Hot crab apple and chilli jelly recipe
Comments(109)
Everyone seems to be talking about chillies. They are said to trigger “feel good” endorphins and are packed with vitamin A, an immune system boosting antioxidant. Chillies improve the digestive process too as they stimulate the action of the intestine and stomach.
This year I was determined to make crab apple and chilli jelly. My first attempt was so so. There was a chilli tingle when I tasted the juice. I chucked it away. My recipe from Oded Schwartz’s Preserving added 3-4 medium heat chillis. Are these desseded? I’d used three desseded ones. A long foray on the Internet offered no clues. Chop and add your chillis seemed to be the line. So when I simmered my crab apples and chillies a couple of days ago, I left the seeds in. The result was a tasty juice with just the sort of kick I wanted. Hot but not hellish.
Hot crab apple and chilli jelly recipe
Ingredients:
- 600g of crab apples washed and chopped
- 35g of medium red chilli peppers, washed and chopped with seeds in
- 1 litre of water
- White granulated sugar 500g to each 500ml of juice
Method:
- Put the chopped crab apples and chillies in a large heavy bottomed saucepan.
- Add 1 litre of water (they should just be floating). Bring tp the boil and simmer until the crab apples soften and become pulpy (lid on). This took about 45 minutes.
- Strain through a muslin square or jelly bag overnight. (Retain the pulp to make hot crab apple and chilli cheese)
- Add the juice to a large heavy bottomed pan and add the sugar. Bring slowly to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. When the juice and sugar has come to the boil remove from the heat and skim well. Return to the heat and bring to a rolling boil until setting point is reached. This took 15 minutes.
- Skim and pour into warm sterilised jars. Oded Schwartz adds a chilli (stalk removed and split once lengthwise) as the jelly is setting. I really wanted to set chillies in the jelly but be warned this is a nightmare. The jelly needs to be setting firmly otherwise the chillies gently float to the surface again, and again and again. I made two jars with chillies and abandoned the rest.
- Update: Following Sarah’s tip (see comments),I added two firey dried chopped chillies to the jelly. Marvellous.
Thank you for your comments. And a bit of silly bath time fun with the Frothing Sea Monster trick!
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Sounds like another lovely recipe Fiona!!
Oded Schwartz’s book is great. I borrowed it from the library and it has to go back next week.. ARGH! I shall have to copy out some of the recipes.. I’ve got a crab apple tree in the garden… this would be a lovely jelly to make. might see if i can get a jelly bag…
I too love Oded Schwartz’s book. I bought it when I was in the USA. I particularly like the chart at the back which shows the levels of pectin and acid in fruit and veg. That chilli crabapple sounds great!
Hi Pat,
The recipe is good. Danny is not keen on knock your spots off chilli. I like hot chilli. We both enjoyed this one this evening, with Musk’s sausages and champ. Piquant, sweet and perfect.
Hi Kethry,
I love the Oded Schwartz ‘Preserving’ book. Danny found it for me on Ausralian Ebay last Christmas. A longed for present.
You don’t need an official jelly bag to make jelly. An old pillowcase or tea towel will do. Just iron it to sterilise it. When you have finished rinse off the residue and bring it slowly to the boil with some washing powder, in a saucepan on top of the stove. This should remove any stains.
Hi Matron,
Yes, the chart in the back of Oded Schwartz’s book is very handy. I love his enthusiasm and the recipes are great too. Thanks for dropping by.
This sounds so good! I had some chilli jam this evening that I got in our local deli.
Hi Amanda,
I have found one decent tree locally (foraging 5 square miles). The jelly is so good that we actually are planning to by a crab apple tree to guarantee that we will be able to make this jelly in the future. And that says it all.
oooh thanks for the tip (about the pillowcase).. I’ll definetly start picking up the windfalls now.. i might’ve left it too late to get very much but we’ll see what i can find
Hi Kethry,
Great.
I was surprised that 600g of crab apples turned into five medium jars of jelly. We wish that we’d done this earlier on in the season as the jelly is so good. I may try a Bramley apple chilli jelly.
went out earlier and scouted around. Some of them are a bit eaten, but i can cut those parts away.. i too was surprised i only needed 600g of crab apple. Still, i’ve got more than that (uncut/peeled) – about 1kg – so i figure that should give me enough. The local shop sells Scotch Bonnet Chillis (very spicy) so i’m going to use those to make this – OH *adores* chillis. I’m already fighting him off from the chilli vodka in the fridge, and i have plans to make chilli jam as well!!! I’ll let you know how i get on
thanks again!
keth
xx
Hi Keth
Yes, you should have enough for the jelly. Scotch Bonnet Chillies are the biz.
