Crab Apple Jelly.

[Alison]

Lovely thank you - sorry, will let you get on

Sorry, just remembered this, was very busy over the weekend but will try and remember tonight

I'm not using the pulp from my jelly cos it's full of seeds, stalks and skin, BLURRRR

You have to shove it all through a sieve so that you get rid of the seeds, skin etc and get a smooth pulp.

[VirginVegGrower]

Thanks Alison

[Ananke]

I've just made the spiced version and what an amazing colour it is, just a bit darker than Irn Bru. It tastes amazing too but I seem to have trapped air bubbles in it, will this be ok?

Picked lots more crabapples yesterday to make the unspiced version tomorrow

[Hilary B]

I've made crab apple jelly in many colours. The ornamental crab apples make great jelly, and if you have the darker red ones, the jelly colour will be somewhere between 'claret' and 'burgundy', if the apples are green, yellow, or very pale pink the jelly will be pale pink. Anything you add will affect the colour (mint, without food colurant, can produce a pale muddy colour, chiilies can make a pale red brighter, etc).

[endymion]

I still have the sieved pulp to make apple cheese with so almost no wasteage.

Can the sieved pulp be used with, say, blackberries, to make jam?

[Alison]

OK - have finally remembered to post apple cheese recipe. Basically tis dead simple. Weight the seived puree. Add the same weight of sugar and gently warm to disolve the sugar. Increase the heat and continue to cook for about 1.5 hours until it spits and snorts at you as it's so thick. Then put into straight sided jars or moulds and cover for hygiene. I usually do mine in ramekins or similar with a disc of greaseproof paper on top and then finish with large jam pot covers. Leave for a few weeks / months then turn out and slice to eat. It can help if you lightly oil the sides of the mould with a tasteless oil or even glycerine too. You can do this with any fruit pulp, using the same method and add spices etc as required for flavour.