How to make apple jelly

Why the peelings are the point

Pectin in an apple is concentrated in the skin and around the core, not in the flesh. A jelly made from peeled, cored apples sets poorly; one made from whole chopped fruit sets readily.

This makes apple jelly the natural use for windfalls, bruised fruit and crab apples — none of which are worth peeling and all of which are free or nearly so. Cut out obvious rot, chop everything else roughly, and put the lot in the pan.

Slightly under-ripe fruit carries more pectin still, so early windfalls are ideal rather than a compromise.

The method

Two sessions, mostly waiting.

1. Wash the apples and cut out any rot or damage. Chop them roughly — skins, cores, pips and all. Do not peel and do not core.
2. Put them in a pan with water barely to cover and simmer until completely soft, thirty to forty-five minutes. Crush them against the side of the pan.
3. Scald a jelly bag or muslin, set it over a bowl, and tip in the pulp.
4. Leave it to drip overnight. Do not squeeze the bag — squeezing clouds the jelly and cannot be undone.
5. Measure the juice, add sugar in proportion — commonly an equal weight — and warm gently until dissolved.
6. Put two plates in the freezer, then boil hard and test from about eight minutes. Apple sets readily.
7. Skim carefully and pot. A crab apple jelly comes out pink; a cooking apple jelly pale gold.

Flavouring it

Apple jelly is a blank base and takes almost anything.

• Mint jelly, with chopped mint stirred in as it cools so it stays suspended. The classic accompaniment to lamb.
• Rosemary or thyme jelly, with sprigs simmered in the juice and removed.
• Chilli jelly, with chopped chilli, which is excellent with cheese and cold meat.
• Sage and onion jelly, for pork.
• Rose geranium jelly, using scented leaves, which is Victorian and remarkable.
• Blackberry and apple jelly, using the apple for pectin and the blackberry for flavour.
• Lavender or elderflower, both easy to overdo and worth trying once.

Notes

Crab apples

Very high in pectin and acid, and they make a beautiful pink jelly. Free from many hedgerows and gardens.

Cooking apples

Bramleys give a pale gold jelly with a good set.

Eating apples

Lower in pectin and acid. Add a lemon or some crab apples.

Yield

Roughly two or three small jars per kilo of fruit. Jelly always yields less than jam.

The leftover pulp

Sieve it and cook it down with sugar into apple butter or fruit cheese rather than discarding it.

Common questions