Making jelly -- what to do with left-over fruit pulp?

It is that time of year again and all the berries are coming in. I make lots of jelly, which requires me to strain as much juice from the berries as possible, leaving behind a mass of berry pulp. I usually compost the pulp, but keep thinking there must be something tasty I could do with it. Any ideas?

SeaJambon
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23 Comments

Taram0810 October 13, 2022
I dehydrate and freeze unused fruits and unsweetened pulp. its great for suet cakes during the Winter. The birds really need extra calories and there's no waste! Just an FYI never spread suet (like peanut butter and bird seed) on a limb or pine cone craft project. If feet or feathers touch the fats its disrupts their waterproofing. They become cold and unlikely to survive. I put a skewer thru the suet cage so their tiny feet and feathers never touch it.
 
chickson September 27, 2020
Some great ideas - I have grape pulp - lots of seeds, but tasty. Anyone got some ideas?
 
Lucia G. September 9, 2020
Hi

I use it in smoothies and also home made breakfast oak bars. Delicious and very nutritious.
 
Robin B. July 10, 2019
the left over blackberry seeds and pulp I push through a strainer, creating a wonderful paste that is very airy with a very strong blackberry flavor. Put some in ice cube trays to add to lemonade. Took some and put into tart shells family loved them. Getting ready to look up some candy recipes I noticed in one of my older cook books that uses fruit paste. The other thing is that with so much liquid gone it is easy to turn into a fruit leather.
 
Dee March 26, 2019
Make some flavoured gin/vodka - put the pulp in a large jar (glass best as it will stain), add some sugar and vodka - leave it in sunlight and shake it now and again - there it is! I would suggest vodka for blackberry/apple and gin for raspberry pulp. I use it for cocktails or with prosseco - and my friend assures me that it will cure a cold :)
 
Ann February 4, 2019
I picked 2 lbs wild blackberries yesterday and made my jelly today, then I read your page.. so I tipped the strained blackberries back into the unwashed jelly pan, added some water and about 2 lbs sliced ripe plums and back to cook until all mushy. sweetened to taste and poured into jars and sealed. I tried the left over bit with muesli, and yum yum it made a fantastic blackberry plum topping for icecream, yoghurt, cereal or whatever you like and I didnt waste anything !
 
Gammy August 30, 2018
Rather than jelly, I make a seedless jam by cooking the berries with a bit of sugar until they are soft, then put them through a fine mesh food mill. It is some work to get as much juice and pulp out of the berries, but what is left in the mill is mainly seeds. I then proceed with a standard jam recipe, adding sugar, pectin and sometimes lemon juice and zest, then jar up and water bath.
 
MrsFitz84 June 5, 2024
You seem like you know what you are talking about!! I am looking for a mixed berry jelly or seedless jam recipe. Using blackberries, blueberries and raspberries. This is for canning and all I can find are chunky jams which my kids won’t eat.
 
Gammy June 5, 2024
I would use one of the chunky jam recipes, and then measure the pulp and juice and follow one of your recipes. Here is a recipe from Certo for making seedless jelly: https://www.kraftheinz.com/surejell/recipes/501279-sure-jell-blackberry-jelly I would use the pulp and juice from running the berries through a food mill fine screen and do away with the hanging cheesecloth bundle. You will need more berries to begin with. Good luck and I hope the kids like your seedless version of jam
 
Melody July 19, 2024
A Victoria strainer is worth every penny. You can get different size mesh screens so no more getting seeds stuck in your teeth. It is also less work than a foley strainer. The Victorio pulls every last bit of juice out of the berries. My basic recipe is 6 cups of the depulped ‘juice’, 4 cups sugar, 2 Tbs lemon juice and a Tablespoon of butter. Bring to a low rolling boil for about 5 minutes to thicken up. Then add 1 envelope of liquid pectin (half a box) and bring back to a boil. Boil fot 5 minutes then test. I usually find it takes 10 minutes.
 
Ginger S. October 14, 2017
If it dosen't jell.
 