Chilli vodka sounds intriguing. Our chilli sherry clears all nasal passages but fills a room with eager imbibers with just a whisper.
Love to hear about your chilli jam (and vodka).
actually, speaking of the chilli vodka.. heh.. OH decided he was going to “test” the chilli vodka – it’s been infusing for the last 3 days, in the fridge – to check the chilli spice is going into the vodka. So i let him taste a bit. oh yeah. its goingggggggg in alright.. a tiny sip (as in enough to wet my lips) made my whole mouth burn and i reached for a drink.. the OH reckons it needs a few weeks to mature, when it’ll have a stronger kick – and last for longer. I’m *not* entirely sure i want to taste it then but.. hey. If it floats his boat i ain’t arguing.. LOL. Anyway, to make it, i put 3 scotch bonnets, 2 without seeds, and 1 with seeds, 2 long red thin chillis (without seeds) and 1 fat green chilli (just to give colour difference/depth of taste) in a 250ml bottle (its intended as a gift) and topped it with vodka. very simple.
the chilli jam recipe came from here: http://down—to—earth.blogspot.com/2007/10/becoming-independent.html. You’ll have to scroll down to the bottom of the entry to see it, but its there. I’ll let you know how i get on with it. I’ve a lot of preserving/cooking to do over the weekend – onion marmalade, bread and butter pickle, sloe gin, christmas cake, christmas pudding, mincemeat (for mince pies), and possibly limoncello, not sure yet. It’s gonna be fun, that’s for sure!!
the chilli sherry sounds cool – how’dya make that?
keth
xx
Hi Keth,
Thanks for the chilli vodka recipe and the link to the chilli jam recipe. I’d love to hear how you get on with the jam.
Our recipe for chilli sherry is here. Great for adding to soup http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=98
[...] 13, 2007 ~ chilli and booze ~ Posted by kethry under craft the preserving quest pushes on apace, after a bit of a breakdue to being a bit .. well, not poorly. i just had a tender back, so took it easy for a bit (did family history research instead, but more on that in another post). This afternoon saw me starting hot crab apple and chilli jelly (which i didn’t think i could make as i couldn’t afford a jelly bag, but encouraged by fn from the Cottage Smallholder’s blog, i used a (clean) pillowcase instead. So far it’s working, if in a makeshift fashion! I also knocked up some sloe gin, remembered some sloe gin mom made from 2001 (yes, Mom, i kept it that long), drained it and sniffed it to see if its okay. Should be! Made some chilli jam as well. A busy day! [...]
Thought i’d let you know how i got on.. the jam is lovely. very spicy, but that could be to do with my choice of chillis (scotch bonnets!) rather than the recipe. Its more like a sweet chilli relish than a “jam” in the traditional sense, its not set or anything. Very nice though.
the crab apple jelly.. well. you can see the link above for the contraption i came up with to get the jelly bag (aka pillowcase) to work!!! it seems to be okay though, i’ll find out tomorrow when i boil it up – will let you know how that part goes!
thanks again!
keth
xx
Hi Kethry,
Thanks for the update. I must try the chilli jam. We have almost got through a jar of the crab aplle and chilli jelly already!.
Glad that the pillowcase worked.
Just done the crab apple & chilli jelly.. its come through lovely and clear and a beautiful pink colour (just out of curiosity, never having done a plain crab apple jelly (although i might next year), is the pinkness from the apple or the chilli or both? what colour is normal crab apple jelly?), and has a gorgeous kick to it. Definetly making this again (and i won’t be so scared of jellies now..)
thanks for your support with all this – its muchly appreciated!!
keth
xx
Hi Keth,
The great colour is from the crab apples! Apparently the normal colour for crab apple jelly is this pinky amber colour. We love this jelly too. Had it with Spanish lamb tonight – excellent.
Hi
I’ve recently made a chilli jelly using red peppers and lots of home grown red chillies (24 in total). The receipe was in Country living magazine and looked really easy. I might add I have only just started to make jellies, mainly because we have so much fruit in our garden and I hate seeing it wasted. But after all my efforts – the first was a quince jelly, I cannot get them to set. Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong and if it does’nt set can you put it back in the pan and try again. I did’nt add any pectin to the quince jelly and used sugar with pectin added for the chilli jelly. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Amanda
Hi Amanda,
You can put jelly back in the pan if it hasn’t set. But it is better to try and get it to set first time.
