The Preserver's Year

hobbitfancier

I'm sure this has been asked elsewhere but are sloe berries late this year? I couldn't find any last year and haven't seen any this year yet.

floss2

hobbitfancier wrote: »

I'm sure this has been asked elsewhere but are sloe berries late this year? I couldn't find any last year and haven't seen any this year yet.

Last year was a bad year for them with the late frosts & the wet summer.

We seem to have missed them this year, but found a few on Sunday which will be made into Hedgerow jelly tonight with elderberries & apples. We're in Lancashire.

p00

sopranolmu wrote: »

Oooh do you have a recipe for blackberry jam? Or does anyone? I love blackberries, but we're getting a bit bored of crumbles. hehe! No mention of blackberry jam in my jam recipe book! :eek:

I make blackberry jam the same way I make all jam and have just made damson and blackberry and apple and blackberry.

cook fruit for about 10 to 15 mins -
push through collander
weigh pulp and add same weight of sugar
boil at jam temperature for 10 minutes or so or until thickening
pour into hot jars and seal.

sometimes I add a lemon for extra petin but found I havent needed it for the above jams and they are delicious.x
x
p00

sKiTz-0

Ok so I made a batch of blackberry jam the other day (some of which to give away as presents) but this year I decided I wanted a smooth jam rather than having all those pesky seeds in there so I sieved them out after softening the fruit. I've just come to test the jam on my toast this morning and it is rock hard!! I think it's a combination of too much pectin and the sugar to fruit ratio being out as I weighed the fruit before putting it through the sieve.

Am I right in thinking it's worth a go at rescuing by tipping all the jam into a pan with some water, re-boiling and re-jarring it? I have managed to rescue jam that hasn't set before, so I'm thinking I'll be able to do it the other way round and rescue this batch. It is very tasty so I do not want to throw any of it away.

Nocturnes

Saw this recipe today in the Guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/sep/27/how-to-make-fruit-pastilles

I tried making this (using a Mary Norwak recipe) last year. There is a definite moment/temperature when it goes from perfect pastille to tarmac you could seal the roof with

Good luck!

sKiTz-0

Ha - good idea if all else fails. Thanks

suzybloo

Being of the frugal nature I had been given a carrier bag full of lovely apples, and have been promised more!, so today I used kilner jars and made two 1 litre jars of apples in a sugar syrup ready for using in crumbles, but was aghast at the waste of the skins and peel, so decided to boil up the 'waste' with a just over a pint of water and two cinnamon sticks, I then dripped it through the jelly bag, and got just under two pints of liquid, I used the same ratio As other jellies, ie a pound sugar to a pint liquid, brought it to the setting point 220degrees and it has worked out brilliantly, I now have 3 jars of cinnamon and apple jelly for the price of my sugar. In future will freeze all apple cores and peel until I have enough to do this again, I do worry I am taking things to the extreme though lol!

sKiTz-0

That sounds delish!

floss2

suzybloo wrote: »

Being of the frugal nature I had been given a carrier bag full of lovely apples, and have been promised more!, so today I used kilner jars and made two 1 litre jars of apples in a sugar syrup ready for using in crumbles, but was aghast at the waste of the skins and peel, so decided to boil up the 'waste' with a just over a pint of water and two cinnamon sticks, I then dripped it through the jelly bag, and got just under two pints of liquid, I used the same ratio As other jellies, ie a pound sugar to a pint liquid, brought it to the setting point 220degrees and it has worked out brilliantly, I now have 3 jars of cinnamon and apple jelly for the price of my sugar. In future will freeze all apple cores and peel until I have enough to do this again, I do worry I am taking things to the extreme though lol!

Nope, that's Compost Jelly according to HFW!

ALIBOBSY

We found a load of sloes the other day, so perhaps they are later around here?

Going to make sloe and crab apple jelly today.

Meanwhile I made some hawthorn jelly yesterday, it tastes yummy with the roast chicken we had yesterday for tea, BUT it is quite soft set. Now I know I can reboil it up but tbh we quick like it soft as its more like a sauce than a preserve. Just need to know if the set level effects how it keeps in the jars? Or is the level of sugar enough to keep it fine anyway.

If it won't go off I will leave it as is as I know sometimes jellies will set in the jars after a few days-my blackcurrant syrup turned in 3 days into blackcurrant jelly lol. Yummy but still set, and we are fine with it soft anyway.

Ali x