Autumn is beautyberry harvest season. If you’re lucky enough to live in the Southeastern United States, you’ve likely seen bright magenta berries on shrubs along the roadsides, or in people’s yards.
There several types of beautyberries. This recipe is for the American Beautyberry (callicarpa americana). These berries can be foraged or grown in your yard.
About American Beautyberry
The American Beautyberry (callicarpa americana) is a native deciduous shrub that grows wild in the Southeastern United States. It can sometimes be found growing as far north and west as Oklahoma and Arkansas.
The flowers are green and white, appearing in the spring. Berries are produced from each year’s new growth. I like to lightly prune my berry bushes each winter to encourage new branches the following spring.
The fruit ripens from early August into October. The farther south you’re located in the United States, the earlier you’ll see them ripening.
Beautyberries are small magenta berries that grow in clusters along branches of the shrub. They ripen gradually over a couple of months. The fruit ripens from the lowest clusters on the branch, up to the top.
You can forage them from the wild, or find someone growing them in their yard.
Caution: Make sure to properly identify beautyberry if you are foraging! Check with your local agricultural office if you are unsure.
Here’s how to turn these gorgeous berries into a delicious jelly.
This is a water bath canning recipe. If you are not familiar with this process, follow this link to the National Center for Home Food Preservation, or check with your local agricultural extension service.
Please read through the entire recipe and FAQ before beginning.
Yield: Approximately 3 ½ – 4 cups.
Supplies
- 3 Pint Jars (or 6 half-pint jars) with matching lids and rings
- Canning tools: tongs, jar lifter, canning funnel
- Water bath canner
- 2 large pots 5-6 quarts in size, one to prep the fruit, one to cook the jelly
- Miscellaneous kitchen supplies: towels, pot holders, cloth for wiping jar rim, spoons for stirring, measuring spoons and cups
Ingredients
- 6 cups of cleaned beautyberries
- 8 cups water
- 1 box Sure Jell Original fruit pectin
- 4 cups white sugar measured into a separate bowl
- 3 Tablespoons lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon of butter (optional for controlling foam while cooking.)
Prepare for Canning
Before starting, make sure to sterilize your jars and set up all your equipment. Once the jelly is ready to put in the jars, things happen fast in the kitchen.
Prepare the Fruit
Harvest enough beautyberries to measure 6 cups of fruit, approximately 1 ½ to 2 quarts of berries. Sort and clean the fruit, take out any leaves or stems, and keep only the ripe, bright berries.
Rinse thoroughly using a handheld strainer. Put into a 6-quart pot and lightly mash with a potato masher or similar tool. (Crushing will help release the juice.)
Add 2 quarts of water (8 cups) to the berries in the pot. Cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, uncover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring often, and scraping down the sides of the pot as needed.
At this stage of cooking, the berries and juice will turn brown. This is normal. Believe it or not, the pink color will come back!
After cooking, strain the liquid into a bowl using a strainer lined with 2-3 layers of cheesecloth or a jelly strainer. Gather up the fruit in the cheesecloth and gently squeeze out any additional juice into the bowl. Discard the strained fruit, (great for your compost!)
Measure out 3 cups of beautyberry juice and pour into a clean 6-quart pot. Stir in fruit pectin. Use the remaining juice for canning a second batch or for other recipes.
Continue stirring until the mixture comes to a full rolling boil (a boil that doesn’t stop when stirred). You may need to skim foam off the top as it cooks, or you can stir in ½ tsp. of butter to help control the foam.
Once it has come to that full rolling boil, immediately add lemon juice and sugar all at once to the mixture. And just like magic, the juice is bright pink/red again!
Return to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly.
Boil at that full rolling boil for exactly 1 minute.
Remove from heat and immediately ladle into prepared sterilized jars. This needs to happen quickly as the jelly starts firming up fast.
Water bath process the jars according to the guidelines in your Sure Jell directions that came with the packet.
You could optionally store the jelly in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks instead of canning it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can I do if my jelly didn’t set?
This happens to everyone on occasion. First, make sure you’ve let the jars set at room temperature for at least 24 – 48 hours after processing. If the jelly is still syrupy, you can use it as syrup (yummy on pancakes!) or reprocess. To reprocess, please follow the directions advised by the Sure Gel Company using this link. Beautyberry syrup is delicious on pancakes, over ice cream, or used in mocktails and cocktails.
What happens if I am unable to skim off all the foam?
The foam is perfectly okay to eat. It does make the jelly look kind of funky, just do the best you can. After all, it’s homemade, and the slight imperfections give it that “from scratch” look.
Can I eat beautyberries raw?
Beautyberries are edible, but their flavor is slightly bitter and astringent. Cooking the berries releases their sweet, flowery flavor.
What does beautyberry jelly taste like?
Beautyberry jelly has a mild, flowery flavor. It tastes similar to honeysuckle or other flower jellies. It is mild and not overpowering in flavor.
Are there other ways to store and preserve beautyberries?
Yes! They can be safely stored on the countertop or refrigerator for several days in a covered container. Beautyberries can also be frozen. Since the fruit gradually ripens on the branches, I’ll go out and harvest them over the course of a few weeks. I clean them and store them in the freezer. When I have enough fruit, I’ll then make my jelly.
Beautyberry Jelly
Equipment
- 6 1/2 pint canning jars with lids and rings optional 3 pint jars
- 1 Waterbath Canner
- 2 Large 5-6 qt. pots
- 1 Potato Masher Or similar tool
- Misc. Canning Supplies tongs, jar lifter, canning funnel
- Misc. Kitchen Supplies spoons, measuring cups and spoons, towels, pot holders
Ingredients
- 6 Cups Cleaned beautyberries
- 4 Cups White sugar optional: brown sugar
- 8 Cups Water
- 1 Box Sure Jell Original Fruit Pectin
- 3 TBS Lemon juice fresh or bottled
- 1/2 tsp butter Optional to control foaming
Instructions
- Prepare for Canning
- Sterilize jars and lids. Set up waterbath canning equipment.
Prepare Beautyberry Fruit
- Harvest and measure out 6 cups of fruit.
- Sort out leaves and other debris. Rinse in a strainer.
- Pour into a large pot and lightly mash fruit with a potato masher.
- Add 2 quarts of water to the pot. Bring to boil over medium-high heat, stirring often and scraping down sides as needed.
- Once the fruit has come to a full boil, continue at a low boil for 20 minutes stirring often and scraping down sides of the pot as needed.
- Remove from heat, and let cool slightly.
- Strain berry uice into a bowl using a jelly strainer or several layers of cheescloth inside a regular strainer. Lightly squeeze straining cloth to extract additional juices. Discard berry pulp.
Prepare Fruit Juice for Canning
- Measure out 3 Cups of juice and pour into a clean, large pot.
- Stir in the fruit pectin.
- Bring to a FULL ROLLING BOIL over medium-high heat. Stir often. Scrape down sides as needed. Remove any foam with a spoon, or optionally, stir in 1/2 tsp butter to help control the foaming.
- Once it has come to a full rolling boil, immediately add sugar and lemon juice all at once and stir to dissolve.
- Bring back to a full rolling boil. Boil for exactly 1 minute.
- Remove pot from heat and quickly pour jelly into jelly jars, screw on lids and rings.
- Put jars into simmering waterbath canner and process according to time reccomended on the instruction sheet that accompanies the Sure Jell package. I process my jars for 10 minutes.
Notes
PIN THIS FOR LATER!
Beautyberry jelly is a delicious way to preserve nature’s bounty. Enjoy!
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