The rolling boil is actually removing liquid from the jelly, if you leave it too long your jelly will be rubbery. If you do not give it enough time your jelly will be too liquid. Test for setting point by using a cold saucer for the drips (we have tips and tricks for making jelly at the bottom of this post http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=102 )
I hope that this helps.
Thank you, will try again. I did the saucer test and got the wrinkly look, but I will try again and let is boil for longer to remove some of the liquid. Will let you know results.
Amanda
Good luck Amanda, I hope that it works out for you!
Thank you for your tips. Success at last! Tommorrow I’m going to try apple and herb jelly and plum jam.
This is brilliant, Amanda. Delighted.
Tremendous recipe belying its simplicity. We have an ornamental crabapple in a tub that was full of fruit and have had a ready supply of home grown jalapeno chillies and dried apache chillies.
I couldn’t resist tasting the pulp on the first mix (with a little sugar!) and found it to be absolutely superb.
An ideal accompaniment to pork that has been roasted using slivers of garlic and cloves in the fat (drooling at the thought!).
I used 1 fresh, medium jalapeno and 1 dried apache, both seeds in on my first mix using the quantities suggested.
Many Thanks.
Richard
Hi,
Can I use ordinary cookers instead of crab apples for this recipe. Already made mincemeat and planning on chutney but have so many apples to use up!
Hi Kate
Yes you can use cooking apples for this recipe. We do have a apple chilli recipe too. It’s here http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=501
Can you recommend any veggie recipes that this jelly will go with? I made ALOT and have since given some to veggie friends. thanks
I’m not Fiona, but I find it goes really well with anything eggy, such as frittata or omelette. Or with potatoes.
I’m thrilled to find you recipe here and the one for the herb jam.
I just came in from the crabapple tree. I decided to harvest it on the equinox because that seemed right. The apples were jumping off already, and they’re very bright and sweet -tasting.
I plan to make a plain crabapple jelly and then do a batch of your chili jelly. I’m excited.
Thanks for your site. I look forward to exploring more later tonight when my feet are tired from cutting up the apples.
Hi Katie
Veronica is spot on. It goes well with all things made with eggs. It also is great with cheese and nut or lentil bakes. Great with cauliflower cheese too. Very versatile.
Hi Veronica
Thanks very much for your input. I’m planning to make masses of crab apple/apple chilli jelly this year as it was a big hit wit everyone.
Love your idea on your blog of teaming it up with scallops!
Hello Cathy
Just read your blog. I’m impressed by the speed with which your tree matured to fructulence! Hope that the jelly works well for you too.
Hello
Just found this site & think its fantastic. The receipes are so simple & tips/tricks from others are great to read. First time at jam/jelly making. I made the Blackberry & Apple jam it was sooooooo simple. I’m going to give the Crabapple & Chilli jelly a go tomorrow.
Thanks
The crab apple and chilli jelly sounds like a wonderful way to use crab apples, but the tree in my garden is an ornamental variety with pretty, but tiny, bright yellow fruits. Can these be used?
I love your site. Often at this time of year I sit down in the evening and brows through it, then am very impatient for the next morning to go out and collect!
I’ve just finished making your sloe and apple jelly, and it’s fantastic! I’m really excited to have found this website with really clear and simple recepies that really work! I’ll be trying out loads of them!
I picked loads of crab apples this year, so I’ll be making this recepie and also the rosehip and crab apple jelly tomorrow – thank you for the fantastic ideas!
On the point of the pillow cases, that’s what I use, and it’s useful to know that sainsbury’s Basics range has pillow cases for 90p if you don’t have an old one to use at home.
Just wanted to thank you for this recipe – I’ve a glut of chillis to use up from the veg patch and wanted a different way to preserve the green ones (already got the red ones on strings in the cellar to dry). I found another jelly recipe on the web which didn’t work all and I wasn’t feeling brave enough to invent solething from scratch.
Not having any crabapples I used apples and upped the chilli level a bit (used aroun 90g for a double batch) as they were a mix of mild and hot all jumbled up together. Will definitely make another batch this week while the remaining chillis in the basket are still usable.
I did this today but some of my juice after seiving/through muslin evaporated BUT I had hardly any come through, I didn’t over boil, can I pass cold water through the pulp to save? Is there a solution? Please please help x x x
Hi Faye
The juice should not be ‘thick’ which has happened to me sometimes. It should be the consistency of fruit juice and drip through easily. It might be worth putting the fruit back in the saucepan and adding a pint of water. Simmer for a few minutes then strain through muslin.
