Apple, Herb, and Flower Jellies
- 3 pounds, 6 ounces cooking apples
- 1 medium bunch of sage, rosemary, mint, tarragon, thyme, or basil
- 7 tablespoons cider vinegar
- Granulated sugar
- Coarsely chop the apples, discarding any bad parts, but dont peel or core them.
- Place in a preserving pan with the herbs, reserving half a dozen small sprigs to put into the jars.
- Barely cover the apples with water.
- Bring to a boil, then simmer gently, covered, for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the fruit is very soft.
- Pour the contents of the pan into a jelly strainer bag or piece of cheesecloth suspended over a bowl (see p. 33) and leave to drip for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
- Measure the strained juice.
- For every cup of juice, measure out 1 cup of sugar.
- Return the juice to the cleaned-out pan and add the vinegar.
- Heat to a boil, then add the sugar and stir until dissolved.
- Increase the heat and boil rapidly for 10 to 12 minutes, until the setting point is reached (see p. 41).
- Remove from the heat and skim with a slotted spoon to remove any scum.
- Pour into small, warm, sterilized jars (see p. 21), adding an herb sprig to each.
- Cover and seal (see p. 22).
- Use within 1 year.
- For stronger-flavored jellies, you can add 3 to 4 tablespoons of freshly chopped herbs after removing the jelly from the heat.
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes before potting.
- For exquisite rose-petal or dandelion jelly, add 1 ounce of scented petals instead of herbs.
- The above method can also be used to make quince jelly, replacing the apples with quince and leaving out the herbs.
cooking apples, sage, cider vinegar, sugar
Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/apple-herb-and-flower-jellies-389409 (may not work)