Our delicious All Natural Elderberry Jelly is prepared using traditional methods. Perfect for sandwiches and great as gifts!
Heat deactivates the cyanogenic glycosides found in elderberries to enable their use for jelly making. Stemming them fresh may be tricky, while frozen ones are much simpler to handle.
Ingredients
Elderberries make an amazing and healthy addition to any jelly recipe, offering natural tartness and astringency perfectly complemented by sugar and lemon juice for an easy yet fast set time jam that can replace grape jelly on sandwiches or spread on breakfast pastries; additionally it adds color and flavor when baked into homemade bread products.
To create the optimal elderberry jelly, start by stripping the berries from their stems and rinsing off any dirt or debris that remains. Next, cook down in water until the berries become soft enough to release their juice while also deactivating any cyanogenic glycosides or alkaloids present in them – this heat also deactivates any potential cyanogenic glycosides and alkaloids present within them that might deactivate any potential cyanogenic glycosides and alkaloids that might exist within them before straining off any remaining pulp or seeds from their juice to produce the finest elderberry jelly possible!
This method is much quicker and simpler than trying to extract juice manually, and steam juicers are ideal for this task; although standard juicers will also do just as well. Once all of your berries have been juiced, your total yield should reach three or four cups of liquid goodness!
Next, combine the juice with lemon juice and powdered pectin for canning jams and jellies at home. When making jams or jellies using home canning recipes, remember that traditional home canning recipes call for equal parts fruit/juice/sugar by weight; any deviation could result in unsafe products.
Pectin must first be stirred until fully dissolved before being added to a full boil and simmered for one minute, skimming any foam that rises to the surface. Once taken off the heat, jelly should be ladled into prepared jars until filled within 1/4 inch of their tops before closing them and capping with two-part canning lids for storage.
Once sealed, sealed jars should be stored in a cool and dark location for up to 12 months for best results. Jelly should also be stored this way and consumed either room temperature or chilled as soon as it has set.
Preparation
Elderberries are beautiful fruits with a delightful tart-sweet flavor, perfect for both savory and sweet recipes. Packed full of vitamin C, elderberries can be enjoyed either fresh or preserved – making elderberry jelly is one way to enjoy this rich fruit all year long; just combine lemon juice, sugar, and pectin into this versatile recipe and spread on toast or use in other savory recipes!
Before beginning to make jelly, it’s essential that elderberries be sorted. Stemming elderberries removes any toxic resin which would add bitterness to the jelly. While this task can be laborious and messy, the best time is usually while the berries are warm so they are easy to separate into pieces.
Stemmed elderberries should be combined with some water in a saucepan. Simmer for approximately five to six minutes while gently mashing with a spoon in order to release their juices. When the mixture has finished simmering, strain through either a jelly bag or mesh strainer lined with two layers of damp cheesecloth until it reaches 3 cups; any extra can be saved or combined with more water or apple juice as necessary until reaching this total amount.
While the juice is heating, prepare five half-pint canning jars and their lids. Once clean and dried thoroughly, fill each one to within 1/4″ of its top and wipe down both rims and threads of each with a clean cloth to protect their finish.
Add lemon juice, pectin and sugar slowly while stirring well to dissolve it, then return it to full boiling and allow it to boil for exactly one minute before taking it off the heat and skimming any foam with a metal spoon. Ladle the jelly mixture into your jars leaving 1/8 inch headspace; wipe rims and threads thoroughly and cap with lids with screw bands tightly secured before you seal tightly.
Cooking
Elderberries are wild berries found growing across much of the United States. These distinctive sweet-tart berries are beloved among many, due to their sweet-tart flavor and antiviral and antioxidant properties. Elderberry jelly recipe makes a delicious way to preserve a bumper harvest of this wild fruit – this jam pairs perfectly with toast, bagels, rolls, croissants or peanut butter sandwiches!
Elderberry juice must be strained to remove its seeds; cheesecloth placed over a fine mesh strainer works perfectly. An alternative method would be using a steam juicer by placing your berries and small amount of water in it and following its manufacturer’s instructions for steaming. Once your elderberry juice has been strained you should have approximately three cups – if less, simply add water or apple juice as necessary to reach this goal.
Since elderberries can be quite tart on their own, you will need to add sugar for this recipe in order to get a jam that sets properly. Also consider using pectin instead of cooking time when setting jelly – although canning it without added pectin is certainly possible!
Add sugar to strained elderberry juice and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve it. Allow it to come back up to a full boil again and remove from heat once foam forms on surface. Continue cooking for one more minute after coming up to full boil before stopping the stovetop.
As part of this process, it will be necessary to wash five half-pint jars and their respective lids. Place these jars into a canner or pot filled with hot water until ready for use.
Fill each jar up to within 1/4 inch of its rim with hot elderberry jelly, wiping off any spills with damp cloth or paper towel and sealing each lid according to your preferred method of canning. After canning, allow each jar to cool in warm, draft-free environment for 16-24 hours before labeling and storing them.
Storage
Homemade elderberry jelly requires proper storage containers in order to retain its fresh, delicious taste. Opting for glass jars with tight-fitting lids will keep moisture and air out, thus maintaining its quality for months or even years to come. Label the jars with their date of preparation for easy tracking and identification purposes and store in cool, dark storage away from direct sunlight and heat sources.
To make elderberry jelly, the juice from approximately three cups of stemmed elderberries must be extracted. To do this effectively, cook them before straining out their juice with a sieve or jelly bag and measuring how much water was added as they cooked – subtract this figure from your total measurement for an accurate representation of total juice amount.
Assemble ingredients. Pectin is an naturally-occurring soluble fiber that acts as a thickener for jams and jellies; more pectin means firmer jelly! Lemon juice adds flavor while helping prevent mold growth, while sugar acts as a stabilizing agent preventing the jelly from becoming too runny.
If you want to can your elderberry jelly, be sure to sterilize both your water bath canner and jars first. As elderberries have low pH levels that increase risk for botulism, this recipe uses high acid levels. This has been tested as one of the only safe ways of canning elderberry jelly that has ever been published online.
To can elderberry jelly, pour hot jam into clean jars leaving 1/4 inch of headspace and wipe the rims clean before sealing with two-part canning lids. Process in a water bath canner for 10 or 15 minutes (depending on altitude), after cooling place on pantry shelf up to a year; refrigerate any that have been opened within six months and use before opening new ones.
