Apple-Rosemary Jelly
Apple-Rosemary Jelly is a low-sugar or low-honey cooked jelly made with Pomona’s Universal Pectin. Pomona’s Pectin contains no sugar or preservatives and jells reliably with low amounts of any sweetener.
Servings 5 cups
Ingredients
- Apple-Rosemary Cider/Juice:
- 4 cups apple cider or apple juice
- 4 teaspoons dried rosemary
- Make Apple-Rosemary Jelly with:
- 4 cups strained rosemary cider/juice
- 2 teaspoons calcium water see step #1
- 4 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup honey or 1 cup sugar
- 4 teaspoons Pomona’s Pectin powder mix with sweetener
Instructions
- Before You Begin, prepare calcium water.To do this, combine ½ teaspoon calcium powder (in the small packet in your box of Pomona’s pectin) with ½ cup water in a small, clear jar with a lid. Shake well. Extra calcium water should be stored in the refrigerator for future use.
- Prepare boiling water canner. Heat jars in simmering water until ready for use. Wash lids and bands and set aside.
- Make strained cider: Bring apple cider/juice and rosemary to a boil then turn off heat and steep for 30 minutes. Strain out the rosemary.
- Measure strained rosemary cider/juice into sauce pan.
- Add calcium water and apple cider vinegar and stir well.
- Measure sugar or room temperature honey into a bowl. Thoroughly mix pectin powder into sweetener. Set aside.
- Bring fruit mixture to a full boil. Add pectin-sweetener mixture, stirring vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve the pectin while the jam comes back up to a boil. Once the jam returns to a full boil, remove it from the heat.
- Remove hot jars from canner and fill jars with (marmalade/jam/jelly), leaving ¼ inch of headspace. Remove trapped air bubbles, wipe rims and put on lids and screw bands, tightening bands only to “fingertip tight” (until resistance is met, and then just the tiniest bit more).
- Place jars in the hot water, on the rack inside the canner. (Make sure jars are upright, not touching each other or the sides of the canner, and are covered with at least 1-2 inches of water). Place the lid on the canner, bring the canner to a rolling boil, and boil for 10 minutes. (Add 1 minute additional processing time for every 1000 feet above sea level.)
- Turn off heat and allow canner and jars to sit for 5 minutes. Then, remove jars from canner. Allow jars to cool undisturbed for 12-24 hours. Then, confirm that jars have sealed, then store properly. Eat within 1 year. Lasts 3 weeks once opened.
The flavor of this jelly is phenomenal, but it isn’t setting for me. Perhaps the pectin needs to be increased, as I see that other people also had trouble with the set.
I made some apple jelly but it didn’t set. I was sure I measured correct amount of pectin and calcium water, but now I’m doubting. I used 4 c juice, 1/4 lemon juice, 1 c sugar. I placed a jar in refrigerator and that one is set. Just want to know IS IT STILL SAFE TO EAT if I used less calcium water and pectin (2 of each) and runny?
Thankful for Pomona’s Pectin
Thanks.
Hello Thelma,
Yes, your jelly should keep just fine. If it is setting in the fridge, it just means that it needed more pectin.
Can I replace the rosemary with lavender (leaves)? Thanks!
Hello Michelle,
We have never done so, but we cannot think of a reason why you wouldn’t be able to make that replacement. Be sure to use culinary lavender should you decide to give it a try.
Yes, you can! The best jelly I ever made was with crab apples and lavender leaves, following a recipe for apple and rosemary jelly.
In making plain apple jelly, do I need to add the apple cider vinegar?
If your apples are sweet, they will need 1/4 lemon/lime/5% acidity vinegar. If they are tart, no additional acid is required.
Be warned that if you use the provided button to scale up the recipe when you print – only the honey gets changed but NOT the sugar. So it will still say “or 1 cup sugar” no matter the size of the recipe you’re making.
Question: if my jelly did not set because I used 1/4 of the needed sugar, do I need to add new pectin when I reprocess as well? Thank you!
Great tip! So sorry for that glitch in the printer/conversion feature.
The low amount of sugar did not have an effect on the set of your jelly. You can certainly add more if you’d like to. If you would like to troubleshoot a fix to your unjelled jelly, check out our page, HERE.
Can I omit the rosemary and just make plain apple jelly? I can’t think of a reason why not but I’m not the expert. Ha!
You sure can!
Can I use fresh rosemary?
You sure can, though we aren’t certain how much fresh rosemary would give off the same potency. We would guess that you would want to use around 2-4 tablespoons.
I am wondering if I could safely add garlic to the strained cider-rosemary infusion?
We have never tried it, but cannot see why you couldn’t. We would love to hear how it goes if you decide to give it a try!
Can I use my peels and cores with water boiled for several hours and strained as my apple juice/ cider?
I cannot see why not! Happy jamming 😊