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Saturday, August 11, 2012

Watermelon Jelly


I saw this recipe a few weeks ago on the Food in Jars website HERE and have been thinking about trying it ever since.  Well, I have a batch in the water bath canner as I type and so far, so good.  It looks yummy.  Has anyone made it before???  I am curious to know if the end result tastes like watermelon really.  When I sampled a bit it seems very sweet and watermelon like, but I will be amazed if the canning process doesn't change that flavor more...

Okay, it's done and we love it.  I don't know that it tastes so much like fresh watermelon rather it reminds us of a wonderful rosehip lavender jelly we used to get at on old B & B on the Northern California coast. It is delicious and so pretty inside the jars too.

I tweaked the recipe a bit after reading about problems getting the jelly to set up.  I followed the Ball Blue Book and adapted it to this...

6 cups pureed seedless watermelon 
5 cups white sugar
12 tablespoons bottled lemon juice
6 Tbsp. powdered pectin
a pat of butter to tamp down bubbles


My jelly set up fast.  I used a little more than half of an average size seedless watermelon and got seven 4 oz. jelly jars plus 2 8 oz. jars of jelly for a total of 2 & 3/4 pints of jelly when I was done.  It's my hubby's new favorite and he spreads it on top of the homemade peanut butter I made following Candy's recipe HERE last weekend.







4 comments:

  1. I am so glad you posted this, because I have never heard of it but love....love watermelon! Thanks will be making some of it...
    Dolly

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  2. I know right. I hadn't even thought it possible before I read her blog. My first batch is done and it tastes really good, interesting, but I do not necessarily think it tastes wholely like fresh watermelon. I taste watermelon and the lemon juice and it almost tastes more complex like lavender or rose too. I really like it and I'll be making more. I shuold note that I doubled the lemon juice, per the Blue Book.

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  3. I wonder if you used the same recipe as Happy Mrs C did? She also made some watermelon jelly this year. Her post about it is here at:
    http://happymrsc.blogspot.com/2012/07/watermelon-jelly.html

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  4. I made some of this, this summer, too! It is such a pretty shade of pink. :-)

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