Bramble Jelly

I am still stupidly busy spinning and sewing right now but here are some pictures of the bramble jelly that I made a little while ago. I meant to post about that earlier but never got round to it. So what with the crafting projects being rather higgledy piggledy at the moment (there's not much that is photo-worthy in heaps of part stitched cloaks) I am backdating rather at the moment.

Ingredients:

Pick as many blackberries as you possibly can! (absolute minimum, 1 kilo).

Weigh them, put in a large heavy pan, and for every kilo add a chopped apple (including skin, pips and core), the juice of a lemon, and 250 ml of water.
Bring to the boil and simmer gently until the fruit is very soft and pulpy. Mash to extract maximum juice. Strain through a jelly bag (do not force through, but allow to drip — takes ages!)

Measure the resulting juice, and add 750g organic granulated sugar for every 1 litre. Return to a low heat, stir to dissolve sugar, then bring to a fierce boil.

Boil hard until setting temperature is reached (112 C) – or until a little of the mixture, dropped onto a chilled plate, sets with a slight wrinkle.

Pour into still hot sterilised jars. Allow to cool slightly and start to set before topping with a disc of waxed paper (if you like) and screwing on the top.

This is stunningly delicious on hot buttered toast and it is dead easy to make. I got the recipe from The River Cottage site. Do take a look if you are at all enthusiastic about food and/or food production.

Have a great weekend. Pick blackberries if you can!