Who Knew??

Who knew that a bucket full of yellow tomatoes would make one of the sweetest, most tasty jellies I've ever had?

I've been collecting miniature yellow pear tomatoes for about ten days now, and after seeing a couple of them beginning to wrinkle in the fridge, I decided it was time to do with them what I've been telling everyone I planned to do with them all summer long. Yellow tomato jelly. Never tried it before. Had no idea what it would turn out like.

Great-grandma Berger's recipe, hand-written in itty bitty scrawl on a yellowed index card was my guide to this delectable treat. Yellow tomatoes are extremely low in citric acid, making them sweeter and more 'fruity' tasting than regular garden variety tomatoes, and also lend themselves well to other added flavors, such as vanilla, ginger and basil. It can be used in both sweet and savory culinary experiments.

The recipe calls for:

About 3 pounds of yellow heirloom tomatoes (which I found to be about 25 miniature yellow pear tomatoes) washed and halved

1 package of powdered fruit pectin or SureJell (I recommend the powdered - NOT the liquid, which offers results that can only be described as "MightJell")

4 cups of white sugar

2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice

1 tsp. of salt


After washing and halving the tomatoes, simmer them in a preserving pot for about 25 minutes, or until they are covered in their own juices and have lost all shape resembling tomatoes. Pour the tomatoes into a strainer or fine sieve and press out all the juices into a medium bowl. Measure out 2 cups of juice.

Return the juice to the pot and add the package of pectin or SureJell, salt and lemon juice. (If you are going to add any additional flavors such as vanilla or ginger, this would also be the place to do it.)

Bring to a slow boil and then slowly stir in the sugar, making sure that it completely dissolves before adding the next cup and the next one. After the sugar is dissolved, bring to a heavy boil and boil for one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and ladle into jelly jars, leaving a half inch of head space at the top of the jar. Process in a boiling water bath or large stock pot for 15 minutes. Remove from canner, listen for the popping of the lids sealing and then set aside to cool for about 48 hours. Enjoy with toast or try with a cream cheese slathered English muffin!