Mountain ash jelly

[Telemark]

Anyone tried it? Apparently it is quite popular in Europe, but the recipes I have found all call for a lot of apples, which are not cheap here.

 

[Telemark]

I'm going for it.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Awesome. Looking forward to hearing how this turns out.

I do some home brewing and I've always wanted to try do a batch with mtn. ash berries in the boil.

 

[H20fwler]

I want to know how it turns out too.....wife and I just got back from the UP and I tried triple berry jam for the first time the other day, I'm all about these different jelly/jam types.

 

[Telemark]

Most of the recipes said to freeze the berries, so I'm starting with about 4 lbs of frozen berries, all stems removed, berries washed in cold water.

 

[Telemark]

Then added about three pounds of apples. The neighbor's apples aren't ripe, so i bought some local apples from the county to the north.

 

[Telemark]

Straining through cheese cloth.

 

[Telemark]

The middle one is syrup. The other two are jelly.

 

[Telemark]

So, it ended up lot cloudier than I thought it would. The syrup was just too bitter, and after trying everything imaginable with it, I threw it away. The jelly has some extra spices added, and it was actually pretty good, with a bitter finish. It was too bitter for pork or venison. It was good with some strong cheeses. I think I can do better, so I will try again next season. These trees grow all over the place here, so supply is not an issue. Wish I had better news, but it was underwhelming.

One problem might have been timing. Some have said I harvested too early. Next time i will try later in the season.

I will also use smaller jars so I can try several different recipes.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Sometimes that happens. I was hoping it turned out better. Great idea. Was thinking about trying it myself.

 

[Telemark]

I think i should have paid more attention to it. I kinda let it boil away for a while. I will definitely try it again.