Nice and runny… uh, just what I meant to do.
First, get a bunch of grapes and wash them really well. It doesn’t really matter how many you use, just fill a large pot about 3/4 full.
Add about three cups of water to the pot, and bring to a boil. Use a potato masher to crush the grapes, allowing the juices to flow out. Reduce the heat to med-low and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Strain the juice through a cheese cloth to remove the skins and seeds. Return the juice to the pot.
Forget to measure the liquid, and dump in 7 cups of sugar. Stir until dissolved. Add one pouch of liquid pectin to the mixture. Bring to another hard boil, and leave for 1 minute.
Remove the pot from the heat and test the thickness. Take an ice cold spoon, and get some of the jelly syrup onto it and allow it to cool to room temperature. Of course, it will be runny. So you will add another entire box of powdered pectin to the mixture and bring it to a second hard boil.
Do the spoon test again for thickness. It will still be runny. Add another cup of sugar to the mixture, just because. Boil for one more minute.
Ladle the liquid into hot, sterilized jars. Secure lids with rings and hot water bath for 10 minutes.
In the morning, your jars will be full of nice, runny syrup.
Exactly what you were trying to make.
*Sigh*
Hey, it’ll be good over pancakes and waffles, right?!
**UPDATE: Okay guys, good news! After putting a jar of this stuff in the fridge for a couple of days, it gelled quite nicely, and became perfect jelly after all! Boy, was I glad about that!
A city girl learning to homestead on an acre of land in the country. Wife and homeschooling mother of four. Enjoying life, and everything that has to do with self sufficient living.
I remember that twice Kool-Ade came out with a lemon grape flavor, which I loved as a child and as an adult. I’m thinking Leslie has the right idea, just use your grape syrup to flavor some homemade lemonade, and YUM!
well i have been making jellys and jams for a lot of years now, so long that i dont read the directions anymore, im saying this, because i was making peach jam, and my first batch i put the peaches through a blender and made my ”jam” well to my disapointment it didnt jell,, so i went back to the directions and ,,low and behold,, there it was ”do not puree the fruit” but it really did make a nice think syrup, that we love on french toast and pancakes, as for the jam, well we cut the pieches into very small bits and that worked fine.. so now, i am looking to make all sorts of syrup this way, strawberry which i have already done, grape, peach, trying this year to do blueberries,, never did it , but we will see,,, have fun all, larry
Very interesting about not pureeing the fruit first, Larry. I’ve never heard that. Thanks for sharing.
Not jelling can be due to a lot of different factors. Overripe fruit, boiling it too long, pectin that is too old, etc. It could be that Certo changed its recipe, or it could simply be that it was a little old. High methoxyl pectins do not keep well year to year. Might have been new to you but who knows how long it was on the grocery shelf, etc.
And sometimes, you never do figure out why something didn’t set up well. Syrup happens. You just smile and pretend that was your intention all along!
I too made syrup this year only it was strawberry and I think I know EXACTLY how both our jam/jelly turned into syrup. I made 5 batches of strawberry freezer jam this year and the first three came out perfect and without a hitch. The last two however seemed off from the time I ladled them into their little containers… the fruit was floating!!! That was my first indication that something was wrong… I crossed my fingers and hoped that it was because it doesn’t get heated. I knew heat helps remove air from fruit before you can it so I thought since you don’t heat liquid pectin there was a snowball’s chance in… well never mind. Anywho… the next day as I was putting them into the freezer I thought it still seemed awfully thin compared to the powdered pectin but it can take a bit to set up so I kept my little fingers crossed and put them into the freezer. Then I took some to my dad and sure enough he had to dip his rolls into it. So, since I have yet to have a problem with jam, or anything canning related for that matter, I decided to do some investigating on the internet. Turns out…Sure Jell liquid pectin by Certo decided to up and change their recipe on all of us. I’ve never used this product prior to this (and unfortunately I have some more sitting in my cupboard just dying to turn some perfect fruit into syrup and not jelly or jam) so I didn’t have any true expectations for it but I did, of course, have high hopes for it. My guess is Sure Jell/ Certo is getting A LOT of hate mail from hundred of women, and possibly some men, who thought the product has been infallible all this time only to find that it’s a big fat flop this year. Anyway, get creative with your grape syrup and I’m sure it will still be wonderful no matter what you decide to do with it!
Megan,
INTERESTING!! So, it’s THEIR fault! 😉
Hey, you just gave me an idea of what to do with some grape juice I made a few years back and doesn’t seem to be moving too quickly. I’ll boil it down! Thanks.
I did this with about 35 pints, trying to cut back on the sugar content, guess what, it doesnt work. So now I will have to redo it all, recook, add sugar and pectin UGH!
It does sound yummy.:)
Oh, too funny! I’ve had a few cooking adventures just like that!
Great tutorial! The enthusiasm is infectious. I want to grow grapes just so I can make some grape syrup, too. LOL
My first batch of watermelon jelly turned out like this, i’m going to use it to add a new flavor to our lemonade, I love strawberry lemonade so i’m betting the watermelon will be great. You could also use it as a glaze over bundt cakes and pound cakes. Maybe make a peanut butter flavored cake/bread and use the grape syrup as a glade or filler between the layers and make a peanutbutter and jelly cake.
Thanks guys! You’re all making me feel much better 🙂
My strawberry jam is syrup this year. It tastes heavenly on waffles and French toast, so I’m not complaining. 😉
Happened to me once and it made the best pancake syrup we’d ever had. It won’t go to waste, I’m sure. Better luck next time!
Kendra, this was great! I too, thought you were really making syrup. Glad to know I’m not the only one who ends up with something I didn’t start to make in the first place!
Blessings~
Laura
adding a little lemon juice helps to thicken up juice for jelly, Barbara
would work great for grape soda .. i have an entire section of my blog devoted to “instead of this…i made this…” very little of what is made or conjured up is a complete FAIL.. it near always has another use..could always just reconstitute and call it grape juice too
LOL! I guess I need to make a post on how to make strawberry syrup, then. My jam didn’t set. I just use it on pancakes and my darling husband thinks it’s a special treat! 😀
Pancakes and waffles… and the base for homemade grape soda? Sounds like that could be tasty.
Also, it’s great as a topping on vanilla ice cream. I have some blackberry syrup, also created “intentionally,” that I kept for that purpose.
Grape soda… you just might be onto something Garth! 🙂
Lol I actually thought you were making syrup, but you just brightened my day with this 😉 I needed a laugh