NANKING CHERRY HONEY JELLY
I am back, at least I might be. I have to share my Nanking Cherry Jelly with you. I looked high and low on the internet to find a recipe using honey, alas there is nothing out there. It could be that my computer skills are rusty, maybe my distaste for sitting in front of a screen for entertainment has led me to lose any such skills that I had. I guess I need to brush up on my web surfing. But really who has time??? ok enough chit chat. This summer I discovered my backyard had a huge Nanking Cherry bush (how did I miss that last year?) and even better was the fact that my neighbour had three as well. The young couple next door didn't even know what they were, lucky me. So with that wonderful news I happily picked them all. It took a few weeks, as the cherries were not all ripe at the same time. I pulled out my juicer (actually my sister-in-law lets me store it for her) and we were off and running. I honestly can't tell you how many cups of juice we got but I can share my recipe on how to use that juice to your best advantage. I have been on the GAPS diet for over a year and a half, lately I have transitioned to eating more Paleo than GAPS. All I can tell you is that I don't eat grains, dairy, or refined sugars. I feel good so long as I stay with my plan. I bet you are wondering why then do I even bother with things like jelly, as it is mostly sugar. On the odd occasion that I make coconut flour pancakes I have found that I like having jelly on them. Reminds me of my childhood. We grew up on peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches. I think we only ever had Nanking Cherry Jelly. There is a long story here, maybe one day I will share it. Suffice it to say, that is what we ate as kids, all five of us. I love Nanking Cherry Jelly, it has a flavour all its own. My sister is the queen of making it, I believe she said she made 14 batches in an hour this summer. Hmmm I need to practise. I made three or four different batches this summer, experimenting with amounts of sugar and methods, trying to get it to gel without using sugar. I think my last batch was the best.
NANKING CHERRY JELLY
3 cups cherry juice
2 cups raw honey
1 pkg no sugar added certo
Pour your juice into a big pot, at least 4 litres, preferably bigger. Add the certo crystals and stir to dissolve. Turn the heat on high and bring to a full boil, stirring the whole time. Add the 2 cups honey. Bring back to a full boil, boiling for one full minute. Turn the heat off and let cool for a few minutes. You will have a lot of foam on the top, you can skim this off if you wish at this point. On some batches I did and on some I didn't. I found that mostly it just goes away on its own. Pour into your already sterilized heated jars, cover with a lid and screw a ring on the top. I just put them on a cooling rack spaced apart from each other and waited for them to seal. Now for the variations I used. All my variations started with 3 cups of juice. One batch had only one cup honey, it ended up being a little too tart for us. One batch had 3 cups of honey I think it was good but maybe a little too sweet, I wanted a little bit of the fruits natural tartness to show through. Funny because I don't normally like tart, and sweet is right up my alley. I had also water bath processed the first two batches, as instructed by certo. I must tell you that they did not set very well. The first two batches are on the runny side, after being in the fridge they pass for jelly, but on the soft side. My last batch I didn't water bath process (my sister having informed me she never did, nor did my mother before me) Guess I was too small to notice. Wouldn't you know it but the last batch was perfect, and I was also out of juice.
I will add a little addendum for those of you that might be new to Jelly making. I heat sterilize my jars in the oven and put the lids in a small pot of water on a simmer. The lids just need to be warm so that they will seal.
