Recipe: Madi Creekmore [Cactus Jelly x 4]

CACTUS FRUIT JELLY (Prickly Pear "Apple" Jelly)

3 and 1/4 cups juice from cooked fruit
1 bottle liquid pectin
Juice of two lemons
8 level cups sugar

Remove fine thorns and blossom ends from 3 pounds of ripe cactus fruit. Cut into small pieces, crush and add 1 cup water. Stir until boiling, cover pan and simmer 10 minutes. Place in cheese cloth bag and squeeze out juice. Measure sugar into a separate pan. Bring juice and pectin just to boil, stirring constantly, and begin to add sugar slowly with constant stirring, taking about 5 minutes to add sugar, and keeping juice nearly at a boil. Then bring to a rolling boil and boil for one-half minute. Remove from fire, let stand a few seconds, skim, pour quickly into jars and seal hot.
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Jalea De Cacto (Cactus Jelly)
This is the best recipe that I have been able to find for cactus jelly / jam. However, it does not appear to be wholly satisfactory and some notes on possible improvements are appended.

Yield: 6 half-pints
Processing Time: 5 minutes
Temperature: High, Medium-high

Prickly pears*
3 cups sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice**
6 ounces liquid fruit pectin***
Boiling water
Cheesecloth

1. Place prickly pears in a large saucepan or kettle. Cover prickly pears with boiling water, allow to stand for 2-3 minutes, and pour off water. (This aids in softening stickers of prickly pears.)
2. Peel prickly pears, cut into pieces, and place in a medium-sized saucepan. Cover prickly pears with water and boil at high heat for 5 minutes.
3. Pour boiled mixture through cheesecloth. Drain as much juice as possible and discard seeds.
4. Measure juice. Combine 3 cups of cactus juice, sugar, and lemon juice in a large saucepan or kettle.
5. Bring mixture to a rolling boil. Reduce heat to medium-high, add liquid pectin, and cook mixture for 8-12 minutes, or until the mixture begins to thicken. Skim off any foam that may have formed.
6. Pour mixture into hot, sterilized, half-pint canning jars and seal according to manufacturer's directions.
7. Process jars immersed in a Boiling Water Bath for five minutes to seal the lids. Test seal when cooled.****

Notes

* Prickly pears are fruit from the prickly pear cactus (Opuntia sp.) and may range in color from yellow-green to deep purple-red and in colour in size from that of an apricot to 6-inches long. For this reason, there is no accurate way of judging how many pears it may take to obtain a given amount.

**The acidity of the lemon juice is needed to promote setting of the pectin which combines with the sugar to set when cold.

***Liquid pectin is added because, presumably cactus fruit does not contain sufficient pectin to set. Even so, cactus jelly made in this way may "jell" soon after processing or can take as long as 2 to 3 weeks. Clearly native American people making cactus jam did not traditionally have access to liquid pectin and probably sufficient pectin was obtained either by stewing the peel of the fruit which in this recipe is discarded, for a longer time with the fruit pulp before straining , or from another type of fruit containing pectin . A modern equivalent could be to use green cooking apples, and as a starting point I suggest about an equal weight of cooking apples to the weight of cactus fruit.

To test for pectin, put 1 teaspoon of juice into a small glass, allow to cool and add 3 teaspoons of methylated spirit. Shake gently and leave for 1 minute. A jelly like lump indicates that plenty of pectin is present. Lots of small lumps indicate that little pectin is present and that the jelly is unlikely to set unless more pectin or another high pectin fruit is added.

****This step should not really be necessary as a well-made jam / jelly should keep well for months without further sterilisation.
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Cactus Pear Jelly

1 unpeeled lime
4-6 (I had 6) cactus pear 1 1/2-2lb
3/4 cups water
1 1/2 cups sugar

Slice limes as thin as possible: discard end pieces and seeds. Soak slices in
the water for 3 hours (it said longer wouldn't hurt and it ended up being
overnight). Peel, deseed and juice the cactus pears. (About 1 1/2 cups o'
juice) Add juice to lime/water and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Let
it cool completely and remove lime slices.

Bring to a boil again and stir in sugar. Return to a full boil and let it
boil at a rolling boil for 9-13 min.

Use a boiling water bath process.
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Cactus Jelly
Yield: 1 serving
Do not double recipe.

Gather about 1 qt. of fruit to make 2-1/2 C. of juice. If most of the fruit
is very ripe, try to include some under-ripe ones to add pectin. Wash fruit
and place in kettle with just enough water to cover. Boil until quite tende
r and soft (extracts pectin and flavor).
Strain through two thicknesses of cheesecloth and set juice aside so sedime
nt will settle. For clear jelly, do not use sediment portion.
For each 2-1/2 C. juice, add one package of powdered pectin (more successfu
l than liquid). Bring to fast boil, stirring constantly. Add 3 T. lemon or
lime juice and 3-1/2 C. sugar. Bring to a hard boil (one you can't press do
wn with a spoon) and boil for three minutes. The timing is very important t
o get a product that will jell.
Remove from heat, skim and pour into sterilized jelly glasses. Cover with a
layer of melter paraffin.
(I am experimenting with a non-sugar version using apple, pear and white
grape juice concentrate but at present have it all in freezer waiting for
some time to try different quantities, etc.)