Cherries in Green Tea-Rose Jelly

The Challenge for Can Jam this month was berries and cherries.  Normally this wouldn't be a problem here in Seattle, however this year summer just is refusing to participate.  We still have not seen a day above 75, so the selection of what to work with has been limited.  For a few weeks it has been touch and go on whether I would have anything at all to play with.  Luckily the east side of the state finally got some sunshine and in came the cherries.

I had already done a few recipes using cherries but they were not as challenging or creative as I wanted; here I really wanted to challenge myself. So off I went looking for different recipes.  I began by searching through all my cooking and canning books, but nothing caught my eye. Then I did a search on epicurious.com and well this recipe caught my eye: A Green Tea Panna Cotta with Strawberries.

 I knew that I had some cherry rose green tea at home.  The the idea formed to make a green tea rose jelly with cherries.


My thoughts were to make a clear jelly with the green tea and add the cherries so that they would be hanging in that clear gel. My first attempt was ok. I tried cooking the cherries in a heavy syrup and then placing them in the clear jelly. Unfortunately the cherries rose to the top and ended up forming a syrup on top of the jelly. Definitely not what I wanted.

So attempt number two. This time I made the cherries in their own jelly put instead of processing the cherries in that jelly I separated them out and then poured the green tea jelly over them.  

Cherries in Green Tea Rose Jelly

4 T Cherry-Rose Sencha (you can use regular green tea and fresh rose petals)

9 c hot water

2 T lemon juice

6 c + 2 c sugar

3 packages of pectin

12 c cherries, pitted and quartered

3 c water

Heat water to a low simmer and pour over the tea.  Allow to steep for 1:30-2:00 mins.  Pour though a towel lined colander. Add the lemon juice. Set aside.

Place cherries and water in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a low boil. Add 1 package of pectin and bring to a full boil. Boil for 1 min.  Add 2 cups of sugar return to a full boil.  Boil for 5 mins.  Separate the cherries from the jelly.  Place the cherries in pint jars (6-8 jars). Place the cherry jelly in half pint jars and process for 5 mins. 

Place the green tea mixture in a large pot. Bring to a low boil and add two packages of pectin. Bring to a full boil and boil for 1 min.  Add 6 c of sugar and boil for 5 mins.  Pour the green tea over the cherries in the pint jars. Process for 5 mins.