
[Heads up...Cross Post: This was posted on dancingwoolymasters.wordpress.com]
This is a colander full of beautyberries. Pretty intense color. I’ve been cutting them and making wild bouquets with goldenrod. For years. Well, this year, I heard tell of a jelly made from beautyberry. Lenore, daring wench that she is, went first. She found “the mother lode” on her 10 acres. She was so daring she even added wine. Well. I tasted her jelly. I tasted the berries. I knew I had to make some.
Lenore the Enabler showed up at the farmers market with a big fat bag of berries. Almost enough for the “recipe.” On one of Smitty’s morning sojourns, I picked enough to make enough jelly for the Western World. I didn’t add wine. Just berries, pectin, and sugar.

Here you go. Five half-pints of jelly. Scarlet jelly. Now, how did that happen? The violet berries produced an amber colored juice. When the pectin hit...instant color change! I'd never used pectin before, so I didn't know what to expect. The jelly set right up...ka-boom! Heck in a handbasket, it's just like store-bought. Except it tastes herbal, wild, and like nothing that Publix would ever carry. Yum.
Thanks Lenore!
Oh...and the recipe...should anyone out there care to dare:
1 1/2 qts beautyberries
2 qts water
1 pkt pectin
4 1/2 c sugar
Start a boiling water canner rolling. Prepare 5 1/2 pt jars, lids, and bands.
Rinse and pick over berries. Ditch the stems. Cover the berries with the water. Bring to a boil...let boil for 20 minutes. Mash the berries a bit. Strain.
Use 3 c of the berry juice. (You'll have another 3 c left to refrigerate to make more at a later date.) Bring the juice to a boil. Whisk in an envelope of pectin. (I used Ball brand.) As it boils, whisk in the sugar (all at once) and bring a 2nd boil. Let it boil hard for a minute.
Remove from heat. Skim off the "stuff" on top. Pour into sterilized 1/2 pt jars with 1/4" headspace. Process for 10 minutes.