Thursday, October 6, 2011

Golden Honeydew Jelly

I don't know if golden honeydews have a later growing season, a longer growing season, or if they were harvested later this year, but there was a big bin of them at the store.  I grabbed one. A farewell to summer.
I recently happened upon a watermelon jelly recipe.  Now, I'm not usually a jelly person (I prefer jam and preserves), but this one looked tasty and unique.  And, I thought, if it could work for one melon, why not another?
This recipe is adapted from one, credited to Ball, at Barefoot Kitchen Witch.  You'll notice a strange ingredient - vinegar.  This one definitely gave me pause (and, the smell during cooking wasn't very reassuring either).  It turns out, though, that Ball really knew what they were doing.  The resulting jelly is delicious!  Like candied melon.
This is a really great jelly.  I can already tell I'll be making this in summers to come!


Golden Honeydew Jelly
Adapted from Barefoot Kitchen Witch

Ingredients:
2 cups strained melon juice
4 tbsp lemon juice
5 cups sugar
1/2 cup white balsamic or white wine vinegar
6 oz (2 pouches) liquid pectin (I used Certo)

*I used a juicer to get the melon juice.  My one melon made about 3 3/4 cups.

Directions:
1.  Get ready a canning pot and five 8-oz canning jars with lids and rings (sterilize according to manufacturer instruction).

2.  Combine the juices, sugar, and vinegar in a stock pot or Dutch oven.  Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly.  

3.  When the mixture is at a full rolling boil, stir in the pectin.  Boil hard, stirring constantly, for one minute longer.  Remove the pan from the heat.

4.  Skim off any foam.

5.  Pour the jelly into the prepared jars, leaving 1/4" head space.  Apply the lids and rings (only finger-tight).

6.  Place the jars in the canning pot (in a canning basket or on a rack that fits into the pot).  There must be enough water to cover the jars.  Bring the water to a boil.  Process for 10 minutes and remove the pot from the heat.

7.  Leave the jars in the water for 5 minutes.  Transfer the jars to a rack to cool completely.

1 comment:

  1. DOES IT HAVE TO BE LIQUID PECTIN? OR COULD POWDER PECTIN GIVE THE SAME RESULTS?

    ReplyDelete