I had thought that I was too late for foraging apples this year, but when I was out cycling last week I spotted a tree full of crab apples. Being me, I stepped on my brakes and backtracked to get back to the tree I had just passed. A bit of stretching and fetching later, and I had a backpack full of apples to take home.
There are many methods for making jelly jam, but I find the one I used here to be the easiest one. You can use the same recipe for other fruits as well, or you can use other spices with the apples.
It is best to use fruit that is only just ripe, as their pectin content is higher than in over-ripe fruit.
Makes 5 small jars of jelly
1kg apples
200ml water
¼ cinnamon stick
800g sugar per litre of juice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Chop the apples into chunks. Check that there are no brown bits, chop these away if there are. There is no need to get rid of the pips, just remove the stalks.
Place the apples in a large saucepan, crunch the cinnamon stick and mix it in with the apples, and add the water. Gently warm the fruit over low heat. The slower you heat the fruit the more liquid is released, and the more jam you get. Leave the apples to gently cook for about an hour. You do not want them to boil, just to be warm.
Drain the apples through a muslin cloth into a bowl. Arrange the cloth so that the apples can hang and drain for a couple of hours. Squeeze the bag a little bit to release more liquid, but not too much, or the jelly will become cloudy.
Place the apples in a large saucepan, crunch the cinnamon stick and mix it in with the apples, and add the water. Gently warm the fruit over low heat. The slower you heat the fruit the more liquid is released, and the more jam you get. Leave the apples to gently cook for about an hour. You do not want them to boil, just to be warm.
Drain the apples through a muslin cloth into a bowl. Arrange the cloth so that the apples can hang and drain for a couple of hours. Squeeze the bag a little bit to release more liquid, but not too much, or the jelly will become cloudy.
Measure how much juice you now have. The amount of juice will depend on the ripeness of the apples, and the type of apple used. Pour the juice into a saucepan, and bring to the boil. Add the sugar and ground cinnamon, and boil rapidly for 2 to 20 minutes, until the juice stiffens when you do the spoon test.The cooking time depends on the pectin levels of the fruit.
Pour the jam into warm sterilised jars. I made 5 jars full of jam, but it’s always useful to prepare more jars than what you think you’ll need, just in case, so that you won’t have to do the whole sterilising process twice.
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