When I lived near San Diego, a woman named Tina would bring Pomegranate Jelly to work every year. She made it herself with pomegranates from the tree in her yard. It was AWESOME and the perfect addition to the bagels and cream cheese that American Mobile Healthcare provided every Friday. (Hi Susie!! I miss you!!)
Anyway... this isn't Tina's recipe. I wouldn't have the slightest idea how to find her now. But every time I see a pomegranate I think of Tina's Pomegranate Jelly.
This recipe is from the POMWonderful website.
Crimson POM Refrigerated Jelly
2 C POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice
1/4 C arils from 1 large Pomegranate
2 TBLS lemon juice
1 packet liquid fruit pectin, or half of a 1 3/4 oz. package powdered fruit pectin
4 cups granulated sugar
In a 6-quart saucepan or Dutch oven, combine pomegranate juice, lemon juice and pectin. Over high heat, bring mixture to a boil.
Stir in sugar all at once, then stir constantly. Heat mixture again until it comes to a full rolling boil; boil 1 minute over medium-high heat.
Remove from heat and skim foam from jelly with a spoon. Discard foam.
Immediately ladle the jelly into clean jelly jars with lids, or refrigerator containers with tight-fitting lids. Sprinkle reserved arils over the top of each container of jelly. Cover tightly. Let stand 45 minutes to cool, then refrigerate for 1 1/4 hours. If not using immediately, refrigerate for up to 4 to 6 weeks, or freeze for up to 1 year.
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So this is what you need.
Well... you only need one pomegranate if you're using juice.
Pomegranate Juice, Lemon Juice & Pectin
Isn't that a gorgeous color??
Bring that to a boil
Add all of the sugar.
And bring that to a full rolling boil.
Boil for 1 minute over medium high heat.
Remove from heat.
And scoop out the foam.
Ladle into jelly jars.
I didn't sprinkle in any arils. My pomegranate looked less than fresh when I opened it. So I just skipped that part.
Did you know those seeds sacs were called arils? I didn't. Learn something new everyday!
To really see just how gorgeous this jelly is, it needs to be back-lit.
Isn't that pretty?
Cover tightly. Let stand 45 minutes to cool, then refrigerate for 1 1/4 hours. If not using immediately, refrigerate for up to 4 to 6 weeks, or freeze for up to 1 year.
Here's the aliens are taking the jelly view...
So... how did it come out?
Well... it looks gorgeous! And it tastes WONDERFUL! (One might say POMwonderful hehe)
However; my jelly is not gel-y. It's kinda gel-y. It's a little too thin to call jelly... but it's also a little to thick to be a syrup. It's kind of like a sauce.
But, I had just made my first pomegranate jelly... so of course the first thing I had to do was have it on a bagel with cream cheese!
See... it's a little thin... still tasty and beautiful... but thin.
So I thought... hmmm... I bet this would be awesome on ice cream.
Oh yeah! Awesome on ice cream!
Ice cream would also be a good place for some arils.
And how about on pancakes?
SO good on pancakes!!!
I did have to thin it out a little to use as syrup.
30 seconds in the microwave was perfect.
So, although it's didn't really gel as much as I thought it should. It was definitely still a winner!
This was my first attempt at jelly of any kind.
Did I do something wrong? I'd love to hear any suggestions you might have!
Have a great weekend!!
