Sep 13 2007
How to make Zwetchgen (Plum) Jelly
Because I am still unable to eat sugars other than fructose, I decided to make my own jelly. I was starting to get jealous of my husband when he made his delicious peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I recently found out that I can buy jelly in town that only contains fructose, but it’s so much more fun to make yourself, and the selection in the stores is quite slim.
Our wonderful neighbor brought us a large bowl of Zwetchgen (small European plums). Apparently because it’s been raining so much, the fruits have been falling off the trees too early and ripening too quickly. They’re not sweet enough to eat raw, but too ripe to let them sit until they’re sweet enough. This makes them great candidates for jelly.
Basic Jelly recipe:
Ingredients:
1,5 kg of fruit (already pitted)
500 grams of 3:1 fructose for canning (it contains pectin and some citric acid already mixed in)
6 250gram canning jars with lids
Directions:
Puree the fruit to the size to desire to have in your jelly. Place the fruit in a large pot and add the canning fructose. You DO NOT need to add water. Stir constantly until the mixture comes to a rolling boil. Boil for 3 minutes while still stirring. Remove from heat. Spoon the mixture into the jars – make sure you fill them all the way up – and screw on the lids. Turn the jars up-side down and leave them untouched for 15 minutes. Then, move them to a dark location for later on!
– Zwetchgen puree doesn’t look very appetizing at first, but then it turns into a wonderful red jelly!
[...] I followed the same recipe as with the Zwetchgen (Plum) Jelly that I made a few days before. One thing to remember – use really sweet, really ripe, and really soft peaches. And leave the peel ON. Instead of having a light yellowish colored jelly, you will end up with a much more peach, almost burnt-orange color. So, wear your UT t-shirts while you make it, and if you get any one it, no one will ever know! [...]