Elderberry and Grapefruit Jam Recipe
I have a few Elderberry trees on my property which I planted when we moved in a few years ago, but one has really settled in and I have been whispering to her each year, waiting for her signal to harvest her berries. Each year she grows taller, and every year, almost all year round she is showing off her wonderful flowers. Each year, I leave her flowers in their fragrant, colourful display, hoping they ripen into the most delicious and medicinal berries. I was often tempted to harvest her flower umbels to dry them for my herbal teas or make Elderflower cordial, but I knew she was still maturing, still growing and she wasn’t ready yet.
This year was the year! She has matured enough that she didn’t just make one or two umbels of fruit, but a bountiful display of both fruit and flowers - simutaneously - which rocks my world - and clearly hers too, because - I mean - WOW! In the northern hemisphere these trees flower first, then towards the end of the season (if the birds don’t eat them all first) those umbels turn into amazing medicinal berries. It is always a trade-off for the seasoned forager - take the flowers and forego the berries or leave the flowers to mature into rich potent fruit.
I have always appreciated the berries, and they are a staple in my medicine cabinet. As the seasons fade into winter, Elderberry syrup is a delicious way to soothe a sore throat and ease the symptoms of a cold for all ages of the family. So we have always waited for the bounty of her fruits, as you need way more of them than you do her dainty flowers for dried teas and cordials.
Here though, I am only 5 years in to living in the subtropics and getting used to the myriads of seasons up here. There are not just four seasons - I know the aborigines have their calendar, but I am learning the seasons in my area through listening, and we are currently (in December 2025) transitioning from what I call the dry summer into the wet summer. Respiratory illnesses can be yucky up here, especially with all the humidity, and with the advent of the wet season upon us, it seems Elderberries are in season - albeit so too are Elderflowers, as they are both abundantly in fruit and flower, which just blows my mind!
So given the season and the bountiful harvest she (the Elder in my garden) has finally granted me permission to harvest, I have not only made Elderberry Syrup and Elderberry Gummies, but here is my newest recipe, adapated slightly from a German recipe; Elderberry & grapefruit Jam.
The amounts below will vary on your harvesting seasons and how watery he berries are, but just adjust your recipe to suit your harvest and enjoy the fruits of the season. The below recipe should easily make about 6-7 200ml glasses.
1kg Elderberries - pureed fresh, and pushed through a sieve to get rid of the seeds (which are toxic in high amounts)
250gm Grapefruit - without its peel or pith and also pureed
500g Jam sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract
Remove only the darkened ripe berries from the umbels. Do not include any stems or green berries, and wash the collected ripe berries. Once rinsed, puree them with a stick blender and then sieve them through a fine sieve/mesh to get rid of the seeds. Discard the seeds and keep the juice.
Set aside whilst you puree the peeled and cut grapefruit. Once both have been pureed you can add them together, adding the jam sugar and Vanilla extract to the juice in a saucepan and bring to the boil for 3-5 minutes. Once it has nicely boiled and the sugar has all melted and incorporated into the mixture, you can put the mixture into hot steralised jars and immediately cap them for storage.
This jam has a sweetness that is equally matched by a bitter undertone which goes nicely on a criossant or pancakes.
Wait - did a Naturopath just tell me this would be nice on a croissant or pnacakes - yup, I did ;) shhhh…. Don’t tell too many people, but a little treat here and there doesn’t hurt, and homemade stuff is always better than store bought stuff.
Enjoy ;)