You can also make a fruit cheese with the pulp.
Grateful Dear Oded!
So very good, i add it to wide range of cooked food, me and all the family are much obliged to you.
Kindly,
Rachel
What a wonderful recipie (and website / blog)! I made a tester batch of this the other day and my husband and I thought it was amazing so I went and picked loads more crab apples and used 4lb to make another bath this morning. I added a few chilli flakes as i was putting it into the jars and it made it look very pretty. We’ve already had to give some away after family and friends raved about it after our bbq this afternoon and wouldn’t go home happy without it. I’ve made plum jam this evening and have your apple chutney in the plan for tomorrow. I’m really enjoying foraging and experimenting and your website is making it much easier and i’m growing in confidence all the time!
Oops, I made a batch.. Not a bath!
Hi Rachel
Sorry to miss your comment. We love this recipe too.
Hello Sarah
I’ve found 3 crabapple trees about five minutes drive from the cottage. Picked my first batch yesterday to make this jelly and to try a hot crab apple cheese.
D’you know, every time I have a glut of something or I need an obscure recipe, Google brings up your blog. Now you come up trumps again with this chilli jelly – keep it up!
Hi I have just finished making this recipe but only ended up with two jars of jelly, I checked everything and would love to make some more but I am reluctant till I sort this out. I double checked quantities and wonder if I boiled too long? I used a timer and boiled as per the instructions. Please advise. It came out lovely and clear and I put in dried chilli flakes which look effective. Looking forward to tasting,
Hi Tracy
Thanks for the positive feedback!
Hello Christine
I’ve already made some jelly this year and the fruit were not quite ready so I got far less juice. However, you need to simmer the crabapples, lid on until they soften. If you boiled them a lot of the juice would have been evaporated. Perhaps this is where you went wrong?
Hello Tracy
Thanks for replying so promptly, I think that was it, I will see if there are enough crab apples left to try another batch. It tastes fine though and we are going to have some with pork today, I will let you know what my husband thinks, watch this space!
Just wanted to tell about what you can use for straining. The dollar store in our small town, in the houseware section, has a cheese cloth product and you get oodles for a buck. You can cut to fit your seive and after use rinse, dry and reuse. I usually use 5 – 6 times then wash and use for cleaning things.
Jelly is fun, I have made for years. and Bernadin now has a pectin (no sugar) that you can use with splenda so my diabetic husband will be able to use my jelly. Another tip, use less sugar and mix 1/2 white sugar and 1/2 splenda.
Hello Marie
Thanks so much for all these tips! Much appreciated.
Cheese cloth is a great idea – muslin from kitchen shops over here is very expensive.
Just wondering, when you chop the apples, do you have to peel and core them as well???
Hi Frances
Leave the skins, cores and pips on/in. I chop them to see whether beasties have invaded and reject those.
Hi again
I do not chop cut peel I just bring to boil and then simmer till skins are very soft and then strain. In our area there were no worms this year but when washing , I usually wash in cold water bath at least 3 times before boiling, beasties should exit on their own accord especially if you let the apples soak about half hour the first time.
Hello Marie
Thanks for your advice. Much appreciated.
[...] Crab apples are used to make jelly, pickles or can be roasted and served with meat or added to winter ale or cider. Any unpicked fruits will soften after a few frosts and will create a sumptuous food source for wild birds from late January until March. For a jelly recipe with a chillie kick try Cottage Smallholder [...]
Just wanted to say I have just made the jelly and it has turned out well for a first attempt. I have never made jellies before.The colour is great.They think me mad at work as I have had to send out requests for jars as I want to now try the Apple jelly and also your pear and lemon recipe.Too much fun – the housework is being abandoned!!!
Hi, I stumbled upon your website and forum as I was searching for crab apple uses. We have a crab apple tree in our garden and it never (!) occurred to me in the past (!!) that one could actually eat them…
I have recently discovered that they can be eaten cooked and, as my mother is coming to visit this week, and she is a fine cook, I thought it would be brilliant to see what we (she) could do with them – they are just ripening now… and this year, I am not going to leave them to the birds! Now, my question is: are there any varieties of crab apples that are not edible? I have heard of ornmental crab apples, read your blog comments and can’t make out whether mine are ornmental or not and whether they are safe to eat (cooked), and even whether the fact that they might just be ‘ornmental’ would make them unedible or not… They are round, very small (the size of small cherry tomatoes) and yellow and orangey yellow for the ripest ones. Can anybody help, before I poison my entire family?…
I’d love to try your crab apple chilli jelly recipe. Sound soooo yummy.
