Jars of apple jelly

Apple jelly

Name: Apple jelly
Prep time: 50 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 50 min
Yield: Makes 3 x 454ml jars
Ingredients: 1.5kg apples washed well and roughly chopped (skin and core kept on); 1 lemon pared and juiced; around 750g jam sugar

Samuel Goldsmith

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Makes 3 x 454ml jars

More effort

Prep: 50 mins

Cook: 1 hr

plus a few hours straining

A star rating of 4.8 out of 5.7 ratingsRate

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Gift jars of apple jelly to friends and family at Christmas. This recipe is a great way to use up a glut of homegrown apples, should you have an apple tree

Vegetarian

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Ingredients

Nutrition

Units:

MetricUS

1.5kg apples

washed well and roughly chopped (skin and core kept on)
1 lemon

pared and juiced
around 750g jam sugar

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Nutrition: Per tbsp

kcal42
fat0g
saturates0g
carbs11g
sugars11g
fibre0.1g
protein0g
salt0g

Method

step 1

Tip the apples into a preserving pan or large saucepan with 1.5 litres of water and the lemon peel. Bring to the boil over a medium heat, then reduce to a gentle simmer and cook for 30-40 mins, breaking the apples up with a spoon once softened a little, until the apples are pulpy. Spoon the apples and liquid into the bag of a jam strainer set over a large bowl and allow the juice to drop through (don’t be tempted to squeeze it through or it’ll go cloudy). Leave overnight if you can, or for at least a few hours.
step 2

Once the liquid has dripped through, weigh it to work out the amount of sugar needed. Once you have your weight of liquid, divide it by 4 then multiply that figure by 3 to work out three-quarters of the liquid’s weight. This is how much sugar you need (e.g. if you have 1 litre of liquid, you will need 750g sugar). Put the liquid, sugar and lemon juice into a large saucepan or preserving pan set over a medium heat and cook until the sugar has completely dissolved, without boiling. This should take around 5 mins. Bring to the boil and cook for around 10 mins, removing any scum that rises to the surface, until the mixture reaches 105C on a digital thermometer. You can also check it by putting a spoonful on an ice-cold plate – it should wrinkle when prodded. If it’s not set, keep cooking and checking every couple of minutes.
step 3

Pour into sterilised jars and seal before leaving to cool. Will keep, unopened, in a cool, dark place for three months.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, Homemade Christmas 2024

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A star rating of 4.8 out of 5.7 ratings

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