl to check if it has set. If the jelly maintains its shape around the edges and no longer resembles liquid, it's ready to go. If it doesn’t, keep cooking for a little longer. The drops from the spoon should pause before falling, which is referred to as sheeting.
- I typically feel assured about the jelly setting between 223-225°F. However, if you cook the grapes with their seeds to create juice (which adds natural pectin), it can set at around 220°F. When the jelly retains its shape when dropped onto a cold plate, you can turn off the heat and mix in the lemon juice.
Storing
- Fill sterilized pint or half-pint jars with the jelly and secure the lids. Process the jars in a water bath canner for 10 minutes. Occasionally, I skip the water bath canning since they are high in acid and quite safe.
Video
Notes
Jelly Didn't Set
Pour the jelly back into the pot, add an additional ½ cup water and 2 additional teaspoons of powdered pectin mixed with ½ cup water. Bring it back to a rolling boil, do set tests again and repeat the process.
Pectin
I don’t use pectin that contain sugar or dextrose which has a flavor I don't like, and I don't use liquid pectin like Sure-Jell or Pomona's.
Nutrition
Serving: 1tablespoon | Calories: 7kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 0.04g | Fat: 0.04g | Saturated Fat: 0.02g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.004g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.01g | Trans Fat: 0.001g | Cholesterol: 0.1mg | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium: 12mg | Fiber: 0.02g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 2IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 1mg | Iron: 0.03mg