Hi Quackerz
That’s good news! Don’t forget that you can use the pulp to make cheese
http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=3733
Hi Laurence
s the fruits are so small this sounnds like an ornamental crabapple to me. I’m pretty sure that you can eat them but not 100% there’s quite a bit of information here
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090825142716AAgutZF
I made this last year with an ‘ornamental’ tree I guess, the fruit are pretty small! Wonderful, I gave jars for christmas in a hamper of other goodies to friends, and I have orders for this year already, now the children are back at school I will get busy this week. Fun part? Submerging the chillis!!
Hi Raenbow
That’s good news. I love it too.
Don’t forget that you can use the leftover pulp to make cheese
http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=3733
Thank you to all of you – Gosh I love these forums, you feel instantly part of a community!
I had a look at the yahoo website and it was informative enough to reassure me completely.
I will use the pulp, of course. My mother has been making quince and apple cheese for years. It is so good that I have to have it imported from France (I am French and my parents live in France – I am in London…) and it never fails to impress my friends at dinner parties, when I serve it with cheese. I can’t wait to get the kids to pick the ripe apples tomorrow and get down to business! I will let you all know.
I am planning on plain jelly and cheese, chilli jelly and cheese. How about jam? Mixed with other fruits? Any ideas?… I have so many, the branches are bending with the weight…
Thanks again, Laurence3
Hello Laurence
How about crab apple chutney? You’d need to core the crabs but not skin them as you’d have to for jam.
hey lawrence! when i was a kid, my mom used to can crabapples in a sweet sugar syrup. i think you might even be able to leave the stem which looks quite pretty. the apples cook / crack a little bit in pressure canning process but the colour is beautiful. and, when i cooked at a hotel as a young woman, we used to use commercially canned crab apples (sweetened) as a garnish on the plates. the colour of the canned crab apples really is pretty — pinks and yellows, etc. might be worth a try to be able to set out a bowl on the Christmas table, huh?
Hi Sylvia
That’s a lovely idea for the Christmas table.
Hi Synthia,
Thanks for the lovely idea for crab apples. I shall see how I feel this week-end and decide if I am going to pick any more…
Laurence
We live in the New Forest and have a glut of crabapples, sloes, etc this year (along with far too many home grown chillies). Wow! Wasn’t sure how it would turn out as I’ve never made jelly before and only own standard sized saucepans. It was a doddle. Have got a great ‘set’ consistency and love the beautiful sunset colouring. (And it tastes fantastic with roast pork). BTW does anyone know if I can freeze whole chillies?
Hi Laurence
I added lots of chillies to this recipe floowing your nudge and it is fantastic! Thank you.
Hi Anne
Great that it worked out for you. Yes I think you can freeze chillies.
This site is brilliant, i am new to foraging and the recipes are great, thanks for this recipe, made my first batch this weekend and it was perfect
Hi Darren
I love this jelly too. Making loads ATM to last for a good few months. When the crabapples are gone I use ordinary apples (cookers).
Have just mde this for the first time and it looks and tastes divine! can’t wait to make the cheese tomorrow!!
this is such a great website, i am addicted!
Hello Sherylvet
Thanks so much for leaving such a heartening comment.
Hi everyone!
I have 2 small tomato plants (cherry size – only a couple of handfuls, sadly…) in my garden and the last tomatoes refuse to ripen and I don’t think there is any more hope of them turning red or even pink…
I was therefore wondering if one of you had any interesting recipes for green tomatoes, baring in mind that I have a minute quantity of them (so I could add them to something, perhaps…)?
Many thanks.
Hi Laurence
Apparently tomatoes need warmth more than sun. If you move them indoors they will ripen on a warm windowsill. Sometimes this can take weeks – often we’re eating tomatoes at Christmas!
This recipe from America is good- it uses green tomatoes as a sweet filling for pies
http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/rozanne-halls-green-tomato-mince-filling-and-crumb-topping-recipes-482
It might be worth posting your question on our forum. If you are registered on this site you don’t need to log on to the forum to leave a comment. There are lots of wise people out there who have more experience than me
Hi Fiona and all,
I’ve got lots of inherited crabapples (about 4 lbs) and planning to make the crabapple chili jelly first. Have located where I can get Scotch Bonnet chilis. If using those, do I need to adjust the quantity of them in the recipe above to arrive at the same hotness as with 35g of ‘medium’ red chilis? I’m fine with fiery stuff but DH sounds more like Danny…
Also – when straining overnight – is it OK to squeeze out the last drops in the morning – I assume it’s fine for the jelly of course but does that shortchange the following cheese recipe of some flavour?
