With lots of ripening crab apples on our little crab apple tree this year I was keen that they didn’t all go to waste. One sunny afternoon in October I picked just over two kilograms of crab apples, and still the tree looked fully laden.
Then I read the recipe properly - I mostly followed Sarah Raven’s Chilli Jelly Recipe - and realised that straining the jelly through muslin was essential for it to be clear and jewel-like. I had muslin, but I wasn’t sure that I could rig anything up that would be secure enough to hold the 2kg of fruity mush. And if I did, then I didn’t want to have a collapsing accident part way through and need to clear up the mess it made.
A rethink was needed, and that was the Lakeland jelly strainer, which I now highly recommend, but of course it was out of stock with more stock expected soon - so I got my order in quick, and waited for it to arrive. Thankfully that was only a week, but it was a long wait for my little apples.
Now armed with all the kit I needed I set about prepping my apples. Sorting through those that I’d stored while waiting for the jelly strainer to arrive, giving them a good wash and then weighing and chopping them before chucking them my big preserving pan.
Thankfully the majority of the crab apples were as patient as me, and it turned out I’d overpicked a little - but even so I did need to nip out to the garden and pick about ten more apples to make up the numbers. Which wasn’t bad really.
I brought the apples and water up to the boil, then added the cider vinegar and boiled until it was at the jam setting temperature on my jam thermometer (another piece of kit that makes preserving so much easier, and takes the guess work out of is it set or not, and without a cold saucer in sight).
Onto the straining
I’d read that I must avoid the urge to squeeze the bag if I wanted to have a clear jelly, so I did and MOH was under strict instructions not to dabble with it either. And we did good, but the set-up was much taller than I’d expected so there was no way that I’d be lifting the large preserving pan and pouring the hot apple mixture into my strainer.
Well some creative thinking was needed, and out came the kitchen steps, the ladle and a jug. And it worked. Phew.
Then I realised that my large bowl was already filling up and I’d not even added all the apple mixture yet.
I’m so glad that I’d put some table mats under the jelly strainer as this helped me switch out the almost full bowl for its replacement, while the liquid happily continued to drip (well stream) through.
And so I left it to strain overnight, fairly confident that this bowl wouldn’t fill or overflow - and thankfully it didn’t. The jelly strainer didn’t collapse either, so that was double good news the next morning.
Adding chilli flakes
I’d originally bought fresh chillies but in the wait for the jelly strainer we’d used those but I’d seen in other recipes some used chilli flakes so that became my plan. The apples were supposed to yield about a litre of liquid, but I had double that - so then my dilemma was how much chilli flakes to add.
In the end I added a couple of tablespoons along with the sugar and hoped for the best taste-wise.
The pulp
I was curious to see what was left from the overnight straining - and it was a soft but shape holding mush of apples. I’m sure this could be composted, but mine went into the green bin (which is actually brown).
Jewelled jars
My next decision was to gauge how many jars I’d need, and given that I had more liquid I realised I’d need more than I first thought. So I got what I thought I’d need and a couple extra - in the end I used all nine jars (of various sizes) filling them with the jewelled hot and sticky jelly.
Doesn’t it look fab?
As a fair few chilli flakes were left behind or removed when I skimmed off the froth I decided to add a whole dried chilli into the jars. This wasn’t as successful as I hoped as it floated to the top and isn’t visible from the outside - but it will be a surprise for the recipients, and will hopefully build a depth of flavour as the jelly stores.
It tastes pretty good too, as well as the nine jars I had enough for a small plastic tub which is in the fridge and very much in the 'eat now’ category. We’ve had it with cheese, cold meats and in sandwiches - but I think you could use it alongside sausages, and anywhere you’d use condiments such as redcurrant jelly, and I’m looking forward to adding some to gravy too.
We had enough crab apples to make even more, but my jar situation so far is severely lacking and in that time our apples have gone over - the tree has shed its leaves, and the apples are riper than I’d want to use. But there’s still a chance I may make a slightly different variant using some local Bramleys instead - watch this space…
