I finally made a successful batch of jelly!

Okay, it's maybe slightly firmer and sweeter than I'd ideally like. But it's set while still being spreadable! So I'll take it. (Every previous attempt either never set or set so firm that you couldn't spread it at all.)

Given how firmly it set and how sweet it came out, I think I'd try reducing the sugar slightly next time. I know that it probably won't keep as well that way. But that's fine. We'll just plan to eat it quickly.

Apple Jelly

Slightly adapted from Recipes Made Easy

Ingredients

• apples¹ (preferably Granny Smith or another tart variety), roughly chopped or sliced
• 625mL water per kg of apples
• 150-200g sugar² per cup of apple juice/liquid
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice per cup of apple juice/liquid

Directions

1. Wheigh your apples, then combine the them with the water and bring to a boil.
2. Boil until apples are very tender (30-45 minutes).
3. Once the apples are very soft, pour the entire contents of the pot into a jelly bag or muslin-lined colander suspeded over a bowl to strain out all of the solids. Do not press! Pressing will make the jelly cloudy. Let it rest and drain for at least four hours.
4. Once the apples have finished draining, measure the liquids collected.
5. Return the liquids to the pot and, for each cup (~250mL) of liquid, add 150-200g of sugar and 2 Tbsp. of lemon juice.
6. Bring to a boil and cook until temperature reaches 105-110°C (220-230°F) or until jelly wrinkles when dropped onto a cold plate and gently poked.
7. Pour into sterilized jars and seal immediately.
8. Set aside to cool, label, and store in a cool, dark place until ready to use. (If you used the lower amount of sugar, store in the fridge, just to be on the safe side.)

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¹ I actually used 1 whole apple and the peels and cores of six additional apples for making my jelly. ^Back
2 The original recipe called for 200g of sugar per cup of liquid, which is what I used this time around. I'd like to try it with 150g next time and see how it goes. This will definitely make it less sweet. Hopefully it will also reduce the firmness of the set a bit without affecting it so much that it doesn't set at all. ^Back