How does this elderberry preserve recipe sound?

15 years ago

My elderberries really kicked in this year, so I have 4-2 gallon bags in the freezer. Looking for something to do with them, I found this recipe for preserves. Never having tasted elderberry jam, do you think the almond (or amaretto) would be a nice complementary flavor? I like the idea of reduced sugar and I already ordered the Pomona pectin to try and make some sugar-free jams for my stepson, who is a newly-diagnosed diabetic.

(From http://www.modernbeet.com/archives/207)

Wild Elderberry Preserves with Honey and Almond

using PomonaÂs Pectin (citrus-based)

makes ~ 4 1/2 - 5 cups

4 c. mashed elderberries (from about 4 1/2 c. berries)

1/4 c. lemon juice

2 t. calcium water (from PomonaÂs Pectin package)

1 c. honey at room temperature

2 t. PomonaÂs powdered pectin

1 t. pure almond extract

Sterilize 5 cups worth of canning jars and their corresponding lids and rings according to your favorite method. (I heat the jars in a 250 degree oven for 15 minutes (or longer), and boil the lids and rings for 5 minutes; leave rings/lids in water until ready to use; leave jars in oven until ready to use)

In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, combine elderberries, lemon juice, and calcium water. In another bowl, combine honey and pectin powder and mix well. Bring fruit mixture to a boil, then add honey mixture. Stir vigorously for 2-3 minutes, return mixture to a boil, then remove from heat. Add almond extract and mix well. (Note: with no-pectin preserves, I would do a Âjell testÂ at this point Â with PomonaÂs pectin, the preserves jell as they cool, and a jell test at this stage wonÂt tell you anything)

Ladle preserves into jars, filling within 1/4 inch of the top, wipe rims clean, and close with lid and ring. Process in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes (add 1 minute for every 1000' feet above sea level). Preserves will set as they cool (allow at least 5-6 hours). Stored in a cool, dark place, preserves will last for many months.

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Comments (7)