Thanks!
Hi Bonnie
The medium hot chillies are pretty mild and Scotch bonnet chillies are hot. So I’d add about 5g to the simmering crabs and taste. Add more incrementally.
BTW I added dried birds eye chillies to the jelly as it was setting last week – the sweetness makes the heat bearable even for Danny.
I have made this, I used the wrong apples and now the jame is not set enough when cold.
Please can I do anything to save this now? Can i reheat and add more pectin??? x
Hi Faye
Yes you can reheat the jelly. The purpose of the rolling boil is to evaporate the water in the juice and allow the jelly to set. You should be able to make this with apples too – we have in the past.
I doubt that you’d need pectin unless you used a different fruit altogether. What fruit did you use?
I used apples for the jame, perhaps I tried to make too much and didnt boil for long enough.
Hold long should I boil to reach setting point? x
Hi Faye
Bring the jelly slowly up to simmering point and then to a rolling boil testing every 3-5 minutes for a set. Use spoons from the freezer or ultra cold plates to test for a set then you get the quickest response.
It’s impossible for me to say long distance how long it will take to set.
Right I will pop it back on the stove. So glad I can save it, 7 pints of very wobbly jelly is not good!
Many thanks for your help xx
Double batch of crabs and chilis simmering on the stove now!
Thanks Fiona for the tip on tasting and then adjusting. The shop didn’t actually have Scotch Bonnets in the end so I used the long red chilis instead, thought they might be on the hot end of medium, so wisely added only 2/3 of the chilis I bought. There’s no way to tell, of course, what the balance will taste like once the sugar’s in, but right now I like the balance of apple flavour and kick so will hold back on the rest and see how it comes out.
I’m still curious – not having made fruit cheese yet – if I squeeze the muslin bag to get as much juice as possible for the jelly, will that decrease the cheese’s flavour?
Oh dear. Not sure what I’ve produced.
It was taking a long time to set, but I realised that since I was doing a double batch, I had added 2 l of water and so it might take longer to boil that all off. (So first question: when doubling should I have tried adding only the same 1 l of water before simmering the chopped fruit and chilis?) It also tasted much sweeter than I was expecting… again wondered whether the recipe was thrown off by the extra liquid.
At some point it had the faintest of crinkly marks so I kept it going, but having hope. Finally it seemed it had gotten denser, but not in a jelly-like way – more like very thick syrup and was just slightly chewy to the taste. I’ve jarred it up but wonder whether a) it had too much sugar and/or b) I had it boiling too hard??
Will see what it’s like tomorrow but am disappointed at the prospect of sweet, hot and slightly chewy crabapple and chili syrup!
Thanks for any thoughts or advice.
PS – Hmmm… I’m beginning to suspect that the ‘crabapples’ given to me are not crabapples at all, but some other small apple – it was not sour at all (have just tasted some crabapple jelly of someone else’s and the flavour was quite different to mine)… that might explain my problem!
I’ve made both the jelly and the cheese this week and its really delicious. Thanks for a great recipe. Next year I need to pick many more crab apples!!
Hi all,
I made this crab apple jelly without the chilli last week and it’s gorgeous! I had enough crabs to make another batch so this time I added chopped green Apache chillis. I forgot to put them in with the crabs so I added them to the jars. They cooked instantly, floated and looked very odd, so I sieved them out quickly – lol! I’m hoping that they’ve left their mark nonetheless!
This is a fab site – I can’t get enough of it. Thank you
Hi theer,
Made this recipe last week and it’s proved a big hit! I have a few comments to add.
1) Far too much water quoted which has the potential to dilute the taste and up the boiling time. I doubled the number of crab apples and just about covered them in water.
2) I prefer a slow bake in the oven in a casserol dish for juicing down the apples, means you can stick them in with other things, but that’s just a preference.
3) Funnily enough for the first time ever I had problems with the setting of crab apples. From the same tree I had made plain crab apple jelly, which if anything has set a little too much. The set I have for the chilli (yum, yum) is delicate, which is OK but not as firm as I normally like. I wonder if the chillies have intefered with the full set? Just a thought really, not a problem as such.
