I just had to make use of all those lovely elderberries I picked at Carey’s place over the weekend. Had to make something a wee bit special with these tiny black jewels.
Jam, jelly, liqueur?
Elderberry Chutney!
Something hearty from such dainty little berries. Something to go well with cheese, to liven up a sandwich. Something savoury yet sweet.
When elderberries are perfectly ripe like this they expell their juice at the slightest touch. Let this be a warning to all those who like white clothing – beware of splats!
You’ll see in this recipe that I have just chucked in all my spices with the berries for the initial cooking. I’ve used powdered spices and the mustard seeds will get sieved out when you press the cooked berries through a sieve to remove the tiny pips. These pips are bitter so this step is pretty important and doesn’t take long at all.
The chunky little bits of apple and the sultanas (raisins if you don’t have sultanas) give a bit of texture here or you would really just have a sauce.
So let’s head for the recipe for my Elderberry Chutney. This is a nice easy one to deal with and something a bit different I think. The rich almost black purple colour of this chutney is certainly eye catching and would look amazing on a cheese board with a rich blue cheese.
- 500g/1 lb elderberries
- 1 small onion
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- pinch ground cloves
- pinch grated nutmeg
- 250ml/1/2 pint malt vinegar
- 1 medium apple
- 50g/2 oz sultanas
- 75g/3 oz soft brown sugar
- Rinse the elderberries and pick off the stems.
- Chop onion and heat the berries, onion, all spices and vinegar in a heavy based pan.
- Simmer for 40 minutes.
- Press this mixture through a wire sieve and return to the pan.
- Peel and chop the apple into 1cm cubes.
- Add the apple, sultanas and sugar to the berry pulp in the pan and slowly bring to the boil allowing all the sugar to dissolve completely.
- Boil for 15 minutes and then spoon into 1 medium sized jar. Cover with wax disc and pop on the lid.
- This will keep for up to 6 weeks in the fridge.
Karon x
I think this looks so good! I love seeing how you use the fruits that you have. This is so thrifty! I have jotted down a lot of the jams and things that you have shared with us. Thanks so much, Karon! Lots of new things to try. How do you think of all these neat things? Thanks again,
Patti xxoo
just made this chutney – should it thicken? After 15 mins boiling still very liquid?
No mention of thickening but most chutneys do….
Hi Sandie
You just have to keep going and keep stirring till you get it to a thicker point where you can drag a wooden spoon through and leave trail in bottom of pan. It will thicken more in jar as well.
K x
Made this last fall and forgot to comment. This is an excellent recipe. Made a huge amount and it disappeared fast. Gave some to the neighbors as well. It’s the first recipe I’ve seen that actually uses elderberries well. Otherwise, they are a difficult fruit to use–kind of bland.
Thanks Pete, so glad you liked the recipe.