busylizzy
15 years ago
I don't care for almond, but that is a personal preference.
I have mixed raspberries and blueberries with elderberries.
Other than that I make elderberry jelly, syrup, or honey.
Gosh, if I could get that many elderberries I would make a pie, too, lol. Birds get more of the berries than me usually
flora_uk
15 years ago
Malna - you ask how the recipe sounds so here is a Brit perspective. I am always interested to hear of elderberries being used by you US cooks because over here they are only used for jelly or wine as the seeds are considered too unpalatable to eat. To me that recipe sounds very seedy and crunchy. And although I love almond flavour I don't really like the sound of mixing it with elderberries which have a very distinctive flavour of their own. I think there is quite a fundamental culinary difference in taste between the UK and the States. Many of the recipes you exchange on this forum sound a bit excessively flavoured to my ear. For example, I mean no offence by this but raspberry and chocolate preserve which I have read of here sounds absolutely disgusting to me. I love both and feel that mixing them would detract from both. However, through you I have discovered that strawberry and rhubarb is delicious. And that's a combination I never would have dreamt of trying before. But then I believe that blackcurrant is widely disliked in the US. I find these differences really interesting and I hope none of you will take offence at my comments. I think we just have plainer tastes over here.
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Funny - I was just thinking about this over the weekend - planning what and how much we should can this year. I made some elderberry-port wine jelly and it makes a great sauce for meat. Melt some, add some broth, thicken and serve with grilled steaks or filets (we eat a lot of venison and this flavor goes wonderfully with that). It would be good on pork, too. I've started putting up most things "plain" - beets, tomatoes, peaches, cherries, etc. so I can tweak them however I want when I open the jar. Instead of jam, I make fruit chutneys instead. Rhubarb, gooseberry, cranberry and plum so far. DH loves them with meat or on a sandwich, and if I get my once-in-a-blue-moon craving for a PB&J, I just use one of the sweeter chutneys. They work for both sweet and savory. Great with a fruit and cheese plate, too, which we have for dessert a lot in the summer. I still make some jellies and jams, but mostly for gifts, so I make small 4 oz. jars, which everyone loves for Christmas. I finally used up the applesauce from last year. We don't eat it by itself, so I use it in quick breads (any that call for a cup of vegetable oil, I substitute 1/2 cup of applesauce for 1/2 of the oil).
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I like the Ball no-sugar but I haven't tried other brands. The "Classic" Ball and Surejel pectin require too much much sugar, you're right. But as Rose mentioned, the fruit is important - esp. if you're not adding tons of sugar. Make sure the berries taste good - most supermarket berries don't, esp. out of season. You might want to try frozen strawberries if you can find a brand that tastes good to you. The jam will be mushier, no firm chunks, but might taste better. Or wait until next summer and pick local berries - do you happen to grow your own?
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sylwia, I make all my preserves either all fruit or low sugar. My Dad was diabetic and I made them for him, but found that I like them better than those big jars of fruit flavored sugar and pectin that I used to make! I use the old fashioned long cooking method without any commercial pectin because I find the commercial pectin expensive and inconsistent, plus I can double a batch and reduce sugar that way. I usually just crush the fruit into my pan, add apple juice or water, whatever "flavors" I want, and start cooking. I add almond extract to cherry, I've added rum to peach conserve, Cointreau or orange is nice with blueberry, etc. Cinnamon is good in apple jelly or apple butter, ginger is nice with apricots. I sweeten to taste but never use more than a cup or two of Splenda or Equal if I add it at all. Anyway, when it nearly reaches jell point (between 218 and 220), I use the "frozen plate" test for thickness. That's just putting a plate into the freezer for a few minutes, dabbing a dot of hot jam onto the plate and putting it back in the freezer for a minute. If it's thick enough I stop cooking it. When it gets close, I usually turn off the heat under the jam because I've gotten a couple of batches of nice taffy from overcooking, along with a couple of "caramelized" batches. Some fruits are low in natural pectin, so I normally add a little lemon juice, although the last batch of apricot jam I made I added the zest of a whole lemon and got a relatively nice apricot/lemon marmalade but it wasn't what I was trying to make, LOL. Sometimes I don't get a good "gel" because of the lack of natural pectin, those fruits I just cook until they are thick, although they come out more like a fruit butter than a jam/jelly/preserve. I have used Splenda or Equal in place of sugar too, but have found that they seem to get sweeter as they set, so that is a "taste as you go" process and I stop adding sweetener when it's a little less sweet than I want it to be in the end. Also, no sugar preserves do not keep as well as the full sugar types, they will mold more quickly after opening, so I always can them in half pint jars to be certain they get used up before spoiling. I always waterbath mine because it's easier for me to waterbath the jars for 10 minutes than to sterilize them all instead, and I don't like to deal with wax because it's messy, hot and I've had it catch on fire. So I slap rings and lids on the jars of hot jam and into the water for 10 minutes. I don't worry so much about exact amounts because fruit is a high acid food and you can't contract botulism. That said, jam and preserves can mold and you can get sick, I would never scrape the mold from jam and eat the remainder of the jar, although that's what Grandma did. You can also buy Pomona's Pectin, which will jell water, I swear. I don't like the odd, chalky texture/flavor I get with Pomona's and I find it a PIA to mix this part with that part and keep this part in the fridge in water, etc. Ball and Sure Jell now have no sugar/low sugar pectins too, and they have recipes inside the box. I haven't used them so I can't tell you how well it works. With me it was trial and error until I got it right and be prepared to have a couple of batches of fruit topping that never sets up at all, LOL. Keep trying and it'll work, I promise. Good luck, and happy canning. Annie
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party_music50: Recipe sounds good! I have been SO disappointed though when the berries this year from the first year after planting were so 'blah!" No flavor or tartness at all... I am SO upset! My memory it seems they were rather tart when we kids ate them. Are your elderberries tart or have any real flavor at all? Someone said the first crop after planting will be that way but it is a mystery to me...! If the same next year, those bushes will be dug out; the bushes grew from the 18 in. twigs planted last spring to bushes over 8 feet tall this year & full of blooms & tasteless berries.... no way would they ever be used in a pie... no flavor at ALL!! Birds even left them alone! Do you have a special/easy way to glean the berries from the clusters ? I also have ground cherries which come up from seed all over every year & I love to use in pies but they are a bit on the bland side also so I use a bit of lemon juice in the pies also... no sugar needed! Now those are REALLY labor intensive to pick up the individual husks from the ground, take each berry from the husk, etc.!! Have you used them also? I live at 5200 ft. in a high desert area; temps get below freezing most winters, summers in the 90's & low rainfall (except this year!!)
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shirleywny5
15 years ago
I just finished canning 28 quarts of elderberries for pie. It's a family favorite. I also made jam using powdered pectin. I cooked the berries first without water using a potato masher to crush. I put all through my food mill and measured 4 cups of juice and pulp. Wanted to get rid of the seeds.
I followed the recipe as usual and processed 15 minutes in a BWB. It was syrupy for two days and then jelled beautifully. The next day I cooked the elderberries with raspberries and added 1 cup of currant juice. Followed the same recipe. It turned out beautifully. Tonight I will use elderberries, strawberries and currant juice.
I also have three 5 lb bags in the freezer for wine making later.
I picked 6 heaping half bushes of elderberries. It is messy prepping, but well worth it.
malna
Original Author
15 years ago
I think, as soon as the pectin arrives, I'll try a half-batch. I agree, flora_uk, that US taste buds are on a different wavelength than UK buds. My neighbor is from the UK and her cooking, while very good, is...different. Don't know how to describe it.

Shirley,
Pie fillings are not in my future. My family (rightly so) says my pies are a waste of perfectly good fruit :-)
malna
Original Author
15 years ago
Just thought I'd report back - I finally got around to making the elderberry preserves (I took out the seeds so I guess it's technically jelly) with honey and almond.

Great stuff! You don't taste the almond, but it really makes the elderberry flavor sparkle. I like it much better than the traditional Sure-Jell recipe (don't get me wrong - that's good, too, but this one, IMO, is better.) Definitely a keeper.
Linda_Lou
15 years ago
It sounds wonderful. I have always wanted to taste an elderberry. Never have had the chance, but I know you have to cook them first. Glad to hear this turned out so well.
ksrogers
15 years ago
Around here, elderberries and even gooseberies are not allowed into MA. Right now, most of Worcester has to get all their trees of all kinds cut down and destroyed everywhere. Its due to an Asian horned beetle that has no eradication solution. Many areas within several are now under quarantine by the USDA. Sad to see this, but it will take billions to remedy and take at least 10 years or more to show any kind of impact. That past summer, I saw a 1/4 inch hole in the side of my grafted peach/plum/apricot tree. It oozed a lot of clear gooey sap. Not sure what it is/was, but hope its not going to destroy that tree. If it does, I must cut it down and somehow destroy all the wood. The tree cutting is going on right now nearby, as the beetles lay eggs inside all the trees. Even all the mMighty oaks are lost to this.

Here, a new addition to prohibited plants is the bush cherry.

How does this elderberry preserve recipe sound?

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busylizzy

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How does this elderberry preserve recipe sound?

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