Hedgerow Jelly With Scotch Whisky

I love foraging for berries and fruits and this superb hedgerow jelly with Scotch whisky is the perfect use for found fruits. It’s rich and tasty, savoury with sweetness too.

 Hedgerow Jelly with Scotch whisky

We are always told that the best things in life are free, we are also informed that things mean more when we have to make an effort for them. This jelly really is a case in point. It firmly ticks both of these boxes with a thick felt pen.

The berries, haws, hips, brambles and rowans were all free. They were all found in the hedgerows up here on Walton’s Mountain. I used to run past these bushes, trees and hedges every day. Used to watch those berries changing colour like a hawk and carry a little baggy to collect them when they turned the perfect shade of ripeness.

Foraging

I did this for years, sometimes I ate lots of brambles and ran home with sticky stained hands and nothing to show the cooking pot. I took all this for granted. They were just there.

This year has been different, I can no longer run and to walk round our wee mountain would be too painful for my pathetically stupid foot. I miss being part of the changing seasons on my run. I miss so much about it really.

Instead I drag out the bike and cycle round, not enjoying it at all but doing it for the exercise. Still it means I can carry a bigger baggy on the handle bars and tote home more fruity loot.

For hedgerow jelly you can use any of the edible berries and fruits that grace the trees and bushes at this time of year.

Button bright haws that are prickly and hard to gather, brambles (blackberries) so juicy and sweet that never seem to make it home, rosehips, sloes, rowan berries and plums.

Add in some apples and raspberries if you happen to have any hanging about the freezer.

How to make Hedgerow Jelly

Wash all your fruits and chop up plums and apples. There is no need to peel or stone the fruit as it will all be sieved anyway.

I used 1 kilo of mixed berries and added 350g of apples. There are only three other ingredients for this jelly; 100ml of whisky (come on this is me and it is Scotland), water and sugar.

Tip your chopped and washed fruit into a large bowl and pour over the booze. Get your hands in there and really stir it about to make sure all the fruit gets a change to soak up the old amber nectar!

Cover with a tea towel and leave over night. Next morning scoop out the fruit and put into your preserving pan. Reserve the booze at the bottom of the bowl.

Making the jelly

Cover the fruit with water and bring it to the boil. Pop on the lid and lower the temperature so that the fruit will just simmer for about 40 minutes until tender.

Pour it all into a jelly bag (or muslin bag/old pair of (clean!!) tights/old cheesecloth shirt that has seen better days etc) and let it drip quietly overnight into another bowl.

Next day you want to measure the juice you have gathered in the bowl.

Resist all temptation to squeeze out the bag to get more. This would be a total disaster as you’d end up with cloudy jelly and we want jewel like clarity don’t we!

Get cooking

Measure the juice, and for every 600ml (1 pint) add 350g (12oz) of granulated sugar.

Pour this into your preserving pan and gently heat to dissolve the sugar before bringing it to the boil.

Boil for approximately 10 minutes until you have reached the setting point.

Test with chilled saucer from the freezer and dropping a spoonful on it and popping it back in the fridge for 5 minutes. If it forms a skin and wrinkles when you touch it then it is ready to pot.

Stir in the reserved whisky – now you did keep it didn’t you, oh no you drank it, naughty old you go and get some more then, you only want a couple of tablespoons anyway!

Spoon jelly into sterilised jars and cover with lids.

How much hedgerow jelly will this make?

This will make 4 jars. For me it made no jars at all on the first batch as I let it boil too long and when I did get it into the jars it set like rock. This necessitated starting all over again. An exercise both in patience and cycling. Was it worth it? Yes definitely.

How long will this jelly keep?

Your hedgerow jelly with Scotch whisky will keep for about a year unopened in a cool cupboard. Once opened store in fridge and use within a month.

What does this jelly go with?

Hedgerow Jelly is one of those jellies that works just as well both with savoury and sweet dishes.

It has a deep, rich and indulgent sort of flavour. I especially love it on top of a turkey and brie sandwich with a few salad leaves and maybe a glass of red on the side.

Stir your hedgerow jelly into turkey, chicken or beef gravy for extra depth and flavour.

This it with a little water and use this jelly as a glaze when roasting meats.

So if you have access to the hedgerows go make yourself some of this wonderful jelly, it is a real jewel of Autumn.

Looking for more great foraged preserves? Then check out these fun foraging ideas;

Traditional rosehip jelly

Sweet and sour pickled blackberries

Rowan and rosemary jelly

Elderberry chutney

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.