spruce tip jelly

yes, you read the title correctly .... spruce tip




it is spruce tip collecting time in the Yukon ... or really the end of it. For a couple weeks in May you can go collect the new 'buds' just before the brown papery covering has fallen off .... before they get too mature. You can eat them right off the tree - they taste almost lemony. So Christine and I inspired by our new Miche Genest cookbooks went out into the woods to gather them up. Many bug bites later we emerged with a bag each!

The jelly is quite delicate tasting - I can see why many people say they use it like honey - a teaspoon in their tea. Apparently spruce tips are very rich in Vitamin C (and are brewed into a tea for sore throats/colds).

Recipe:

Pick roundabout four cups of spruce tips. Rinse in cold water and give a light chopping. Cover the tips with water and simmer for 10 minutes. Let stand overnight, strain with jelly bag or cheesecloth.

3 1/2 cups spruce tip juice
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 package (dry) fruit pectin
5 cups sugar

Mix juice with lemon juice and pectin, stir until dissolved. Bring to a boil - add sugar. Bring to a full rolling boil for 1 minute. Ladle into jars.

More about spruce tips here and thank you to Miche - do check out her great cookbook: The Boreal Gourmet (review here)