I have just finished sausages & mash with my Crab apple & chilli jelly – thank you for a great recipe! I didn’t have enough chillis, so also put in a few chopped up dried chillis at the end. I also made the crab apple cheese & crab apple chutney. The chutney already tastes lovely – the cheese is coming out on friday with cheese & biscuits at a dinner party. My husband thinks I’m going mad, there are now 3 types of homemade chutney in the house. I also tried your plum chutney, which I have resisted trying yet, but it smelt fantastic whilst it was simmering.
I will be back!
Hi Caroline
It’s great that you’ve got the preserving bug. Thanks for leaving such a positive comment – much appreciated.
[...] An adaption of this Hot Crab Apple And Chilli Jelly Recipe. [...]
This might sound a daft question, but are you able to tell me how hot this turns out? Basing it on a usual Indian menu, would you say we are talking about a korma, a madras, a vin daloo, a phal, or anything in between? I like a little piquancy, but cannot take it too spicy. Am thrilled to have found a recipe that will use up my crab apples as well!
Thanks.
Hej!
I found your website when I was searching for spicy recipes with apples and chilies.
I have made the jelly and it really turned out well. It turned out to be impossible to add bits of chili or even a whole one, they kept on floating, just like you said they would.
As I could not find this comment you were referring to, could you tell me how you go about adding chili’s without them coming up?
I really enjoy your blog and was very grateful for the tip on the free software!
Warm wishes from sunny Sweden,
Monique
Hi Monique
When you have filled the jars, let them cool down a bit and then keep on turning them over (10 minutes upside down and then 10 minutes upright and so on) eventually the chillies will be distributed evenly through the jelly.
haha, ok! That will make a difference
Thank you!
Hi Claire
I’ve just done this recipe using twice the amount of apples and water. As I had only 50g of fresh red chilli, and not the 70g needed for the double quantity, I added a good pinch of dried chilli to the mash. The end result was a fresh appley first taste, with a zingy touch of heat following through – not enough to blow your socks off! I suggest you try the quantities given in the original recipe first and taste it at the potting stage. You can then add a pinch of dried chillie to each pot if you want the extra heat.
This was my first time with the recipe and I found that the strained juice was quite a cloudy pale pink. However, once the sugar was added and it was well skimmed during the boiling stage, the jelly turned a beautiful rose pink and was perfectly clear. So don’t be put off by the colour of the juice. The end result looks lovely – can’t wait to tuck in.
Cheers
Hi there – first time on the site and first time with recipe. Moved into house in North Yorkshire and discovered a large crab apple tree loaded with fruit, so one web search and here we are.
I did 600g of fruit after coring and then left for about 55minutes. obviously that nearly killed it so i added a litre of water to try and bring back to life. I strained as per the instructions and it has come out an amazing deep ruby red colour. The wife is very impressive with my ability to find setting point!!
Made a batch of this today – delicious! Thanks so much for the recipe and the tips.
gonna make this tomorrow once i’ve harvested some more today on my forage walk. I don’t have enough red chillis at home, and will have to resort to buying some. Notice they’re v. expensive for packets of whatever grams they’re in, when you only get about 3 red ones out of 20 or so that are green. Will this matter? I’m wondering if I let them ripen on the windowsill, will they redden over time, if so, for how long? is there much difference in using frozen crabs for this recipe?
Hi Irridium
You can use green chillies – red are hotter so you need to adjust. Not sure how long that the chillies would take to go red.
Totally agree chillies are expensive to buy so its worth growing loads and drying them. We always buy them when they are marked down in price and dry these too. Dried chillies are even stronger and last well in airtight jars.
Frozen crabs would be fine! Cook from frozen rather than let them defrost.
hi fiona
thanks for your reply (didn’t realise i had one till now – sorry for my delay!)
i did try to grow chillis again this yr, but they weren’t all that successful (last yr’s went well before whitefly came and they wilted straightaway with no chance of recovery!). out of the two plants i had, one didn’t come true, and ended up being a roma-shaped pepper (not hot at all!) and a normal chilli, birds-eye type, but it never bushed/or grew taller. nor flowered again. all in all, i think i had about no more than 20 chillis out of them, and so, i didn’t have any spare come this time of yr, and they were cooked at least 2 a week in our meals. i do have lots of dried whole and flaked chilli in my cupboards, so i think that’ll be a good substitute, altho’ using fresh would be aesthetically pleasing as it’ll stand out more in the jars..oh well, next yr, perhaps!
