Highbush Cranberry Jelly
Here is a simple recipe for making highbush cranberry jelly. If you’re not familiar with this shrub that is part of the honeysuckle family make sure you check out our other post – Highbush Cranberrries – They Aren’t Really Cranberries.
Ingredients
- 5 cups of highbush cranberry juice
- 7 cups of sugar
- 3 oz liquid pectin
- Containers for storage
Recipe
Step 1 – Clean the Highbush Cranberries
First you’ll need to remove your drupes from their stems and ensure they’re clean. Carefully pick each one from the stem and then either rinse them, or place them on a terry cloth towel that’s placed on a slanted surface. As you roll the fruit down the towel it will pick off the debris and clean each drupe.
Removing highbush cranberries from stems can be a great job for kids.
Step 2 – Puree the fruit
The fruit of highbush cranberries has large flat stones inside each drupe. You’ll want to puree the fruit so that you can extract the juice and discard the skins and seeds. Combine 4 cups of highbush cranberries and 1 cup of water in a heavy pan on your stovetop. Crush the fruit with a mallet of some sort, or a potato masher (my preferred tool of choice). Bring to a light boil and then reduce heat so that the fruit mixture simmers for 10 minutes (no longer!). I continue to mash the fruit during that time to make sure all the flavor is extracted. You need to know that when you cook the highbush cranberries they do give off an odor. Some like it, and others have likened it to dirty gym socks. Just be prepared, and know that this is the way it’s supposed to smell.
Mashing highbush cranberry drupes to make puree.
Step 3 – Run fruit through a sieve
Immediately after simmering the fruit you’ll want to run it through a cheesecloth or sieve to extract the juice and leave the skins and stones of the fruit behind. You’ll get 95% of the juice within 30 minutes, but you can leave it to stand overnight if you’d like to get every last drop of juice.
If you want clear jelly then do not squeeze the cheesecloth or sieve as this will make your juice cloudy.
If you refrain from squeezing the sieve your highbush cranberry juice will run clear.
Step 4 – Combine Ingredients
Measure out five cups of highbush cranberry juice and combine with sugar in a large saucepan. Set to high heat on the stovetop and stir constantly. Bring to a full rolling boil. As soon as it begins to boil add the liquid pectin. Boil all ingredients together for 1 minute and then remove from heat and skim off any foam that formed on top of the liquid. Immediately pour hot jelly into pre-heated canning jars. Leave 1/4 inch headspace in the jars. Wipe the rims clean and cover with your two-piece canning lids. Carefully place each jar into a canning rack and lower into boiling water. Leave jellies in the boiling water for up to 25 minutes and then gently remove the jars.
Carefully remove each jar filled with Highbush cranberry jelly from the water bath.
Make sure you check the seal of each jar after they sit for 24 hours to ensure they are sealed, and then tighten lids. You better open one and try it now, but the rest will now be ready to store in the cupboard.
Highbush Cranberry Jelly after water bath canning process.
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