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budding cactus
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Prickly Pear Cactus Jelly

Prickly Pear Cactus 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.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups cactus juice see note
  • 4 teaspoons calcium water see step #1
  • ½ cup lemon or lime juice bottled
  • ¾ cup up to 1 cup honey or 1 ¼ cups up to 2 cups sugar
  • 4 teaspoons up to 5 teaspoons Pomona’s Pectin powder 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.
  • Prepare prickly pear cactus juice. (see note)
  • Measure juice 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 juice 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.

Notes

Basic procedure for processing Prickly Pear juice:
  1. Collect the fruits using tongs placing them in 5 gallon buckets
  2. Double rinse the fruit and let set in the water while we prepare for processing. 
  3. A bucket/bowl/kettle with a double layer of cheese cloth fastened in place with a rubber band/string/velcro strap/etc
  4. Using the tongs, place the fruits in the blender and crush for several seconds until there are no whole fruits left. 
  5. Most of the Glochids (thorns/stickers) will come off when they are in the water but it's still a good idea to use the tongs to place the fruits in the blender.  Any thorns or Glochids that may still be left on the prickly pear are strained out through the cheese cloth.    
  6. Pour the pulp onto the cheesecloth and let drain into the bucket. 
  7. After the juice is finished dripping, place the plup into a mesh strainer and let drain while processing the balance of the fruit.  Alternately, you can place the pulp in a cheesecloth bag and squeeze or press the juice out.   A 5 gallon bucket will yield approximately 14 quarts of juice.   
  8. Bring juice to a full, rolling boil. 
  9. Skim impurities off the top.  Continue process until there are no impurities coming to the surface when at a full roll boil. 
  10. You are now ready to can the juice into jelly.