elderberry jam & jelly recipes

[Amy Boyd]

Jelly and jam are some very popular ways to use elderberries, so here's the thread for sharing those!

A few to start off with:
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• Just Berry Recipes has an elderberry grape jelly recipe (click here). Requires: elderberries, grapes, sugar, water. Time: 45 minutes.
• Just Berry Recipes has an elderberry jam recipe (click here) Requires: elderberries, vinegar, sugar. Time: 30 minutes.
• Just Berry Recipes has an elderberry jelly recipe (click here). Requires: elderberries, lemon juice, sugar, fruit pectin. Time: 30 minutes.
• Wasabimon has a peach elderberry jelly recipe (click here). Requires: elderberry syrup, peaches, lemon juice, sugar or Splenda, Pomona's Universal Pectin. Time: 1 hour.

[Amy Boyd]

On the previous version of elderberries.com, these comments were posted by readers on the jams & jellies page. There's some good info here I'd hate to lose, so I'm copying and pasting them here as a single batch (since the old site will come down when all the info is transferred over).

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#Linda // Jun 26, 2008 at 6:06 am
I have more questions than answers. I am hoping to find some berries to make an elderly friend a batch of jam for his birthday. It is his favorite thing in life! Having just made a batch of strawberry rhubarb jam, I realized the cost due to the packages of Certo or Sure Jell that is necessary. I notice that one of the recipes uses no additional pectin. Has anyone made it both ways and is the method without the additional pectin acceptable?


#Deborah // Jul 4, 2008 at 5:22 am
I just made the recipe with no pectin and when it failed to gel in a timely fashion I added tapioca pearls. I don’t know if the berries have natural pectin in them like some fruits do ie: Apricots but after the work of cleaning and de-stemming all of those tiny berries I didn’t want to chance wrecking a whole batch of my precious berries. I went back up to Figueroa Mountain tonight and picked some more berries and I may try again tomorrow but to be safe I do think I will be adding pectin esp. since many of the other recipes on the net call for added pectin. Good luck, happy jamming!


#zona // Aug 18, 2008 at 10:39 am
we have an elderberry bush and we made wine one year but weren’t too impressed about it. i decided to try some jelly this year. didn’t figure it could be too good but after reading all the comments, i may be wrong. would like to know if you can use the less sugar surejel?


#Moe // Aug 27, 2008 at 3:46 pm
I make elderberry jelly every year with our elderberry bush. I use citric acid vs lemon juice. I also use less sugar and it gels nicely with the pectin. This yr we tried the no sugar added type of pectin and it seemed “ok” but not as tasty.


#Kathy // Aug 30, 2008 at 2:30 pm
I live in north central Idaho where elderberry trees abound on riverbanks and beside the roads. We love elderberry jelly. We often add apple juice to stretch the elderberry juice or even to temper the flavor. My “Joy of Cooking” cookbook has a recipe for elderberry jam, apparently using whole berries. No pectin is added. The berries are cooked until a small amount dropped on a plate will stay in place. I don’t know if it would work with just the berry juice.


#Shan // Sep 3, 2008 at 10:51 am
I made Elderberry Jam using the berry, vinegar, sugar recipe. My jam is very runny. Does anyone know a way to fix it?


#kate // Sep 6, 2008 at 12:15 pm
I’ve never used a commercial pectin when making elderberry jam. instead, added a green apple. green apples have lots of pectin. boil elderberries, sugar, & apple 15-30 minutes–30 minutes made a thick jam; 15 made a much thinner jam. thanks for providing so much elderberry info ! –kate


#jenny // Sep 26, 2008 at 8:18 am
My grandmother didn’t use pectin when she made elderberry jelly, she just added some crabapples to the berries before cooking. There is natural pectin in the apple skins, she said. I don’t know how much she added though.


#Sylvia // Oct 3, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Elderberries make delicious jams and jellies You can add crab apples, or any other kind of apples. When making the jelly boil the fruits up until well mushed up, strain through a jelly bag. For every pint of juice add 1 lb of sugar and boil until you get setting point. Two points: 1) Don’t be tempted to squeeze the jelly bag to get more juice - the jelly will be an unappetising cloudy colour. 2) Don’t jar too soon, it takes about 15 - 20 minutes at a rolling boil to reach setting point. If you jar too soon, not only do you have to start from scratch, you will have to sterilise everything again.

[Barb Larson]

My neighbor told me that all of these trees around are yard are elder berries and that they make excellent jam. Since I am an avid canner and preserver I thought I would like to try them.

My problem is I am not so sure these are elderberries. They are red little berries in clusters and I can't remember how they bloom out. I live in Washington state, USA and would like any help I can get. I can't take a pic b/c I don't have a camera.

Anybody with info and help would be appreciated. I am also going to try getting info from the extension agency but they are not open all of the time.

[Amy Boyd]

The article title’s a little strange, but here’s a good article on making fruit preserves (elderberries are mentioned as the ideal fruit for your September preserves). It sounds sticky, messy and fairly technical (really… a visual handheld refractometer?) but absolutely delicious.

[Cathy Jo Eaves]

I have made 2 batches of elderberry jelly. I have just under 2 cups of juice left does anyone know if I can add another fruit juice to it to make another batch I use Sure Jell for making jelly.

[Amy Boyd]

I've seen plenty of pie ingredient mixes involving elderberry (usually apple-elderberry), etc, so I don't see why not!

[Mark T]

CathyJo. I make Elder/grape and vice versa, and as with most fruit you can mix and match for various flavor profiles. I am now making lower sugar elderberry jelly as it has a more distinct flavor.

SureJell seems to work well tho I may ty ordering bulk Pomona pectin