David’s Grandmother’s recipe handed down to his Mother and now to us! Mayhaw berries grow wild in the swampy areas of Louisiana. The trees flower in early spring and ripen usually in April. The hardest part is to extract the juice from the berries. However, in recent years some people have started selling gallons of the juice for those of us who want to make our own jelly but do not have access to the Mayhaw trees! Preparation: Before cooking, sterilize the jars and lids. This can be done in boiling water on the stove, but David’s mother learned it works just as well to put the jars in the dishwasher rack and put the lids in a pot of boiling water on the stove – good time saving tip!
Ingredients
- 8 Cup(s) Mayhaw juice
- 11 Cup(s) sugar
- 2 Package(s) Sure-Jell
Method
- Place Paraffin wax in a vegetable can on the stove on low heat to start melting as you prepare the juice
- Using a large pot (at least 2 gallon or larger so liquid will not boil over)
- Mix juice and Sure-Jell
- Bring to a rolling boil stirring constantly
- add sugar and bring to rolling boil again, stirring constantly
- Once boiling, keep stirring and boil for 2 ½ minutes. Whole operation must be stirred constantly!
- Remove from heat and let set for a few minutes – you will see foam settle on top of liquid
- Remove foam carefully using a large spoon to skim the foam off the top of the liquid and discard foam
- Pour liquid into sterilized jars and let set a few minutes
- If any more foam appears on top, skim and discard
- Pour approx ¼ inch of paraffin wax on top of jelly in jars and let paraffin harden
- Place jars on lids and tighten
- Mayhaw Jelly is wonderful on hot buttered biscuits served with Gumbo, Shrimp & Grits or any other great Cajun dish. It also makes a wonderful Christmas gift for Friends/Family!