Grape Butter
Grape Butter is a true DELIGHT that will make you want to wrap up next to the fire with a good book! It is a low-sugar or low-honey cooked jam made with Pomona’s Universal Pectin using the juice and the pulp of grapes other than Concord-type grapes. Pomona’s Pectin contains no sugar or preservatives and jells reliably with low amounts of any sweetener.
Servings 5 cups
Ingredients
- Grape Ingredients:
- 3 pounds grapes to make 4 cups pulpy juice
- ½ cup water
- Butter Ingredients:
- 4 cups pulpy juice
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 teaspoons calcium water see step #1
- ¼ cup lemon juice bottled
- ½ cup up to ¾ cup honey or 1 cup up to 2 cups sugar
- 3 teaspoons Pomona’s Pectin mixed 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.
- Wash, remove stems, and mash grapes. Bring grapes and water to a boil in a sauce pan then simmer covered on low for 10 minutes. Strain out seeds and skins with a Foley mill.
- Measure pulpy juice and spices into saucepan.
- Add calcium water and lemon juice and mix 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.
Can I make this as a freezer jam? Thanks!
I’m curious what makes this a butter. Is it the texture? Or the spices? Aside from apple butter, fruit butters are new to me.
Yes, the texture and the spices.
Hi,
I have some purple, wine-style, seeded grapes that I want to use to make grape jam or grape butter. These grapes were grown from clippings obtained from a local winery in upstate NY.
I read one of your recipes for grape butter and it says to use the juice and pulp from grapes other than Concord style grapes. Can you be more specific on what grapes can be used? Or what is a non-Concord grape?
Thank you.
Ed
Hello Ed,
This is the information we would find for you about Concord grapes…
“Concord grapes are hardy grapes native to North America. They are typically larger in size and have larger seeds than European varieties. Concord grapes also have a slip skin (skin that separates from the pulp), which is thicker than the fixed skin on European grapes.” http://www.concordgrape.org/bodyfacts.html