Remember all those apples I picked off my little apple tree? Well, I have peeled an frozen bags of them....mmm ...I can almost taste the apple crisps that will be cooking up this winter !!
I still had some left, so thought I would try making some jelly! It is actually a lot easier than it sounds!
You don't need to peel or core the apples, just quarter them (any tart apple will work), add water (dont float the apples) and then boil them for 10-15 min until they are soft. Then let the juice drain by hanging the apples in cheese cloth.. You need to leave it dripping for at least a couple of hours, some say overnight! Dont squeeze the bag, just let it drip, or the jelly will be cloudy.
Then you get nice rosy pink coloured juice...
Add the sugar and Certo as directed.
I used about 9-10 cups of apples, and about 5 cups of water. That gave me about 4 cups of juice. (you can add up to 1/2 Cup of water if you need more juice) I added 3 cups of sugar and a box of Certo.
Bring this to a boil and boil for 2 minutes.
I sterilize my jars in boiling water, but I have read that you can also do that in the dishwasher.
Fill the hot jars with jelly and seal.
There seems to be some dispute about whether or not you have to process the jars once they are sealed. I always process tomatoes or salsa, but have not done so for jelly. If the jars are sterile, and hot and the jelly is hot and sealed immediately there I have read that you don't need to process them in a water bath. This is a small batch anyway, so will get used up quickly, so I am not too worried about it.
Other years I have saved the apples from the cheesecloth and made apple butter. All you do is work the apple mash through a sieve to get a apple sauce like pulp. It takes quite a bit of mashing to get it all through the sieve!!
You can add a bit of water if it is too thick.
Cook for 10 min stirring frequently, then mash and strain again.
Add 1/2 cup sugar to the apple sauce and simmer on low for 2 hours.
Add apple pie spice (I use about 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg and a dash of cloves, but it is a personal taste, so try adding whatever you like)
Cook for 10 more minutes and then fill your sterilized jars, and process for 10 minutes.
This has enough natural pectin from the apple peels that you do not need to add any Certo to it. It is nice and thick, and tastes great on toast!
I still had some left, so thought I would try making some jelly! It is actually a lot easier than it sounds!
You don't need to peel or core the apples, just quarter them (any tart apple will work), add water (dont float the apples) and then boil them for 10-15 min until they are soft. Then let the juice drain by hanging the apples in cheese cloth.. You need to leave it dripping for at least a couple of hours, some say overnight! Dont squeeze the bag, just let it drip, or the jelly will be cloudy.
Then you get nice rosy pink coloured juice...
Add the sugar and Certo as directed.
I used about 9-10 cups of apples, and about 5 cups of water. That gave me about 4 cups of juice. (you can add up to 1/2 Cup of water if you need more juice) I added 3 cups of sugar and a box of Certo.
Bring this to a boil and boil for 2 minutes.
I sterilize my jars in boiling water, but I have read that you can also do that in the dishwasher.
Fill the hot jars with jelly and seal.
There seems to be some dispute about whether or not you have to process the jars once they are sealed. I always process tomatoes or salsa, but have not done so for jelly. If the jars are sterile, and hot and the jelly is hot and sealed immediately there I have read that you don't need to process them in a water bath. This is a small batch anyway, so will get used up quickly, so I am not too worried about it.
Other years I have saved the apples from the cheesecloth and made apple butter. All you do is work the apple mash through a sieve to get a apple sauce like pulp. It takes quite a bit of mashing to get it all through the sieve!!
You can add a bit of water if it is too thick.
Cook for 10 min stirring frequently, then mash and strain again.
Add 1/2 cup sugar to the apple sauce and simmer on low for 2 hours.
Add apple pie spice (I use about 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg and a dash of cloves, but it is a personal taste, so try adding whatever you like)
Cook for 10 more minutes and then fill your sterilized jars, and process for 10 minutes.
This has enough natural pectin from the apple peels that you do not need to add any Certo to it. It is nice and thick, and tastes great on toast!
Looks really good. I just cut up and froze all of my apples this year, for future pies and crisps! But I like the idea of jelly...maybe next year.
ReplyDeleteMmmmmm, I can smell that heavenly scent from here! Yum! Seriously, let me know when you are serving apple crisp and I will bring the cream......
ReplyDeleteI never thought about making apple jelly. I don't can things, I tend to freeze them...so we usually just eat everything with apples while they are in season. I have made applesauce and frozen it and it works very well. My husband had to go down to the orchard area for work this afternoon...can't wait for a fresh apple tonight!
ReplyDeleteThat must have kept you busy for a while. Love that lovely red colour - looks delicious. Oh and thanks for the recipe.
ReplyDelete