Comments on: Elderberry Jelly Recipe for Most Delicious Toast

By: wilde

wilde — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 12:42:16 +0000

Hi Sue,
That’s great advice to remove all the stems prior to juicing or cooking the elderberries. We only want to eat the god stuff! I don’t know if the taste would be different or not, but let us know if you detect anything strange with your first batch of jelly.

By: Sue again

Sue again — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:32:24 +0000

An update on my own comment – Have found on some official-seeming websites advice to not eat stems – too much of the cyanotoxin – really much better to stick with the berries alone, and do take the bother of pulling them off the stems. I can’t freeze them , as some advise, because my freezer is already chock full of raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, etc.

By: Sue

Sue — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:10:47 +0000

I’ve eaten my mom’s elderberry jelly for years, and make my own now. I want to know: WHy do we remove the stems? I tried a batch last night by just throwing the entire stems and berries into my big pot and mashing and boiling. I will compare flavors later this week when I make the jelly if I don’t find some compelling reason to omit the stems. Sure saved a lot of time this way…

By: wilde

wilde — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 12:14:13 +0000

VMH, thank you for such nice comments – your jelly sounds yummy! I’m going to have to make some ‘mixed fruit’ jelly – that’s always the type I choose at a restaurant breakfast, so why not make my own?

We totally appreciate your directions – telling how you made it, with the proportions and all!
Stop by again!

By: VMH

VMH — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:19:39 +0000

Great photos and article Wilde!

I made Elderberry/Grape/Apple jelly last night, and WOW is it great!! It was a shot in the dark type of recipe since I found out I didn’t have enough Elderberries to make jelly, but didn’t want to waste the berries I did have as the frost is coming now, and the birds have been eating them. My concords are almost ripe, so I decided to pick enough to make up the difference. Boiled it all down, still didn’t have enough juice, so added 1/4 cup of apple juice. It was PERFECT.

To separate the fruit from the stems, I held the stem in one hand, and rolled the berries between my fingers with the other, versus trying to pick them off. They just fell right off. De-stemming 1 lb. of berries took about 10 minutes. I tried the fork method that’s posted on the internet, but all that did was make a mess.

I used the Sure-Jell pectin – 1 box. I ended up with 5 cups of juice, and 7 cups of sugar, and I followed the Sure-Jell directions for Grape jelly.

The jelly is sweet but tart with a full, rich flavor, and a gorgeous reddish/black color. The concords I used were about 75% ripe. Still some bright red color to them, and tart to the taste. I wouldn’t use deep purple, fully ripe grapes, as it would be too overwhelmingly sweet.

By: wilde

wilde — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:43:19 +0000

Hey Paula,
I’ll be making some jelly in the next few days and I’ll look for the No Sugar Needed pectin. Adding grape juice for a sweetener seems perfect.
Thanks for chiming in!

By: Paula

Paula — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:05:25 +0000

I make elderberry jelly every year. We have some trees (tall bushes) in our yard. I use grape juice with small amounts of sugar to sweeten. BALL (brand name) makes a No Sugar Needed Fruit Pectin that is great! The package says to try adding Splenda, but I may try stevia root this year. My elderberries are boiling as I write this. Oh… about the stems… I simply cut the bundles off, hold the stem in one hand and twist the fruit with the other. It should fall right off. You don’t even need to watch what you’re doing! It’s easy and quick. If I had room in the freezer, I’d try that tip too. Here’s to elderberry jellies and jams!!!! I plan to try elderberry wine one of these years.

By: wilde

wilde — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:47:49 +0000

Redcrane,
My friend has already called you her hero! Last year she spent 8 hours one day cleaning a 5 gallon pail of elderberries from their stems. Since she was laid up at the time it gave her something to do, but she was not looking forward to the same chore again. We’ll give it a try when we make some jelly next week.
Thanks for your tip!

By: redcrane

redcrane — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 02:10:45 +0000

I discovered this year, by accident, an easy way to seperate elderberries from thier stems. After picking, place them in a large plastic bag & place in the freezer. After they are frozen, shake the bag hard. I droped mine onto the floor several times. Pour into a large container & shake which will bring the stems to the top so that they may be picked off.

By: wilde

wilde — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 20:55:54 +0000

Hi Ed –

I checked out the Kraft Foods/Sure-Jell website and sure enough there’s a recipe for elderberry jelly which is very similar to what I did except they simmered the berries before straining out the stems and such with the cheesecloth.

Thanks for the tip!