White Wine Raspberry Jelly and Sour Cream Scones

After I canned the bruschetta and was cleaning the kitchen, I realized that I had a bunch of wine left.  That is a problem for a household that doesn't drink.  Tossing it down the drain seemed like a waste of good money.  But I didn't want the wine.  I have a house of teens, all of whom I trust, but I didn't want the wine just sitting there calling out to whomever walked by.  (Don't judge me - it could happen.)

Then I thought, "Hmmm, jelly boils a lot. All of the alcohol would boil out."  But I didn't think we would like wine jelly.  Looking in the fridge, I noticed the raspberries that hadn't yet been scavenged by the aforesaid teens.  White wine raspberry jelly was born.  Here is what I did.

First I measured out the wine into a bowl (5 cups).  Then I added the raspberries (about 2 cups) to the wine and mashed them up.

Over a big pot I strained the wine/raspberry mixture with a fine wire sieve. I should have used cheesecloth, too, but I didn't have any.  If you have some use it.

I let that drip for a couple of hours.  I probably didn't need to leave it that long, but I forgot about it.  Yeah, I'm like that.

When I noticed the wine raspberry stuff sitting on the counter, I prepared my jars and lids and got the boiling water bath going.

I put the pot of wine on the stove and added 7 cups of sugar.

When this was boiling hard, I added 2 packages of liquid pectin (there are 2 in a box) and boiled the mixture for 2 minutes.

I put the jelly (it was a really pretty color) into 10 8 ounce jars, put on the lids and rings and put it in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.  Lovely.

The next day, I thought that I needed something to go with this lovely jelly.  Sour cream scones!  Lovelier.


White Wine Raspberry Jelly

2 cups raspberries
5 cups dry white wine
7 cups sugar
2 pouches liquid pectin

In a bowl, combine berries and wine.  Crush berries and pour mixture to a dampened jelly bag or a strainer lined with dampened cheesecloth set over a large pot.  Let drip for 1 hour (or more;)
Meanwhile, prepare canner, jars and lids.
Stir in sugar to the berry wine.  Over high heat, stirring frequently, bring to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down.  Stir in pectin.  Boil hard, stirring constantly for 2 minutes.  Remove from heat.
Quickly pour hot jelly into jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space.  Wipe rim.  Place lids and rings on jars and tighten.
Place jars in canner and process in boiling water for 10 minutes.  Remove jars, cool and store.


Sour Cream Scones

1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 cups flour
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, cold and cubed
1 egg
raw sugar to sprinkle on top of scone (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease a large baking sheet or line with parchment.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt.
Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or 2 knives.  It should look crumbly with pea size chunks of butter.
Mix the sour cream, baking soda and egg.

Stir the sour cream mixture into the flour mixture until just moistened.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and knead briefly. The more you handle the dough, the tougher the scone. (Press and stick wrap works wonders to keep a bandage clean when you knead.)

 Roll or pat the dough into a 3/4 inch thick round or rectangle.  Cut into 12 pieces.

Bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown on the bottom.