Rowan jelly is deep orange and sharp, and it's one of the best uses for the scarlet berries that hang on Scotland's rowans as summer turns to autumn. The berries need cooking and a partner fruit, so they're simmered with crab apples or Bramley cores, strained through a cloth, and boiled with sugar and lemon until the juice sets.

Makes
varies with the juice; weigh the sugar against however much drips through
Keeps
around a year unopened in a cool, dark cupboard; in the fridge once opened, eaten within a few weeks to a month or two
Ready to eat
once set; leave the jars unmoved for at least 12 hours, and allow up to 2 weeks for a slow set
In season
autumn, once the berries have ripened to scarlet
Time
about 20 minutes simmering, at least 4 hours (or overnight) dripping, about 10 minutes boiling

Ingredients

  • 1.5kg rowan berries, stalks removed
  • 1.5kg crab apples (or the same weight of Bramley apple cores)
  • water, enough to just cover the fruit
  • 450g white sugar for every 600ml of strained juice
  • 1 lemon, juiced

You can make a smaller batch, as long as the sugar stays at 450g for every 600ml of juice (750g per litre) and the lemon is scaled down with the fruit.

Method

  1. Knock the berry clusters to shake out any insects, then wash them and pull off the stalks.
  2. Chop the crab apples without peeling or coring them (or use the Bramley cores), and put them in a large, heavy pan or preserving pan with the berries.
  3. Pour in just enough water to cover the fruit and bring it to the boil.
  4. Turn the heat down and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the fruit is really soft and broken down.
  5. Lay a muslin or a soft, clean cotton cloth over a large bowl and tip in the pulp and liquid.
  6. Gather up the edges of the cloth and tie it so it hangs above the bowl, from an upturned chair on a table or a beam.
  7. Leave it to drip for at least 4 hours or overnight. Don't squeeze the cloth, or the jelly will be cloudy.
  8. While it drips, put two or three small plates in the fridge to chill.
  9. Measure the juice in a jug. If there's more than about 1.4 litres, split it into two batches and boil them one after the other.
  10. Start sterilising the jars and new lids so they're ready and still hot when the jelly is. For the jars: 160°C (gas mark 3) in the oven for 10 minutes, a hot dishwasher cycle, or water above 90°C for 10 minutes. Check the jar maker's instructions; some (Kilner, for example) advise against the oven for their jars. If you're boiling two batches, keep the second set of jars hot until it's needed.
  11. Pour the juice into a clean pan and add 450g sugar for every 600ml, plus the lemon juice (split evenly if you're making two batches).
  12. Bring it to the boil, then boil rapidly for about 10 minutes.
  13. Take the pan off the heat and test for a set: spoon a little onto a cold plate, wait a minute and push it with your finger. If the surface wrinkles, it has set. If not, boil for a few more minutes and test again. Don't boil far past the set, or the jelly turns dark and tough. On a sugar thermometer, jelly sets at around 105°C; the setting point guide explains both tests.
  14. Skim off any foam, then pour the hot jelly straight into the hot, dry, sterilised jars, leaving about 6mm (a quarter inch) at the top. Don't let it stand in the pan first; jelly left standing turns cloudy.
  15. Fit new lids at once, so each jar seals as it cools, and leave the jars unmoved for at least 12 hours.
Rowan and crab apple pulp in a muslin bundle tied and hanging over a bowl, clear orange juice dripping through
Rowan berries don’t set on their own, so crab apples go in the same bag as the pectin source.

Why rowan berries have to be cooked

Raw rowan berries are bitter and not fit to eat. Fresh berries contain parasorbic acid, which in large quantities can irritate the stomach lining, cause indigestion and can even affect the kidneys. Heating converts it into sorbic acid, which is non-toxic. Don't nibble them while you pick, and give them the full simmer and boil the recipe sets out.

