With just the right amount of spice, balanced with sweetness and fruitiness from the raspberry, this Raspberry Pepper Jelly is a perfect alternative version of an already perfect preserve. It's made with Pomona’s pectin, with about half as much sugar as most traditional pepper jelly recipes.
Yield: 4 cups (1000mL)
Cook Time: 30 minutesminutes
Total Time: 45 minutesminutes
Ingredients
3-4/ 175gsweet red peppers, seeded and finely chopped (about 1 cup chopped)
4-6/ 90gspicy red peppers, seeded and finely chopped (about ½ cup chopped)
6oz/ 170gfresh or frozen raspberries, mashed (about ¾ cup mashed)
1 ¼cups/ 290gred wine or cider vinegar, 5% acidity
Fill a large stock pot or canning pot 2/3 full with water; place a rack of some sort in the bottom and place over medium-high heat. Wash/sterilize your jars and submerge in water bath as it heats. The pot should be just about boiling by the time the jam is ready to go. Keep jars in hot (not boiling) water until ready to use.
To prepare peppers, remove stems and seeds and chop finely. You can vary the proportion of sweet and spicy peppers, or even use entirely sweet peppers, as long as you have a total of 1 1/2 cups of finely chopped pepper.
To prepare raspberries, wash well, then mash with a potato masher or the back of a spoon until you have a chunky mashed mixture. You should have about ¾ cup of mashed fruit.
Combine peppers, raspberries, and vinegar in a heavy saucepan set over medium heat. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes to soften the peppers.
In a bowl, whisk together ½ cup sugar and pectin powder until evenly incorporated; set aside the remaining 2 cups of sugar, you'll add that later.
Add calcium water to pepper mixture and increase heat to medium-high; bring to a full rolling boil, then whisk in sugar/pectin mixture, stirring vigorously until completely dissolved and mixture returns to a boil.
Once it returns to a full rolling boil, stir in remaining 2 cups of sugar stirring vigorously until sugar is completely dissolved.
Return to once more to a full boil that can't be stirred down, then remove from heat. Optionally you can test your set at this time by dropping a bit onto a frozen spoon and returning to the freezer for 1 minute.
Ladle jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch of head space. Wipe jar rims and screw on lids. Process in boiling water for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Check seals. Any unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used within 3 weeks.
Notes
Calcium powder to make calcium water is included with the Pomona’s brand pectin (follow instructions included in the box).