Easy Homemade Rowan Berry Jelly

Rowan Berry Jelly is a foraging classic and perfect with everything from toast to a cheeseboard, as an addition to sauces and as a roasting glaze too. Here I’ll show you how to make both simple rowan jelly and my rowan berry jelly with rosemary too.

Why you’ll love this recipe

• Rowan jelly is so delicious and useful in many ways both sweet and savoury
• You won’t find rowan jelly in the average supermarket, so make your own
• Foraging is free, so make the most of free food to make this delicious rowan jelly recipe

Rowan jelly spells Autumn to me; those glowing red berries like little jewels sprinkled around the countryside mean only one thing.

Summer has left us and autumn is here, time to wrap up warm and store what we can for the winter months to come.

I love using rowan berries and my rowan and redcurrant jelly is well worth trying too.

Rowan berries

The rowan tree (Sorbus Aucupria) grows all over the UK and overseas as well. Widely known for it’s magical properties and connection to folklore rowan trees were once planted beside houses to ward off evil.

In Scotland it has always been considered taboo to cut down a rowan tree as this could bring dreadful bad luck.

For lots more information on rowan trees then check out the British Woodland Trust.

Foraging

Like all jellys this recipe for Rowan jelly is pretty simple to make. The hardest part is the foraging for the rowan berries. Clambering about in bushes and reaching up for those little rowan berries before the birds get them all.

Many is the time I’ve fallen in ditches and got tangled in barbed wire in my quest for the gorgeous little red globes of goodness.

When you are foraging for rowan berries always go for the bright red berries as these are ripe and will come away from the little twigs easily. Avoid the orange or yellowish rowan berries as these aren’t yet ripe.

Rules of foraging

Never pick all the rowan berries on one bush/tree. Leave a good percentage of berries for the birds.

Don’t pick rowan berries from beside a busy main road. These trees are packed with polution from all the traffic, pick your rowan berries in the countryside. Even in parks trees may well be sprayed with insecticides etc.

Got the foraging bug? Then check out my Foraging Recipe Section for loads of great ideas for your foraged finds.

Ingredients for rowan jelly

The only ingredients you’ll need for this Scottish rowan jelly recipe are the rowan berries, apples, the juice of a lemon and sugar.

The amount of sugar depends on the amount of juice you get from cooking and straining the rowan berries and apples.

If you want to flavour your jelly and turn it into my rowan berry jelly with rosemary then you just need to add some fresh rosemary to the mix.

Do you need pectin to make rowan jelly?

There is no need for adding any pectin to this rowan jelly recipe as the apples themselves contain pectin and the lemon juice you are adding is packed with pectin which is what helps your rowan jelly to set.

The complete list of ingredients and full instructions for making this recipe can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.

How to make rowan jelly

This is such an easy recipe for rowan berry jelly and you don’t need to do anything fiddly with those roan berries, simply give them a rinse with cold water to remove any dust or insects. You don’t even need to remove all those tiny stems as you will be straining the berries so removing all solids anyway.

Don’t bother to peel the apples or even core them. Just chop them up a bit so they will cook quicker with the rowans.

Put the chopped up apples and the rowan berries in a pan and just cover with water bring to the boiol then simmer for about 20 minutes till the fruit is all tender.

Now get in there with a potato masher and squish things down a bit so its all pulpy.

If you are making my rowan jelly with rosemary then add the rosemary with the apples when you are boiling and simmering as this really puts the flavour of rosemary right into your rowan jelly recipe.

Now comes the patience part. Leave the resulting fruity pulp hanging in a jelly bag over a bowl overnight. Yoou can buy preserving kits that contain a jelly bag plus a little stand that fits over a bowl. Although I do have one of these I often just use those mesh bags you get in supermarkets (Aldi) for putting your veg in.

You can also use a sheet of muslin or fine cotton tied up as a bag to put your fruit and berry pulp in or even a clean pair of nylon tights.

Now the important bit. Do NOT under any circumstances squeeze the jelly bag to get out more juice.

Tempting though this is. If you do squeeze that jelly bag you will end up with cloudy rowan jelly and not the crystal clear jar full of joy that you can see here.

Now you measure the juice that you have got from letting the pulp drip overnight.

For every 600ml/1 pint of juice add 350g/12 oz sugar and place in pan with the lemon juice.

Boil for 10-15 minutes or until setting point has been reached. Then carefully ladle your rowan jelly into sterilised jars.

If you have made my rowan and rosemary jelly you can pop a tiny sprig of rosemary into the jelly in each jar. Make sure that the rowan sprig is submerged in the jelly.

What does rowan jelly taste like?

Well, this is a sweet and savoury jelly. It’s tangy and fruity sort of sweet and sour if you like.

if you are making my rowan and rosemary jelly then it will have that deep almost earthy taste of rosemary that also has a floral edge to it – Good Lord, I sound like one of those wine buffs!

What do you eat with rowan jelly?

This sweet and savoury treat is perfect for jazzing up cheese on toast or using in the more traditional way along with meat dishes like steak, chops or roast beef or chicken.

Another great use for this Rowan jelly is to stir it into your gravy when you’re making a roast, chicken, beef, lamb, pork or whatever.

Rowan jelly also makes a great glaze for roasting chicken, turkey, pork or root veggies too.

But my favourite way to use for this Scottish rowan and rosemary jelly is on the cheeseboard. Just add cheese, crackers and a glass of wine and I’m happy as a lark.

How long will this jelly keep?

This rowan jelly (like all my jellies) will keep for up to a year in a cool cupboard. Once opened store in fridge and use up within a month.

Please Note – We do not usually do water bath or other canning methods here in the UK. Our preserves keep perfectly well without this.

Looking for more foraging preserves? Then check these out before you dash off.

Scotch Hedgerow Jelly

Rowan and redcurrant jelly

Spiced crab apple jelly

Rosehip  Vinegar

Rosehip Jelly

Or why not check out my Foraging section of Larder Love for even more exciting recipes for foraged goodies.

Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.