Late summer and autumn is a wonderful time for preserving the garden harvest. The crab apples ripen and its time to make jelly. I picked these wonderful crabapples at friend's farm, an amazing property located not too far out of Berridale. We will definitely be planting our own crabapples on Eagles Range.
To follow the recipe below you will need a basic understanding of making preserves. I haven't gone into much detail about setting point, sterilizing etc.
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The first job is to pick over the fruit, removing the leaves and stems. Then roughly chop the crab apples and weigh the fruit.
For every 2 kgs of fruit you add about 5 cups of water. Bring to the boil and let it simmer until the fruit is a soft pulp.
Line a strainer with some cheesecloth and then pour the contents into it. Gather the cheesecloth together (you may need some help) and let it hang overnight. You have to let the jelly drip at its own pace. Don't squeeze it through or it will go cloudy.
Measure the final juice and add 1 cup of sugar for every cup of juice. Bring it to the boil in a pan (make sure you stir the sugar to let it dissolve before it comes to the boil). Boil rapidly for about 10 minutes until it reaches the setting point. Skim the jelly and pour into sterilized jars.
Apart from enjoying on toast, crab apple jelly is fantastic with roast pork. I also use the pulp to make either a crab apple butter or a paste to have with cheese.
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