Jars of quince jelly
After our recent day of satisfaction from tomato chutney making, today we thought we’d have a go at creating something altogether sweeter. Picking 2kg of quince from the bush at the house, quince jelly was our end product of choice this afternoon. As we were in danger of losing the fruit off the tree, the time was undoubtedly right.
Any good jam of jelly begins with the soaking of the fruit, and after 90 minutes and just over three pints of water, the previously sticky and halved fruit were very soft, the skins and pips having removed themselves. Filtering the mixture to get a pure syrup through a muslin bag over a drip stand was done overnight, and in the morning we had a large mixing bowl’s full of dark red liquid, ready for turning into jelly.
Nik adds the lemon
Adding three pounds of jam sugar to our three pints of syrup, we then boiled it until all of the sugar had dissolved, and then added the juice of one lemon. The next step a long time, but is crucial when making jelly. Keeping the heat up until the mixture reached 105 degrees seemed to take forever, but at that temperature the setting process begins. Removing one spoonful from the pan, and dropping it onto a saucer, we waited to see if it would cool. If it goes crinkly when a finger is run over it, then it’s ready to be jarred up. A few minutes and 10 half-pound jars later, we were done.
Thinking we were on a roll, we set about our next round of making. A can of Ma Made bitter Seville oranges had been bought to produce homemade marmalade. Technically it’s cheating, but it was so very easy. Even the water and pectin (to make the marmalade set) are added to the oranges to make the process even easier.
Jars of marmalade
To the 850g can of oranges, we added some fresh ginger, and three quarters of a pint of water, and four pounds of sugar. Boiling this little lot up to a temperature where the sugar dissolves seemed to take much less time, but once done, it only needs to sit on the hob for 15 minutes, when it should then be ready for setting testing on the saucer.
We produced 12 jars of the orange stuff, and have ordered more jars, as we’re fast running out. It’s kept us busy and has been very satisfying, though, and should ensure that we’ve got enough for lazy weekend breakfast treats for quite some time to come.