Honeysuckle jelly: recipes for the winter

Among all types of sweet preparations for the winter, honeysuckle jelly occupies a special place. This amazing berry has a sweet and sour, sometimes with bitter notes, pulp. A dessert made from such fruits will surprise households and guests with its taste. And due to the high content of vitamin C, it will be useful during the winter cold.

How to make honeysuckle jelly for the winter

Honeysuckle bears fruit earlier than other garden shrubs, harvesting begins in mid-June. For harvesting, it is better to choose ripe, dense berries. This is important, otherwise the taste of the finished product will be spoiled. The collected fruits are cleaned of debris and washed well under running water. A clean berry must be thrown into a colander and wait until the excess liquid leaves.

Honeysuckle Jelly Recipes

There are many different ways to make honeysuckle jelly, everyone will find a suitable option. You can boil berry juice on the stove or not heat it, use various thickeners: pectin, gelatin and agar-agar. The use of different bases for jelly will not affect the taste and appearance of the dessert.

Honeysuckle jelly without cooking

Making honeysuckle jelly without cooking is not difficult. This requires only two ingredients – berries and sugar. The proportions of the products must be calculated independently during cooking.

Cooking process:

1. Squeeze juice from peeled and washed fruits with a juicer or crush the berries in a mortar, and then strain the mass through several layers of gauze.
2. Add sugar to the finished juice. For every 200 ml of honeysuckle juice, 250 g of sugar will be required.
3. Stir sugar until completely dissolved.
4. Pre-sterilize jars for blanks.
5. Pour the juice into jars, tightly close them with lids and put in the refrigerator.

In order to make honeysuckle jelly, you only need 2 ingredients – berries and sugar.

Honeysuckle jelly with gelatin

Gelatin is a well-known and inexpensive thickener. The structure of the dish depends on the amount of powder used. Very little is added to berry jams, and for strong jelly, its amount is increased.

To prepare honeysuckle dessert with gelatin, you need the following ingredients:

• 1 kg of honeysuckle;
• 1 kg of sugar;
• 20 g of gelatin.

The structure of the dish depends on the amount of gelatin

Method of preparation:

1. Dissolve gelatin powder in warm water. If sheet gelatin is used, then it must be poured with water for 5 minutes, then squeezed and melted in a water bath.
2. Squeeze the juice from the berries and filter with a colander.
3. Combine juice with sugar and gelatin.
4. Boil honeysuckle syrup over low heat, stirring constantly.
5. After dissolving the sugar, do not remove the pan from the stove for another 15 minutes until it thickens.
6. Arrange the finished product in sterilized jars. Cool the jelly at room temperature, then put the blanks in the refrigerator or cellar.

Honeysuckle jelly with agar

A vegetable substitute for gelatin is agar-agar. It acts more efficiently than other thickeners, while not affecting the taste of the finished dish at all.

For honeysuckle jelly with agar-agar you will need:

• honeysuckle – 1 kg;
• granulated sugar – 1 kg;
• agar-agar – 1 tsp for 250 ml of berry syrup.

Agar-agar is more effective than other natural thickeners and does not affect the taste of the dish.

Jelly making process:

1. Squeeze the juice from the washed fruits and add sugar.
2. Bring the container with the syrup to a boil over medium heat, cook for 15-20 minutes.
3. Cool the finished syrup to room temperature.
4. Dissolve the required amount of agar in cool water and mix with the cooled juice.
5. Return the pot to the stove, bring the mixture to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes.
6. Arrange the hot dessert in jars and close tightly.

Honeysuckle jelly with pectin

The recipe for honeysuckle jelly with pectin is different in that the berry mass practically does not need to be cooked. Due to this, most of the vitamins are preserved in the blanks.

List of ingredients:

• 1,25 kg – honeysuckle;
• 1 kg – sugar;
• 20 g – pectin.

Pectin helps to keep most of the vitamins in the harvest

Preparation of honeysuckle jelly:

1. Wash the berries well under water, then put them in a colander to drain excess water.
2. Grind honeysuckle in a mortar and beat with a blender.
3. Combine the berry mass with sugar, put on low heat and stir constantly. A little heat is needed to quickly dissolve the sugar.
4. Mix pectin with one tablespoon of granulated sugar, add to warm syrup and mix thoroughly.
5. Transfer the sweet mixture of honeysuckle into clean, sterilized jars.
6. The finished dessert should be wrapped in a blanket and cooled slowly, after which the blanks must be stored in the refrigerator.

Honeysuckle jelly in a slow cooker

A slow cooker is a multifunctional device that will help save time and effort when preparing jelly. For the recipe you will need granulated sugar and honeysuckle.

Honeysuckle can be stored up to 1 year

Cooking process:

1. Wash the berries thoroughly and knead them a little with a crush, then put them in a slow cooker and turn on the “Extinguishing” mode. When heated, the berry mass will settle and give juice. As soon as bubbles appear and the honeysuckle begins to boil, you must immediately turn off the heat.
2. Allow the berries to cool slightly and squeeze out the juice with cheesecloth.
3. Measure the amount of juice obtained and add sugar in a ratio of 1:1. After that, put the mixture back into the slow cooker on the “Extinguishing” and bring to a boil.
4. When boiling, remove the resulting foam and spread the hot jelly into jars.

Terms and conditions of storage

The shelf life of honeysuckle jelly directly depends on the technology and conditions in which the dessert was made. During cooking, you must strictly follow the recipe and observe the indicated proportions. It is also not recommended to use metal utensils. The metal can react with thickeners and the acid in the honeysuckle, which can adversely affect the color and flavor of the jelly.

The longest stored honeysuckle jelly, harvested for the winter, which is hermetically packed in a closed container made of glass or thermoplastic. It is important that the lid of the jar is not metal. If the dish is pasteurized, then its shelf life ranges from 9 to 12 months. An unpasteurized product will keep its freshness for 4 to 6 months.

The storage temperature of jelly according to GOST is from 0 to +25 degrees, but for blanks it is better to choose a dark place with a constant temperature. A refrigerator or insulated cellar is ideal for this.

Ready-made honeysuckle jelly without airtight packaging will remain fresh for 2-3 days at room temperature. However, it must be protected from direct sunlight, otherwise the product will lose its shape and spread.

If necessary, honeysuckle dessert can be frozen, but only if pectin was used as a thickener. Under such conditions, the shelf life of jelly is from one and a half to two months.

Conclusion

Preparing honeysuckle jelly for the winter is quite simple, and the effort spent will easily pay off with the unusual taste and benefits of dessert. And in the right packaging and subject to storage conditions, you can extend the freshness of this delicacy for many months.