White Wine Rose Petal Jelly

I don't know exactly why, but on the rare occasions that I experiment with culinary flowers, I always feel so fancy. There's just something about opening up a bag of dried flowers and having that perfume-y aroma waft into the air that makes you feel like you're about to create something special.

Several years ago, I made the white wine lavender jelly variation included in the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. By all accounts it was a success. There were those who loved the unusual combination of flavors. For me, it just tasted a little too much like shampoo jelly. Not a recipe I'd make again.

Until a few weeks ago when I got the urge to experiment with culinary rose petals and remembered that recipe. To me, rose is a much more subtle flavor than lavender and I couldn't wait to see how the white wine would play against the more delicate flowers, not to mention how the red of the rose petals would tint the finished jelly.

The result was a light and delicious jelly, not overpowering, with a stunning rose hue. I think this jelly is wonderful on toast, but would also make a very nice glaze for poultry. If you're looking for something really different. Give this a try. It's very easy to make and will certainly impress anyone to whom it's served.

White Wine Rose Petal Jelly
(A unique variation on the Herbes de Provence Wine Jelly recipe from the Ball Complete Book of Home Canning)


Makes 5 4-ounce jars

2 cups dry white wine
1/4 cup dried culinary rose petals (you can purchase these online - be sure to buy culinary petals only)

Boiling the rose petals in
the white wine

2 cups granulated sugar
1 pouch liquid pectin

Wash and prepare jars, rings and lids.

Pour wine into large stainless steel saucepan. Add rose petals and bring to a boil over high heat. Remove from heat, cover and allow to steep for 20 minutes.

Straining the infused wine

Strain the wine/rose petal mixture using a dampened jelly bag or several layers of damp cheesecloth into a bowl. Allow to drip for 20 minutes.

Measure out 1 3/4 cups infused wine and pour into large non-reactive pot. Stir in sugar. Bring to a full, rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in liquid pectin and return to full, rolling boil. Continue boiling and stirring constantly for two minutes.

Remove from heat, skim foam if necessary and pour into hot jars, filling to 1/4" headspace. Wipe rims, place lids and bands and return to boiling water canner for 10 minutes at sea level, adjusting for altitude. Remove from heat, remove canner cover and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Remove jars from canner and place upright on towel on counter. Allow to sit, undisturbed for up to 24 hours. As always, if any jars do not properly seal, re-process or refrigerate and use promptly. 

The finished product. Isn't it pretty?

Now I've Done It! A Recipe for Chocolate Jelly

Chocolate Jelly!

Well folks, my obsession with chocolate and my obsession with homemade jams and jellies have finally intersected at what has to be some kind of bizarre culinary crossroads. I've done it! I have created (ta-ta-ta-DAH!) CHOCOLATE JELLY!

Dream come true or crime against jelly nature? I'll leave that up to you. All I will say is that it smells and tastes like chocolate, is perfectly safe to can and my 21-year-old daughter thinks it's "bomb" with peanut butter.

First, rest assured that I'm going to share the recipe with you right here on this blog! But before we get to the nitty-gritty details of how to make the stuff, I really need to share how it came to be in the first place - the story of my chocolate epiphany, if you will.

Let's start with a single, simple truth: I absolutely LOVE chocolate. And the higher the quality, the better. In fact, my children will tell anyone who'll listen that one early lesson I taught them is that "life is too short to eat bad chocolate."

Close-up of brewing cocoa

So when I read recently that there was such a thing as brewing cocoa and that a whole cup of the stuff was only 20 calories, I couldn't wait to try it. Turns out that some very clever people have figured out that if they roast and grind cocoa beans just right, you can brew it up in a french press or drip coffee maker and it makes a really tasty substitute for your morning cup of joe. Just to be clear, it's not like drinking hot chocolate in that the brew is thin and slightly bitter. But add a little sugar or no-calorie sweetener and it's a really delicious way to start your day. Very low in calories, a fraction of the caffeine found in coffee (so no addiction headaches) and supposedly full of great stuff like antioxidants and theobromine - even Dr. Oz and Oprah have recently hopped on the brewed chocolate bandwagon.

After reading about it, I promptly ordered some and to get right to the point, I'm pretty much hooked. It gives me that chocolate hit I love and I can actually feel good about drinking it.

By now you're probably saying, "Okay already, Sydney! What does all of THIS have to do with making jelly?" Here's the deal; because actual chocolate is made with butter and cream, it's not safe to can. Most experienced canners know you can create some amazing sauces and jams using cocoa powder, but it's not the same as a true chocolate preserve. It occurred to me as I drank my morning cup that what I was drinking was certainly chocolate, but since it was made just from ground cocoa beans, it also contained no butter or cream. EUREKA!

I got out the French press, brewed up a full canister of the chocolate and went to work to make jelly out of it. And it worked! Still not sure what else it's good for besides adding to a peanut butter sandwich, but I'd love to hear from the rest of you. If you give it a try and come up with some great uses, please post them here for the rest of us. Enjoy!

Peanut butter and chocolate jelly

Sydney Rubin's Chocolate Jelly

Ingredients:

32 ounces of water

1/2 rounded cup roasted, ground brewing cocoa beans (See source links at bottom)

5 1/2 cups sugar

One 1.75 ounce box of powdered pectin

Directions:

Prepare jars, lids and boiling water canner

Prepare brewed chocolate according to directions from the supplier of your ground beans.

