Fruits of the harvest

March and April are busy times in my garden - lots of produce to harvest. Now it's the turn of the crabapples, so I decided it was time to make some jelly.  Crabapples are rich in pectin and make the perfect companion to all sorts of berries. One of my favourites is crabapple and blackberry, but there were no frozen blackberries to be seen anywhere.  But I did manage to find both boysenberries and mixed berries, so made a couple of jars of each.  Here's how I turned these lovely crabapples into delicious jelly:

Chop washed crabapples roughly and be sure to leave the cores because they're particularly rich in pectin.  As the fruit pulp is going to be strained, there's no need to peel.

Add berries of your choice and enough water to come about half way up the fruit.   I used equal proportions of crabapples and berries - about 500g of each. Simmer until the fruit is soft.

Then mash well.

Tip into a jelly bag over a bowl and leave to drain. If you want clear jelly, just the liquid drip through, but if you don't mind your jelly to be a little cloudy, squeeze the bag to extract it all.

Measure the juice, transfer to a clean pan and add 750g of sugar for every litre of juice.  Stir over a low heat until the sugar dissolves, then boil rapidly until you reach setting point (106 degrees C).

Put into sterilised jars and seal - yum!