This is a lovely, simple hawthorn jelly recipe that you can have with cheese or meats. Make it now and you’ll be in time for giving it away as Christmas presents.
If your celebrating is more earth-centric, then you’ll be in time for the return of the sun on December 21st.
Enjoy this autumnal hawthorn jelly recipe.
Step 1
Find a nice Hawthorn bush (Crataegus monogyna) laden with lovely red haws.
Step 2
Pick 1.5lbs of hawthorn berries (haws). This will make 1 jar of hawthorn jelly, so obviously if you need more jars, pick more fruit.
Make sure that you remove the stalks. A good way is to simply roll a clump of berries (stalks and all) in between your hands, and you’ll find the haws just roll off. It’s certainly easier than individually pulling off each stalk.
Step 3
Now wash your haws and then drain.
Step 4
Put the haws into a heavy saucepan, and cover with 1.5 cups of water.
Step 5
Bring to the boil and simmer for 1 hour. Mash the berries with a potato masher every 20 minutes.
Step 6
Now strain the mixture over night using some muslin, or as I did, a jelly bag.
To keep the jelly clear do not squeeze the jelly bag, just let the juice drip. If you’re not bothered whether your hawthorn jelly is clear or not then squeeze away.
Step 7
For every 1 pint of juice measure out 1lb of sugar.
Step 8
Now squeeze the juice of 1 lemon.
Step 9
Mix the sugar and lemon juice into a heavy saucepan along with the hawthorn juice. Bring the mixture to the boil, stirring continuously until the sugar has dissolved.
Now rapid boil for 10 minutes until …
Step 10
… the jelly has reached setting point.
Step 11
Now skim off any foam from the top of the jelly liquid, and pour into sterilised, warm jars and screw on the lids.
Eat at will. There is no need to leave the hawthorn jelly for a month or so.
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i was searching for hawthorn jelly recipes as i picked lots today, and stumbled upon your site, looks most interesting and i will definitely be back to read more when i’ve finished playing with my hawthorn berries and sloes! thanks lots for the recipe!
Are the volumes correct?
I had to use double the amount of water just to stop the mush from drying to a biscuit while simmering and I certainly didn’t get the stream of liquid coming out of the jelly bag as shown in the photo – only one or two drips a minute.
How much liquid (prior to adding the sugar) should I expect to get? 1.5 cups = 5/8 pint (358ml) and most of that evaporates off (the haws adding nothing to the final liquid volume).
I made this last night exactly as the recipe says but double the amounts.
I kept the lid on whilst it simmered to keep the water in and left it overnight to strain through a jelly bag.
All I got was a quarter of a pint of juice draining off.
Could anyone provide the proper amount of liquid to add please?
Tony & David: Yes the measurements are correct. I made this Hawthorn Jelly recipe on 17th October 2008. Maybe you’ve just picked the haws too early, and they haven’t developed enough in size or moisture content.
Could you please tell me where in the US can I purchase some fresh hawthornes.
Michael: Sorry I can’t help you with suppliers in the US and I am in the UK. One thing to bare in mind is that I would encourage you to go out onto the land and learn to identify and harvest rosehips yourself, rather than buying them. Foraging is a very relaxing and pleasurable activity for all the family.
As others have experienced my haw berries didn’t produce very much liquid at all, despite adding about three times the suggested quantity of water at the boiling stage. The jelly however did set very very solid, so must have contained a lot of pectin. This suggests that the haws weren’t very ripe – but I picked them in November 5th in North England. Is it better to pick even later? Although the jelly is a nice colour, the haws don’t seem to have much flavour, I can mainly taste sugar and lemon.
Ruth: Not all plants taste the same. Even within as little as five feet there can be a huge difference in taste. With Hawthorn I have found that many are quite bland, so what I do is nibble a raw haw to determine its flavour. If it is bland I will leave the tree alone, if it tastes sweet and nourishing then I will harvest.
Try and get out of thinking that a wild edible plant species will have a consistent taste, because they vary so much depending on habitat, environment and time of year etc. These are wild, feral, undomesticated plants, so taste is going to vary and that is one of the joys I love about foraging. It’s not like going to a grocers and buying a pound of carrots
Hello, I just moved to Tasmania (Australia),
There are billions of blackberries and hawthorne berries growing everywhere.
I made some beautiful blackberry jam yesterday and I will start experimenting with adding hawberrie jelly after I found more jars.
Can’t wait!
Eveline