On 11 September FN said:
“Hi Monique
When you have filled the jars, let them cool down a bit and then keep on turning them over (10 minutes upside down and then 10 minutes upright and so on) eventually the chillies will be distributed evenly through the jelly.”
I tried this with lavender flowers when experimenting with apple and lavender jelly, and got the lids and rims of jars all sticky with the jelly. I cleaned up the lids and jars when the jelly was cool, but wonder if opening the jars will be detrimental to the seal. Have you found any way round this, FN?
What a fabulous and easy recipe this is. I made 3 jars this morning and liked it so much I’ve got batch 2 in a jelly bag already. Thought I might try some without chillies but with rosemary and garlic. Don’t know if it will work but have a glut of crab apples and sugar’s not expensive so why not give it a go and see? Love the website – one of my favourites on the net.
Clare.
I bought a really good apple and garlic jelly last year. Must make some this year!
Or with Xmas spices!
Hello eveyone, I am not a “cottage smallholder” at but from farming stock and was browsing for chilli jam. I make loads of jam and marmalade, well over 100 jars per year, which make wonderful presents. I don’t often make chutney as, apart from my “kitchen sink” chutney, there is not so much demand for these as for jam. I think that this might be that so many peope seem to make chutney. I think that this chilli jam might be a little unusual for most.
Using crab apples, or windfalls which are a bit under-ripe, I make herb jellies. The usual is mint but sage works well. (I colour the mint otherwise it is a weird colour.)
Rowan berry jelly is also different with a slightly bitter taste, ideal for fatty meats/game. The colour is lovely.
I either package my jams in wicker baskets, picked up cheaply from wherever, or wrap each jar in cellophane and tie with ribbon and maybe add a spray of artificial leaves/flowers. I print off the labels and add fabric tops or not on a whim. As I buy my jars and tops in bulk I always have pristine tops and they don’t always look better covered.
Hope these comments are of interest.
I picked nearly 8lbs of crab apples from my tree last Friday, my crab tree is the dark leaf and pink blossom with red fruit, so any jelly will turn out red.
I washed and roughly chopped them in my processor, boiled until soft then tied in muslin and hung to drain. I left it hanging for 48 hours. Yesterday I finished the jelly off and what a lovely set I have and a beautiful clear red jelly with a good hint of chilli running through it. I have quite a few jars of all different sizes, so plenty for me and the family who love it and some to give away.
What I picked was about a quarter of the crop, so in the next few days I am going to make some sweet crab apple jelly, I am thinking of using the recipe without the chilli of course.
A great recipe and one that will be used every crab apple season I am sure.
Sheila
As we have lots of 2007 crabapple jelly left (we only eat it with lamb) we are going to try crabapple and chilli this year.
The answer to the setting problem that worries a few people is to buy a jam or sugar thermometer. This has the setting point for various things including jam marked on the scale. Crabapples are full of pectin and should set easily.
I used a thermometer, but I do not think it is really necessary with crab apples because they are full of pectin, and good thermometerd are expensiver to buy if you do not use one normally. I also used normal sugar with no problems.
I have since made the jelly minus the chilli and it is lovely. Apparently 2011 it has been one of the best years for crab apples, we still have about half the crop left and have friends coming over Friday for a meal and to pick the rest to use
.
I agree with Shiela about the amount of pectin in crabapples but clearly, some earlier contributors have had issues with detecting the setting point, not everyone knows the “wrinkles on a cold saucer” trick.
We made our crabapple and chilli jelly today. Just over 5kg of crabs with 220 gm of chillies. We used two packets of Tescos mixed chillies and two packets of hot chillies, all grown in the next county. Two of the chillies were Scotch Bonnets and the rest, I think, Hungarian Wax. Around 3l of juice was boiled with around 3kg of sugar (actually a pound to a UK 20oz pint). We ended up with a dozen jars of pleasantly spicy jelly. Next time I would add more chillies.
made this today – lovely!! even my mum who doesn’t eat chilli’s was converted… couldn’t get chilli’s in the jelly, but the colour was so lovely I didn’t really need to bother – will be making some more tomorrow
I have been reading these and can’t to get some more crab apples ( gathered – picked – or should I use the windfalls ?) and make soem crab apple jelly tomorrow.
What a fab site !
I want to make this, but wondered what I’d have it with as I’m a vegetarian?
It would be good with cheese and snacks on toast
Sarah the vegetarian, what to use your chilli crab apple jelly for, anything and everything, I use it in stir fries, soup, pasta sauces, fish dishes (ok not a true veggie) and they all taste better because of it.