Why the apples go in

Pectin is the natural setting agent in fruit. Rowan alone doesn't have enough, so without another source the jelly stays too liquid to set. Crab apples supply the pectin, and the two trees often grow near each other. If there are no crab apples to hand, the cores of Bramley apples do the same job, which makes rowan jelly a good home for the cores left over from a glut of apples. Use the same weight of cores as you would crab apples. To grow your own, see the apple growing guide.

Crab apples are rich in both pectin and acid, provided they aren't overripe. The lemon juice tops up the acid, which the set needs as well as the flavour, so don't leave it out. For more on pairing a low-pectin fruit with a high-pectin one, see mixing fruit and veg in preserves.

Sugar for your juice

Every batch gives a different amount of juice, so the sugar is worked out after straining. The ratio never changes: 450g for every 600ml.

Strained juiceWhite sugar
600ml450g
900ml675g
1.2 litres900g
1.4 litres1.05kg

The full recipe uses the juice of 1 lemon for 3kg of fruit, however much juice that gives. Halve the fruit and you halve the lemon.

Sugar isn't only there for sweetness. It's the preservative in jelly and it helps the set, so never cut it.

Big batches set less reliably than small ones. Three kilos of fruit can easily give more than 1.4 litres of juice, so be ready to split the juice, sugar and lemon into two equal batches.

Picking rowan berries

Rowan, often called mountain ash, grows higher in the mountains than any of Scotland's other native trees. In the wild it's most common in dry woods and rocky places, especially in the north and west, and it's also planted along streets and in parks and gardens. The berries ripen to bright scarlet as summer turns to autumn. If you're thinking of planting one, rowan is one of the best trees to shade a sunny garden, and gives you berries close to home.

Check the tree before you pick. Rowan has smooth, silvery-grey bark, and its leaves are pinnate (feather-shaped), with 5 to 8 pairs of toothed, pointed leaflets along a central stalk. Whitebeam carries clusters of red berries and is often planted as a street tree, but its leaves are single and oval, not pinnate. Plenty of other hedgerow plants carry red berries too, so only pick from a tree you're sure is rowan. If in doubt, leave it.

Pick well away from busy roads because of pollution, and not from low branches a dog can reach. Cut whole clusters of berries from the tree.

The berries are good autumn food for many birds, including thrushes, redwings, fieldfares and waxwings, and especially the migrants that cross the North Sea from Scandinavia. Take what the recipe needs and leave the rest on the tree.

Storing the jars

The lid has to go on while the jelly is hot, because that's what forms the vacuum seal as the jar cools. Always use new lids, never old ones; jars for preserving explains which types seal well. Fill them where they can stay, because moving them before they set can spoil the set.

Once a jar is open, keep it in the fridge. Throw out any jar that shows mould, or smells fermented, yeasty or of alcohol. Don't scrape the mould off and eat the rest: toxins have been found in mouldy jelly. More warning signs are in how long preserves keep.

Serving rowan jelly

Rowan jelly is a traditional partner for meat, especially game and lamb, and it goes well with cheese. The tree has long mattered in Scotland, where cutting one down was once taboo.

Common questions

Can you eat rowan berries raw?

No. They're bitter raw, and the acid in fresh berries can upset the stomach in large quantities. Cook them first, as in this jelly.

Why is my rowan jelly cloudy?

Squeezing the cloth is the usual cause: let the juice drip through on its own. Green, unripe fruit and jelly left standing in the pan before potting also make it cloudy.

My rowan jelly hasn't set. What now?

Give it at least 12 hours unmoved, and up to 2 weeks, before deciding. If it's still runny, empty the jars back into the pan, reboil and test again, then pour into freshly sterilised jars with new lids. The setting point guide explains how, including adding lemon juice to a soft batch.

Can I use cooking apples instead of crab apples?

Yes, the cores. Use the same weight of Bramley cores as crab apples and keep the flesh for pies and crumbles.

Can I use less sugar?

Not in this recipe. Reduced-sugar jelly lacks the full preserving effect of the sugar and spoils sooner. If you want less sugar, use a recipe written for it and keep the jar in the fridge once opened.

Sources

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