Simple & Delicious Wild Grape Jelly
Wild grape season is on and poppin! It was an utterly underwhelming berry season around Boston, but grapes are thriving right now.
I have a number of grape-centric creations going in the kitchen, starting with the classic grape jelly. Normally, I despise grape jelly. The texture is off-putting and the flavor is too sweet. But introduce wild grapes into the mix and the results are other worldly.
While you do need a good amount of grapes (at least 4 pounds) you can use the spent pulps and skins for shrubs, vinegar and wild sodas as they contain so much flavor and wild yeast. Check the hedgerows and field/wood edges in your local area, then take a big inhale. I very often smell the vines that are fruiting before seeing them. In New England, your main wild grape varieties are hybrids of concord or fox grapes. Concords (featured in the photos) are the larger of the two and ready earlier than fox grapes.
Ingredients
- 4 pounds of wild (or store-bought) grapes
- One packet of powdered pectin
- 4 cups of sugar
Instructions
To make a wild grape jelly, first de-stem the grapes and rinse them briefly. Add them to a pot along with enough water to cover the grapes by a half inch. Turn the heat to low and begin mashing. Cook for approximately 10 mins while consistently mashing to get juice out.
Strain out pulp, skins and seeds, save for shrubs, vinegar, sodas. Put strained juice in a container and place it in fridge for 24 hours.
The next day, strain again through cheesecloth or fine mesh. Place juice in a pot and bring it to a low simmer. Once simmering, add in equal parts sugar (4 cups of juice, 4 cups of sugar). Stir continuously and bring to a rolling boil for one minute, until all sugar is dissolved.Then add your powdered pectin packet (for 4 cups of juice add in one powdered pectin packet). Stir and bring to a rolling boil.
Ladle into canning jars and water can for at least 10 minutes. Or, ladle into jars and skip the water canning. It will last in the fridge for up to 4 months. The results are divine. Deep, delicious, sweet and tart!
