Basic Tea Jelly Recipes

BASIC TEA JELLY

Steps:

• (If not including juice and using a tea infusion as your only liquid, increase the amount of water to 2 cups.).
• Bring water to boil, add tea bags and steep for 30 minutes.
• Discard tea bags. Add sugar (and optional juice) to brewed tea and bring to a boil.
• Boil for 2 minute stirring.
• Remove from heat and add pectin, return to boil and allow to do so for 1 minute.
• Skim off any foam.
• Pour hot jelly into jars and process for 20 minutes.

SIMPLE SWEET TEA JELLY

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Steep 1/3 cup loose tea in 2 cups boiling water for 4 minutes.
• Pour the tea and lemon juice into a heavy-bottomed 2-quart saucepan set over medium-high heat. Stir in the pectin and bring to a boil.
• Stir in the sugar. Bring to a hard boil for 1 minute. Stir the jelly for 1 minute. Insert a thermometer into the pot, and once it has reached 220 F, turn off the heat to test the jelly.
• Remove the plate from the freezer. Spoon a small amount of jelly onto the plate and put back in the freezer for 1 minute. Nudge into it with your finger. If it wrinkles, it's ready to can. If not, cook it for a bit longer and test it again.
• Follow the directions for water bath canning on this recipe.

BASIC JELLY

Steps:

• Combine fruit and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook, partially covered, mashing occasionally with a potato masher, until fruit is very soft, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer mixture to a fine sieve set over a heatproof bowl; let drain without pressing on fruit, 4 hours. Strain again through sieve lined with damp cheesecloth. Measure juice; you will have 3 to 4 cups.
• In a large heavy-bottomed pot, bring juice to a boil. Add 3/4 cup sugar for each cup of juice. Add lemon juice and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Return to a boil and cook, stirring frequently, 8 to 12 minutes. To test if jelly is done, dip a large metal spoon in, lift it horizontally above pot, and let mixture drip back in. Jelly is done when mixture has thickened slightly and drops of it slide together off spoon in a sheet. (Temperature should register 221 degrees on a candy thermometer.) Skim foam from top.
• Ladle jelly into clean containers, leaving 3/4 inch of headroom. Let cool completely. Cover, label, and refrigerate up to 1 month, or freeze up to 1 year.

SMALL BATCH TEA JELLY (ANY FLAVOR)

Steps:

• When choosing your tea, please bear in mind that certain herbs might be too strong or bitter and make a poor jelly (lavender and black tea in particular need to be treated carefully). If you do need to use a strong herb, try adding it in 5 minutes into the steep time. Also, when measuring out your tea, if your quantity is not exactly a match for the recommended quantity, it's better to go under than over the amount.
• Bring water up to a rolling boil in a medium saucepan; add tea and boil 1 minute.
• Cover the saucepan, turn the heat off, and steep tea for 10 minutes.
• Strain out the tea leaves and place the tea back in the saucepan.
• Stir in the sugar to taste and the pectin (making sure it's fully dissolved), then bring to a strong boil.
• Boil 1 minute (stirring frequently). Turn the heat off, and test the jelly for doneness (I like using the freezer plate method).
• Place jam into sterilized canning jars and screw on the lids. Process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Alternatively, you can just put the jelly in the fridge and eat it immediately. It should keep for a couple weeks.
• NOTE: I've tested several flavors so far using some of my own tea recipes, and I've found that these are particularly good as jelly: Spiced Rose Tea (or indeed any tea that involves rose petals), White Vanilla Tea, Chamomile Apple Tea, and Rooibos Carob Tea.