Last updated
05 February 2012
Quest for the Good Life 
Crab Apple & Rose Hip Jelly
A real hedgerow recipe. Crab Apples are those small yellow apples found in hedges
along country lanes. They are no more than 2-
Rose Hips are those delightful brilliant red fruits, oval in shape, borne on spiked wild rose briars. Their collection is fraught with danger of getting pricked, hooked up and scratched, but the effort is worth it. They give a pale red flush to the jelly and a sweet, fragrant fruitiness.
Combined with the Crab Apples, the jelly is light in texture, delicate in it’s flavour, which goes really well in sponge cakes, on scones or a spoonful popped into a bowl of hot porridge.
You can peel the Crab Apples but we have made it without doing so. They are small and very fiddly so it’s up to you. Take the stalks off from the Rose Hips and wash them well. Put both the Rose Hips and chopped up Crab Apples into the maslin pan. Add water so they are just covered. Then add 1 pint (568 ml) of extra water.
Boil then simmer until tender. Pour the mixture into a muslin bag or jelly bag. Tie it up and suspend above a collecting bowl. The fruit pieces will remain in the bag and the thick liquids will slowly dip through. Best left all night to catch all of the flavour. Do not squeeze it, let it drip naturally.
The reason the sugar has no quantity in the above list is due to the next stage. You have to measure the volume of liquid in the bowl. Discard the fruit pulp in the bag. Decant the liquid in the bowl into a measuring jug and keep a total of the volume produced. For every pint (568 ml) of liquid you add 1 lb (454 g) of sugar. For example if you get 2½ pints (1.4 litres) of liquid then add 2½ pounds (1.1 kg) of sugar.
Mix the sugar and juice together in the maslin pan and begin to boil.
Skim any foam off the top. Test for the setting point. Once reached pot into clean, sterilised, warm jam jars.
Label and leave to set and cool.
Bramley Apple Jelly
This recipe makes a delicate, light and honey coloured jelly that has a subtle flavour
gained from the Bramley apples and added fresh lemon juice. These are the ingredients
we used:-
Scrub the apples well, cut up roughly leaving skin, pips, core and stalks in.
Place in maslin pan with the 5 pints water.
Bring to boil and then simmer until soft (up to an hour).
Leave to cool overnight (refrigerate if possible)
Put pulp into muslin cloth, tie and suspend over bowl for about 8-
Measure the liquid produced. Use 1 lb (454g) sugar to each pint of liquid.
Take the liquid and return to the heat in the maslin pan.
Add the sugar and lemon juice.
Boil and simmer to reduce the liquid.
Skim off the white foam regularly.
Test for setting point.
When reached pour into sterilised jars, seal and label.