Cactus Jelly

[Greenhousegrandma]

Made some Strawberry Hedgehog Cactus (Echinocereus engelmannii) freezer jam. It turned out great.

[baileysup]

WOW, That sounds like it would be so good! Awesome!

[Greenhousegrandma]

[rainbowgardener]

Sounds wonderful !! Don't you love jelly/jam making? Great way to use almost anything in your garden. Between this year and last I have made jelly/jam from chrysanthemum, lilac, lemon balm, anise hyssop, sage, pineapple sage, bell & hot peppers, purple and green basils, and probably some more that I'm not thinking about right now.

[Greenhousegrandma]

Wow, I've made mint jelly but never even thought of sage or other herbs. That sounds wonderful! Did you boil the herbs and use the "tea" or mix it in a blender?

[baileysup]

How does it taste?

[rainbowgardener]

Wow, I've made mint jelly but never even thought of sage or other herbs. That sounds wonderful! Did you boil the herbs and use the "tea" or mix it in a blender?

Use the tea infusion, often with other stuff. So I have made blackberry- sage jam, sage- apple jelly, strawberry -anise hyssop jam, pineapple sage - pineapple jelly. The sage or whatever might be kind of intense by itself, but makes a wonderful blend with the fruits. But the basil jellies and lemon balm are just the herb infusion though. Purple basil jelly is delicious and comes out a beautiful deep pink color with no food coloring added.

You don't really want to boil the herbs though, breaks down the essences. Put them in boiling water and then take it off the stove and just let them steep, just like making tea. Strain out the herbs and use the infusion for making jelly with fruit pectin.

[Greenhousegrandma]

Thanks, I'll give it a try. Sage sounds like it would be wonderful on white meat.

[Greenhousegrandma]

How does it taste?

Once you add sugar (or sugar sub.) they really do taste like strawberries.

[rainbowgardener]

Breakfast this AM was waffles with purple basil syrup. It's like jelly without the pectin. Just the basil infusion simmered with sugar to reduce the water content some. It is still thin. But without the fruit pectin, which does tend to add some of its own flavor, the basil-y-ness of the syrup comes through more. Very nice.