Preserving the Bounty: Rhubarb Jelly

Canning makes me happy. There's something about the smell of simmering fruit, the sound of the bubbling canner and the putting-it-together process that makes me giddy.

Right now it's time for rhubarb. My rhubarb plant is pitifully small but a friend gave me a bunch of stalks. It wasn't enough to make Rhubarb Cordial, but enough for some jam or jelly. I still have a few jars of strawberry-rhubarb and orange-rhubarb jam from last year so I decided to make rhubarb jelly.

I steam-juiced the rhubarb and used a package of Bernardin Sugar Free Pectin. I would have preferred Pomona's Universal Pectin but I forgot to pick some up from the health food store during my last visit.

My recipe was very simple:

4 cups rhubarb juice
1 package of Bernardin Sugar Free Pectin
1/2 cup honey

My jelly didn't set as firmly as I would have hoped but the it's beautifully pink and has a nice flavour.