Make sure that you end up with a full 4 cups (32 ounces) of brewed chocolate. Pour that into a large, non-reactive pot.

Add the powdered pectin and stir to dissolve completely.

Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly until you achieve a full, rolling boil that cannot be broken with a spoon.

Add all of the sugar at once and return the mixture to a full, rolling boil, stirring constantly.

Boil hard for one minute, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and quickly fill jars to 1/4" headspace.

Put on lids and screw down bands just to fingertip tightness.

Process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes at sea level, adjusting accordingly for higher altitudes (25 minutes here in Colorado).

Remove from heat and remove cover, letting canner and jars sit for 5 minutes.

Remove jars from canner and allow to sit, upright, on a towel for up to 24 hours, or until all the jars have sealed properly.

As usual, any jars that do not have a proper seal should be reprocessed or refrigerated and used promptly.

NOTE:

I've noticed that it may take a week or two for the full chocolate flavor of this jelly to develop. When I first made it, I thought it seemed "weak" and was thinking I needed to make a stronger "brew." After a couple of weeks, it tasted quite chocolaty indeed!

Sources for brewing cocoa beans:

Drinkchoffy.com where you can purchase 12 ounces for $15. They have several blends at various prices.

ChocolateAlchemy.myshopify.com who offer an incredible selection of brewing chocolates starting at just $10 per pound.

Coming Soon: Something Really Out of the Ordinary!

All I'm going to say is...CHOCOLATE! Check back later this week.

Meyer Lemon Vanilla Bean Marmalade

Meyer Lemon Vanilla Bean Marmalade

I'm seriously thinking I need some sort of therapy. It simply can't be normal to get this excited over produce. Other people see fruit. I see glistening jars of goodness filling my basement shelves.

To some extent, this propensity of mine toward impulse produce buying is problematic. I have a (more than) full-time job. I have a home and a family to care for. I have responsibilities. But once those seasonal wonders are in my house, staring at me from the kitchen counter, I cannot rest until I turn them into something delicious. What can I do, but to keep stirring up something fun in the kitchen and sharing it with you here on In a Jam?

For some reason, I've been on a bit of a citrus kick lately. First, there was the key lime curd. Then, the Meyer lemons appeared in my local market and I scooped up three bags. For the uninitiated, Meyer lemons are thought to be a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange. The skin is smoother than that of a traditional lemon and is a deep yellow to almost orange color. The peel of a Meyer lemon is generally thinner and the juice is somewhat sweeter, with less acidity than normal lemons. All of these traits make them a wonderful choice for culinary experimentation.

The first thing I made was a Meyer lemon curd, using the exact recipe I shared on the blog last week, only with lemons instead of limes. Even though the Meyer lemons are a bit sweeter, they still had plenty of acid content to make a delicious curd.

Then I decided I absolutely had to do something that would take full advantage of the amazing color of the Meyer lemon peel. An obvious choice? Marmalade. But not just any marmalade. A Meyer lemon marmalade with a touch of vanilla bean that would play beautifully off the tart/sweet of the citrus. I think you're really going to enjoy this recipe. The end result is a delicious lemon preserve with the exotic taste of real vanilla and pieces of orange-colored peel that taste like candy.

Meyer Lemon Vanilla Bean Marmalade
(Original recipe appeared in Bon Apetit, although I've made several changes here, including adding instructions for water bath canning.)

Ingredients:
6 to 7 Meyer lemons (approximately 1 1/2 pounds)
5 cups water
4 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 vanilla bean
pinch of salt

Directions:
Cut lemons in half lengthwise.
Use a sharp paring knife to cut out the center membrane (the part where all the sections meet) and as many of the seeds as possible.
Remove and discard end pieces, then slice the rest of the lemon halves in very thin pieces crosswise. Discard any remaining seeds.
Pack enough lemon slices and any juice into a large measuring cup to measure 2 1/2 cups.
Put the measured slices and juice into a large, nonreactive pot. Add the 5 cups of water.
Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes.
Remove from heat and allow to stand, uncovered overnight.
The next day, measure out 5 1/2 cups of the lemon/juice mixture. (You can discard any extra).
Put the measured amount back in the same large, nonreactive pot. Add all of the sugar.
Split the half vanilla bean the long way. Scrape out the seeds and put those in the pot, along with the half bean itself.
Add a pinch of salt.

Marmalade mixture boiling

Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally until the mixture reaches 230F on a candy thermometer, or use the plate test from my Tips and Tricks section. At higher altitudes, such as here in Colorado, you'll need to adjust the temperature down somewhat. Reaching the final jelling point can take anywhere between 15 and 30 minutes.
Fill hot, prepared canning jars to 1/4" headspace. Process in boiling water bath for 25 minutes. Turn off heat, remove cover of canner and allow to sit for 5 more minutes before removing jars. Reprocess or refrigerate and use any jars that have not sealed properly within 12 to 24 hours.

Coming Soon! Lady Marmalade

Be watching here soon for a meyer lemon vanilla bean marmalade recipe!