Appalachian Jelly

Okay, stay with me on this one! I found this old Appalachian recipe for making jelly out of corn cobs. My first thought was yuck! I heard that it tasted like honey so I decided to give it a try. And, it does!! You would never know that corn cobs was used to make it. I call it Appalachian jelly and not corn cob jelly because I think it would keep people from trying it. The jelly tastes really good on biscuits and also as a marinade on meat.


Recipe:
12 corn cobs (corn removed)
4 c. water
4 c. sugar
1 pkg. pectin
yellow food coloring

1. Boil cobs with water for 20 minutes.
2. Remove cobs and wring out any liquid on cobs.
3. Bring water back up to rolling boil.
4. Add pectin and stir until dissolved. Bring to a boil again.
5. Add sugar and continue to stir.
6. Add about 7 to 10 drops of food coloring and bring to a rolling boil.
7. Boil for 3 minutes. Test a small amount in bowl to see if if gels.
8. Pour into canning jar and process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes.

As a note: Do not try to double batch; it will not turn out. Also, make sure to add the pectin then the sugar. Finally, it is a sweet jelly; cutting down the sugar will cause the jelly not to set. Yes, I am writing from experience! I had to go back and redo several batches.