More of Annie’s wild edible plant recipes:
Take the Family Foraging for Wild Edible Plants
Mayapple Jelly Recipe
Yields enough to fill 4 small jelly glasses.
2 cups mayapple slices
3 cups water
1/8 cup lemon juice
3 ounces liquid fruit pectin
Wash ripe mayapples, then cut away stem and blossom ends, and any waste parts. Remove seeds. Cut fruit into pieces and place in large kettle with water to cover.
Bring to a boil, then simmer until fruit is tender, mashing during cooking.
Strain juice through cheesecloth (should result in at least 1 3/4 cups mayapple juice).
Add lemon juice and sugar to strained juice. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly as you stir in the liquid fruit pectin.
Continue to boil and stir constantly until “jelly stage” is reached (220 F, or dip a spoon into boiling mixture and let it run off side of spoon. When it separates into two distinct drops that run together into “sheet” off edge of spoon, it is finished and should be taken off heat.)
Remove jelly from heat, skim foam from top, and pour into hot, sterilized jelly glasses. Seal at once with lid, and process jars in hot water bath. For half pints or pint jars, process for 5 minutes at altitudes from 0 to 1,000 feet; 10 minutes for altitudes from 1,001 to 6,000 feet; and 15 minutes for altitudes above 6,000 feet.
CAUTION: Parts of the mayapple are poisonous. Do not eat skin or seeds; eat only very ripe pulp.
