Scrumptious Crabapple Jelly

Crabapples!

I was, until today, a jelly-making virgin. The numerous crabapples in our allotment were begging to be transformed into something delicious. I'd already made a clafoutis last year which was bloody marvellous and so I thought I'd give jelly a go. I'd always been a bit wary of jelly making as I imagined it to be a complex task. I can now confirm that my old notion was far from true. Here is how you go about it.




Ingredients:

• Crabapples
• Caster Sugar
• Lemon juice
• Vanilla pod/ cloves/ cinnamon-optional

The oh-so-simple method!:

• Prepare the crabapples, cover them with water in a saucepan and cook for about 20-30 mins until completely soft and pulpy. Strain this overnight in a muslin cloth or jelly bag.
• The next day, weigh the quantity of crabapple and add an equal or slightly greater amount of caster sugar, juice of 1 lemon and cook until the mixture is boiling. Simmer and continue to let the mixture boil while skimming any froth.
• I added a vanilla pod to this boiling mixture. You could choose not to or perhaps try cloves or a cinnamon bark.
• Test if its ready to set  using a cold spoon, the same way you would test whilst jam making. It took me about 30 mins for a kilo of crabapples.
• Strain into jam jars and set in a fridge. It could take up to 24 hours to set although mine only took about 3!
• Happy jelly-making!

Straining the pulp mixture overnight

Strained juice

Finished product!