Sweet Corn Cob Jelly

Ingredients:
6 raw sweet corn cobs*
1 bay leaf
1 6-oz package liquid pectin (both little pouches)
3 cups sugar

Directions:

Place the corn cobs and bay leaf in a heavy bottomed 6 quart Dutch oven. Fill with water. Bring to a boil. Continue to boil for 30 minutes. Strain into a large measuring cup. It should measure about 4 cups. Pour the liquid back into the Dutch oven. Add the sugar and pectin and bring to a rolling boil. Boil until it “sets” into a jelly-like texture, just a few minutes. Ladle into jars, leaving a 1/4 inch headspace and process 15 minutes using the hot water method.

Yield: 6 8-oz jars

*I used cobs leftover from making things like this. Not cobs I had eaten off of or were previously boiled/grilled. Because I am not an expert corn cutter-offer, there was some corn left on the cobs (mostly half kernels) which added flavor.

Note: A great source for canning information is the Blue Book guide to preserving. I highly recommend it for learning how to can. Here is a bunch of other canning books and equipment I find useful.

My thoughts:

Until I went to Nashville in May, I had only heard of corn cob jelly. Then I was served it with some fried green tomatoes and it was so good, I had to make it myself. I mostly came across recipes using seed corn but the jelly I had was definitely made with sweet corn so I came up with this recipe. I added the bay leaf to enhance the light corn flavor and I am glad I did. It cut the sweetness a bit and added even more of an herbal note.

PS: Today is National Can-it-Forward Day! The perfect day to can with friends.

9 Comments

  1. I don't see that you used any water or other liquid?

  2. I don't think I understand the question. You fill the pot with water. Then you boil it.

  3. About how much water did you use in the second sentence when you said 'Fill with water'. The end result after straining said that you should end up with 4 cups, so about how much would you say?

    Never heard of this, but must make to try!!! 🙂

  4. I called for a 6 quart Dutch oven. After adding the cobs, you fill the rest of it with water. Since your cobs may be larger or smaller than mine, the amount of water will obviously vary. Each time when I made this, I filled the pot and once it was reduced, I ended up with about 4 cups. I do not see the need (or do I feel comfortable doing so) to give an exact amount for the initial fill with water.

  5. Interesting! I saw a similar thing on a cupcake blog but theirs was more like a homemade corn syrup have you seen it? I had never heard of this stuff, but now I've seen it twice in the last month. Crazy!

    cupcakeproject.com/2012/02/homemade-corn-syrup-you-can-use-in.html

    Thanks for sharing,
    Jade

  6. Fun, Jade! The final products of these two recipes are very, very different however.

  7. Thank you Rachel! I've never made jelly so I wasn't sure and forgot about the whole reduction part. I can't wait to try this! 🙂

  8. I'm wondering about the general safety of this recipe without a pressure canner due to its lack of acid. Any thoughts?

  9. The National Center for Home Food Preservation recommends the water bath method for corn cob jelly.