Crab Apple Jelly

My brother gave me a load of organic crab apples and greengages from the trees in his garden yesterday so I had a go at making jelly. It was a grey, drizzly day but the smell of apples bubbling away on the stove and finally, the sight of my row of crystal-clear, ruby-red jars lined up on the kitchen counter really lifted my spirits. Though simple, as usual, it took longer than I thought it would and Scrap soon grew bored of picking off the leaves deciding that "apple jam is yuk" and instead settled down in the lounge in front of this week's favourite film Herbie - The Love Bug, regularly summoning me by yelling "it's tum off!!" at the top of his voice every time there was an ad break.

Crab apples contain so much pectin that unless you really add too much water, the jelly will always set and you'll have something delicious to show for your efforts. Tomorrow I'm going to have a go at greengage jam (or maybe chutney).

Wash the crab apples well, removing the leaves and stalks. Place in a large pan and just cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer on the lowest heat for one hour until the apples are very, very soft. Line a large sieve or colander with a muslin cloth and tip in the mixture. Leave the liquid to drip through for a couple of hours - if you push it with a wooden spoon, you will get more out but the finished jelly will be cloudy. Measure the apple liquid and pour into a very large clean pan. Add roughly three quarters of the same volume of granulated sugar ( I had 2.5 litres liquid, added 1.8 litres sugar and got 9 jars of jelly) and gently bring to the boil, stirring from time to time until the sugar has completely dissolved. Boil hard for 10 minutes then cool a little, pour into jars and seal.