kriswrite - you need to boil a lot of the water out of it. It does take a long time. IIRC, I would boil the peels and pits for 3 hours or so. And then it would be another hour or 2 before it would become syrup consistency. I would keep it on more of a low simmer at the beginning of the boiling process - so I could be doing other things. And then when it started getting close, I would turn it up to a full rolling boil and keep my eye on it. if you don't want to use a thermometer, you can test it similar to testing jam - put a bit on a frozen plate and check for thickness that way - you'll never be able to judge thickness when it is hot.

Lots of good stuff here! Zabby, the blueberry-lavendar jelly sounds great. Must give that a try. And Daisy, that chocolate-raspberry jam... wow. I just finished putting up a batch of rose petal jelly. (I saw an earlier post with a recipe; here's mine for those using US measures.) For what it's worth, I used a mix of white and pink blossoms today, since that's what the garden has to offer at the moment. And I go with less sugar than some recipes I've seen. More, and it seems too cloying to me. Enjoy. Rose jelly Makes just shy of five 8-oz. jars 3 C. rose petals (unsprayed, just-picked) 2 C. water 2 1/2 C. sugar 1/4 C. lemon juice, fresh-squeezed and strained 3 oz. package liquid pectin 1 T. rosewater Rinse petals well. Bring water to a boil in a stainless steel pan. Toss in petals and give them a good stir. Cover and let steep 30 minutes (stir once or twice in there somewhere). Strain petals through a colander lined with a clean cloth and gently squeeze out the liquid into a clean 2-quart saucepan. You should have 2 cups of liquid. Add lemon juice and sugar and bring to a quick boil, stirring a bit. Let it boil hard for 2 minutes. Add pectin. Boil for 4 minutes. Take off the heat; let it sit for 1 minute and stir in the rosewater. Pour into sterilized canning jars. (If you like, place a few tiny rosebud petals on the surface of the jelly before sealing it up.) Seal and process in boiling water for 10 minutes.

It would depend on how much raspberry flavor you want - raspberry syrup with some peaches in it or peaches with some raspberry flavor. ;-) Seriously it is just a "to taste" thing and depends in part on which of the packing syrup levels you use. http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_02/syrups.html If using juice rather than extract, personally I wouldn't replace any of the water in my syrup (I use medium). I'd just add about 1/2 cup of the rasp juice to the syrup mix, cool a bit of it to taste and then add a bit more if I wanted a stronger rasp flavor. Keep in mind it will get a bit stronger during storage. Dave

I wouldn't add gelatin to anything boiling water bath canned because it's a meat product. (I do know of one recipe that's an exception, but no syrups.) Here's the text of an old post by Annie on Harvest regarding peach syrup. The original recipes were posted by Linda_Lou. The peach puree version with chunks will probably yield the "peachiest" option. This is a great recipe, it's Linda Lou's. I've copied it here from another thread. I used the recipe for puree and just dropped the peaches into my blender, uncooked, and pureed them that way. I wanted some little "chunks", so I chopped up a couple of peaches into small bits that didn't go into the blender and added them to the pot. I did crush and simmer the blueberry and strawberry syrups. Now I have 3 pounds of apricots on my counter and I think I'm making them into syrup tonight. "Syrups made from blackberries, huckleberries, raspberries, boysenberries, loganberries, sour cherries, and Island Belle grapes as well as mixtures of berries are of good flavor, color, and consistency (thin like maple syrup, medium thick like corn syrup, or slightly jelled). Syrups can be made with or without pectin and lemon juice. Lemon juice may improve color. Use of pectin will vary consistency. To Prepare Fruit Puree: Sort, stem, and wash ripe fruit or thaw frozen unsweetened fruit; crush fruit thoroughly; measure crushed fruit. Add 1 cup boiling water to each 4 cups crushed fruit and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer to soften--about 5 for soft fruits...about 10 minutes for firm fruits like cherries and grapes. Press through sieve. SYRUPS MADE WITH PUREE 4 cups puree 4 cups sugar 1/2 package or less powdered pectin (if desired) 3 or 4 Tbsp lemon juice (if desired) 1. Mix puree, sugar, pectin and lemon juice. 2. Bring to boil and stir for 2 minutes (boil till jelly thermometer reaches 218F). 3. Remove from heat, skim off foam, and pour into 1/2 pint or 1 pint jars to within 1/2 inch of top. 4. Adjust lids and process in boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes. 5. Remove from canner and cool. 6. Check lids, label, and store in cool, dry place. To Prepare Fruit Juice: Sort, stem and wash ripe fruit or thaw frozen, unsweetened fruit; crush fruit thoroughly. Place crushed fruit in dampened jelly bag and drain. For clearest juice, do not press bag to extract juice. For firm fruits, heat is needed to start flow of juice. Add about 1/2 cup water to each 3 cups crushed fruit. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Place hot fruit in dampened jelly bag; drain. SYRUPS MADE WITH JUICE 4 cups juice 4 cups sugar 1/4 cup lemon juice (if desired) 1/2 package or less powdered pectin (if desired) 1. Mix juice, sugar, lemon juice and pectin. 2. Bring to boil and boil 2 minutes. 3. Remove from heat, skim off foam, and pour into 1/2 pint or 1 pint canning jars to within 1/2 inch of top. 4. Adjust lids and process in boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes. 5. Remove from canner and let cool. 6. Check lids, labels, and store in cool, dry place. Annie Carol