Year ’s ago , I was talk over jelly making and canning with an elderly cleaning lady in Northwest Alabama . When I secern her that blackberry bush jelly was my infrangible dearie , she informed me that it was only my ducky because I had never had Elderberry Jelly . I did n’t know it until year later , but that cleaning lady was right-hand .
Only recently have I found unspoilt reason to get forage and cooking elderberries(Sambucus).I have two kids currently in pre - schooltime , a.k.a . the bug - filled land of tiny crazies , so I am very concerned in foods and born immune boosters that can help keep them sizable . Elderberries are known to have anti - viral property that serve prevent and agitate influenza . That is why I have learned how to identify and locate this powerful natural medicine .
For more information on Elderberry identification the fall out tie-in may be helpful .
https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SANI4
http://www.ediblewildfood.com/elderberry.aspx
This twelvemonth I was driven to can as much Elderberry as I could notice . I protrude descry local road - side patch of the Berry long before they were fruiting , by keeping an middle out for the easily recognisable white efflorescence in early Summer . By the time the berries were ripe , I knew exactly where to go to pick them , and promptly picked enough for my first stack of elderberry jelly .
As common for my first attack at cook thing , I thoroughly search all of the related recipe on the internet . likely one-half of the articles I read were people sharing their frustrations because their elderberry jelly did not go down correctly . Since these diminutive fruits are notorious for not set up up properly in jelly , I decide to add some orchard apple tree succus and plenty of lemon succus .
I figured if I added yield succus high in pectin and added lemon juice the gelatin would have to set correctly . After processing , I was so incredibly frustrated when I discover that my additions did n’t do the legerdemain . I checked my jounce after 24 hour and I had Elderberry Syrup , not jelly . I put the jounce in the fridge in hopes that they might still pose . After 7 day they were still more of a syrup than a jelly . My brainy Mom plans of fill up my kid ’s lunch boxes with PB & elderberry jelly sandwich were ruined . I decided to just have the sirup as a comme il faut addition to our pantry and I figured we would eat on it on pancakes . I labeled the tops of the jarful “ Elderberry Syrup ” and put it away .
I had more berries left - over that I had planned on by choice have syrup with , and I had a chain reactor of pear . So , I madePear Elderberry Jaminstead . I ’m glad I did make the muddle because it turned out majuscule , and it made for really pretty web log office .
tight forward to Fair Season . Last week I pulled the prettiest of each of our home - canned good out of the pantry and hauled them to the county fair . There is really a category in the terminate food partitioning at our bazaar for “ yield syrups . ” I imagine 90 % of the entries in this category are in fact failed jelly or the delicious by - production of previous fashioned preserves . I decided to pull in a jar of my “ Elderberry Syrup ” to throw in with the challenger . But , to my surprise , I did not have syrup anymore . I had attractively set Elderberry Jelly !
I am not a food scientist and will never pretend to be . I have absolutely no idea how jelly can take more than 7 days to fix . peradventure the pectin in Elderberries needs to mingle with the sugar and lemon juice for a week before it determine it need to form a union ? Whatever the casing may be , I eventually ended up with jelly . I have had blackberry jelly take 3 Clarence Day to fully go under . But , over 7 days for jelly to gear up ? It was a first for me .
I am a fellow member of several canning and homesteading group online and have seen plentitude of post from hoi polloi discomfit that their jelly fail to set . Some people accept the frustration with grace and choose to enjoy their fruit syrup . Others pitch fits and throw away their fluid jelly . Still others take it out of the jar and try again to get it to set with a Modern box of pectin . From now on , I will comment on these type post and tell them to wait a week before judging the jell , especially if it is made with elderberry .
Elderberry time of year is come to an end in my area . But , I ’m sure plenty of my follower up North are still piece these tiny super - fruit . So , I ’ve determine to go ahead and share the recipe that I used . It might be slow to set , but it ’s deserving the wait . This is mythical jelly .
Ingredients
Yields 2&1/2 pints
Directions
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