Easy Muscadine Jelly

My parents recently moved into a new home. It came with a big Muscadine vine and mature peach trees. The peach trees did not produce many peaches but the Muscadine vine is full of fruit. 

I made a visit one day to pick some muscadines. Within a few minutes I had a small bucket full. I was not sure what to do with them so I washed and put them in the fridge. For a week, we would reach in and grab one or three for a snack but I still had a lot and wanted to do something with them before they went bad. 

I decided to make jelly. Mom told me I did not need to add extra pectin and all I need to do is boil them hull and all. Then strain them afterwards. She said they have enough natural pectin to do the trick.

I looked around online anyway and every recipe I found had added pectin. I took my moms advice and went with what she said.

Mom was right (as always). With 3 cups of muscadines, I was able to fill three small jelly jars of thick jiggly jelly. I gave a jar to my mom and dad and one to my daughter. We kept one for ourself and it is almost gone.

Here is how I made Muscadine jelly.

• 3 cups of muscadines.
• 2 1/4 cups of sugar (3/4 cup to every cup of muscadines).
• 1/4 cup water.

Add muscadines, water and sugar in a pot and boil for about 20 minutes. 

With cheese cloth, strain the muscadine mix into a pot and boil for another 5 to 10 minutes. 

Note: You can seperate the hulls and boil them separately. Place the hulls in a food processor to chop fine and add them to the stained muscadine mixture. This would make it jam. 

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To test if it is ready, place a plate in the freezer for a few minutes to get it cold. Add a drop of the Muscadine jelly to the cold plate. It should move when the plate is tilted but not runny and watery. It will have a slight skim texture on the top when you touch it. This is how you know it’s ready to put in a jar and place in the refrigerator. It will thicken as it cools. This is called refrigerator jelly. 

It turned out great and went good on my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and toast. I may be going back soon for some more grapes because I found a recipe for Muscadine cobbler I want to try soon. 

Muscadine vs Scuppernong: Muscadines are red (or purple) and Scuppernong is golden green. Scuppernongs are the state fruit of North Carolina. All Scuppernongs are Muscadines but not all Muscadines are Scuppernongs. Confused yet?

Fig Butter

I came across more figs again this year. There is a member of my church that gave me a half gallon last year and I enjoyed them in my yogurt and just eating them raw. Mr. L called to let me know he had me some more figs. He asked me to meet him at the church so he could give them to me. He handed me a bag of fresh okra and 5lbs of figs!

I was so excited.

When I got home I immediately washed the figs. I froze some, and put some in the refrigerator for snacks. Then prepared enough of them to make Fig butter. The plan was to make jam but it didn’t turn out jammy. 

So fig butter it is. This is ok because I just finished off a jar of apple butter and now I can enjoy some fig butter on my toast or peanut butter sandwiches. 

It was simple to make and will last in the refrigerator up to 3 weeks. 

FIG BUTTER

1/2  water

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups figs (1 pound) cut in quarters

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Put water and sugar in a sauce pan on medium heat until sugar is dissolved.

Add lemon juice and figs. 

Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to a simmer for one hour, partially covered.

Smash up (I used an immersion blender).

Let cool and store in refrigerator. 

(I doubled the recipe and got over a quart)