Homemaking - Recipes
Butter, Jelly, and Jam
Interested in making homemade butter, jelly, and jam? Here are some recipes to get you started. For more ideas, see the Recipe Index page. For support, questions, encouragement, and more recipes, see our homemaking support message boards.
Butter
Posted by: Patrice
I buy heavy cream from Publix or Winn Dixie. The small half pint containers have enough cream to make a lot of butter, so that's what I usually get. The best thing to use is a small baby food jar. Fill the jar about 1/3 to 1/2 with the heavy cream. Tightly close the lid and shake, shake , shake! After a while you will feel the cream thickening into butter. You can use it right away or refrigerate to use later. It does get a little hard so you may need to let it sit for a couple of minutes after taking it out of the fridge. Some recipes call for adding a little bit of salt before shaking the cream.
Apple Butter
Posted by: Renee
Peel and slice a pot of apples (I used gravenstein-- but any apples you like will work.) Put a little water in with them. It really doesn't matter if it's a half cup or 2 cups. You're just going to cook it off. Bring the apples to a slow boil, stirring every so often so it doesn't stick. Pretty soon it will start to resemble applesauce. You can then mash remaining chunks with a potato masher or run it through a food processor. Now you get ti back to boiling in the pot over medium heat, stirring constantly. At this point you can add sugar. Just get it to the sweetness you like-- or a little less, as it still has cooking to go and it will only intensify. Add cinnamon and allspice, cloves and nutmeg --if you like-- and get it to the flavor that tastes the most like apple butter (all apple butters taste different) Keep cooking to about 120 on the candy thermometer-- and stir constantly. That's it. I think it freezes. You can keep it in the refrigerator for a week or two or you can put it up in half pint jars and process it. It processes just like a jam... hot jars, hot lids, boiling water to seal.. It's really nice on toast or crumpets or you can fill little tarts with it for a tea party!
Mulberry Jelly
Posted by: Faye
3 3/4 c. prepared mulberry juice (about 3 1/2 qts. fully ripe mulberries)
1/2 c. lemon juice
5 1/2 c. sugar
1 package MCP pectin
1/4 tsp. margarine or butter
Mix fruit pectin into juice in sauce pot, place over high heat and stir until mixture comes to a full boil. Immediately add all sugar and stir. Bring to full rolling boil. Add margarine and boil hard exactly 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and skim off foam with metal spoon. Ladle quickly into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8" of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two piece lids. Screw bands tightly. Invert jars for 5 minutes, then turn upright. After 1 hour, check seals. Or follow water bath method recommended by USDA.
Rosy Cider Jelly
Posted By: Sherrisa
This is easy and makes great Christmas gifts:
3 cups apple cider
1 cup cranberry juice
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 pkg. (1 3/4 oz.) powdered fruit pectin
5 cups sugar
In a large kettle, combine first 4 ingredients. Bring to a rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in sugar. Return to a full rollig boil; boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; skim off any foam. Pour hot liquid into hot jars, leaving 1/4" headspace. Adjust caps. Process for 5 minutes in boiling water bath. Yield: 6 half-pints
Sugar-free Jam
Posted by: Cathe
You need a special type of pectin to make sugar-free jam, but it can be done. It's called low methoxyl pectin and is used with di-calcium phosphate.
Jeannie's Cranberry Jam
Posted by: Kysa
2# cranberries
8 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
Crush or chop the cranberries. Put the cranberries, water, and sugar in a large sauce pan and mix well. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Stir while cooking so it does not burn on the bottom. You need to reduce the volume to about 1/2. This took about 30 minutes. Then can. This should fill 8 1/2 pint jars. Jeannie fills the jars with hot jam, covers with lids, then inverts for overnight. I boiled mine for 5 minutes in a boiling water bath. This is delicious jam. For a Scottish treat, try cranberry jam and Brie cheese sandwiches.