Ginger S. October 14, 2017
When I have leftover pulp from making BlackBerry Jelly I take the pulp and add some Grape or Apple juice and make Jam out of it. The pulp will plump back up. You have to be willing to play with it. I just made some. I used 4 1/2 cups of Blackberry pulp and 3 cups of Grape juice with 2 boxes of Sure Jell. It only made 6 pints but it's better than throwing it out. Its still setting up. If it dosen't he'll it will still be good on pancakes, icecream,Smoothies ect. It sure taste good. YUM YUM

 
Jon B. July 31, 2016
Freeze-dry it and convert it into a powder? That's what I like to do with fibrous leftovers.
 
CA July 31, 2016
I feed it to my chickens as a treat!
 
Cannizzo July 8, 2012
Make margaritas if you have seeds strain make a simple syrup mix with tequila triple sec lime juice
 
SeaJambon July 8, 2012
Ahhhh - Now that I understand about shrubs (not garden variety!), this makes total sense.

FWIW: I just made my own beverage that I'm pretty pleased with. Zested 5 small lemons, then juiced the same (about 1/3 cup juice). Prepared a simple syrup (1-1/2 cups both sugar and water) with the zest included. Added about a cup of raspberry pulp and let steep. Once cooled to room temp, put in the lemon juice. Strained the whole thing to remove seeds. Filled a very tall glass with ice. Filled to about two inches with the raspberry/lemon syrup, and filled remained with cooled fizzy water. Very nice! Lots of deep raspberry pink and more raspberry flavor than lemon. I'm pleased. I'll use the pulp from my next batch for a shrub. Thanks everyone!
 
susan G. July 8, 2012
Shrubs are an old fashioned drink made with fruit, vinegar and sugar. I've used the recipe from hardlikearmour -- http://www.food52.com/recipe/shrub (You could use a different vinegar if you can't find the one specified.)
 
Benny July 8, 2012
I would mix it into an ice cream or sorbet. Or what about mixing into muffin batters?
 
SeaJambon July 8, 2012
Hilarybee -- yes, the pulp includes seeds (right now, my jelly bag is hung to drip with raspberries), and yes this is pure pulp with nothing added (no sugar or anything else). I'm confused about vinegar syrup for "shrubs" -- is the shrub a typo or are you making a compost tea type thing? (when I think shrubs, I think the garden, but maybe you have a different meaning?). RachelS -- I agree that the skimming foam is delicious and has a multitude of uses; I also use it in many of the applications you've suggested.

Maybe once all the juice is extracted from the fruit (especially with berries which will be little more than seeds), the pulp really is best for enriching the compost ...

You know what, I have a bunch of assorted citrus (lemon, lime and orange) sitting on my counter. I think I'll make a citrus-aid, swirl in some raspberry pulp, let sit for awhile and then strain. Sure won't hurt anything, and might even be a pleasant surprise! I'll report back... :)
 
Rachel S. July 9, 2012
That sounds ingenious! How was it? Was there enough flavor left in the pulp?
 
robillm April 27, 2024
A shrub in this context is a beverage (popular well before the American Revolution). As Susan G says, it's an old fashioned drink made with vinegar, fruit, and sugar. In a time when citrus was hard to come by and expensive, this would have been considered a beverage similar to what lemonade is today.
 
Hilarybee July 8, 2012
Does the pulp include seeds? And is this pulp before or after sugar? I assume since this is jelly it is before sugar?
I like RachelS's suggestion to use it as a topper for yogurt etc. But I do wonder if it is berry and if there are tons of seeds that would make this unappealing? I use leftover skins and pulp to make a vinegar syrup for shrubs and vinegar soda. You could mix in some apple cider vinegar and more sugar to make it into a syrup for shrubs. You'd have to discard the skins and seeds, but it would give the pulp a second life.
I always save the peach skins for this purpose; they add a lot of color to the vinegar-syrup and make it super delicious. You probably could make a flavored simple syrup this way too. Try adding herbs or lavender. Hibiscus flowers could be great with raspberry pulp.
 
Rachel S. July 8, 2012
I had the same problem with the foam left from skimming it off of jam while cooking, until I read a suggestion from David Tanis to save it and put it on toast. It was delicious! Since then, I've been using the foam on French toast, English muffins, ice cream, mixed into oatmeal, on yogurt, or pretty much anyplace else I feel inclined to add something fruity and sweet. I'm guessing you could do that with the pulp as well, or if all else fails, add it to smoothies!
 
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