Blackberry and apple jelly best recipe
Comments(52), We also have an old family recipe for blackberry and apple jam here.
The blackberry season is just starting here in Cheveley and it’s time to make our first batch of blackberry and apple jelly. I think that this is definitely the queen of jellies, so good that it can be spread on toast in the morning for breakfast or dolloped on plates and eaten with mild soft cheese.
Try and pick the blackberries when the sun has been on them; midday is ideal. For the apples, we use windfalls because they are bruised and will not keep even though they might look perfect. Blackberry and apple jelly is sometimes referred to as hedgerow jelly.
If this is the first time that you have made jelly, check out the tips and tricks below, as some of the terms are a bit quirky. Making jelly is easy, you can cook the fruit one evening and make the jelly the next. (Generally, with jam and chutney, the whole procedure has to be done in one sitting).
Recipe for Blackberry and Apple Jelly
Ingredients:
- 2lbs/900gms of apples (windfalls or any apples are fine for this recipe)
- 2lbs/900gms of blackberries
- water (see method below)
- White granulated sugar (the amount depends on the volume of juice extracted from the simmered, drained fruit. Ipt/500ml of juice to 1lb/454gms of sugar. I always make sure that I have a 2 kilo bag of sugar in the larder, just in case I fancy making jelly).
Method:
- Wash the apples, cut out bruised bits and chop roughly. There is no need to peel and core the apples.
- Pick over the blackberries, reject any that are tatty and remove any stalks.
- Place fruit in a large deep heavy bottomed saucepan, or preserving pan. Add water to cover ½ of the fruit.
- Bring slowly to the boil and simmer very gently until all the fruit is soft and squishy. This takes about 15 minutes, depending on how ripe the fruit is.
- Pour the cooked fruit into a jelly bag and leave to drip into a bowl overnight. (What is a jelly bag? See tips and tricks below). This is traditionally a piece of sterilised muslin. (How do I sterilise muslin? See tips and tricks below). We use tall buckets to catch the drips from the jelly bags. Rather than hang the bags (conventional method) I find it easier to line a large plastic sieve with the muslin. This clips neatly onto the top of a clean bucket. The sieve is covered with a clean tea cloth to protect against flies.
- The next day, measure the extracted fruit juice and pour it into a deep heavy bottomed saucepan. Add 454g/1lb of white granulated sugar for each 570ml/1 pt of juice. Try to avoid squeezing the jelly bag as this can make the jelly cloudy.
- Heat the juice and sugar gently, stirring from time to time. Make sure that that all the sugar has dissolved before bringing the liquid slowly to the boil. Continue to boil hard for about 5-10 minutes before testing for a set. (What is testing for a set? See tips and tricks below). If the jelly hasn’t set, continue to boil and teat for a set at three minute intervals. Occasionally a jelly or jam will set very quickly, when this occurs you will notice that the sides of the pan have a coating of jelly and the back of the spoon is coated too. If you spot this, remove the pan from the heat immediately and test for set.
- Toss in a nugget of butter towards the end to reduce the frothing that often occurs.
- When jelly has reached setting point pour into warm sterilised jars using a funnel and ladle. (How do I sterilise jars? See tips and tricks below).
- Cover immediately with plastic lined screw top lids or cellophane tops secured with a rubber band.
- Label when cold and store in a cool, dark place. Away from damp.
Tips and tricks:
- What is a jelly bag?
A jelly bag is traditionally a piece of muslin but it can be cheesecloth, an old thin tea cloth or even a pillowcase. The piece needs to be about 18 inches square. When your fruit is cooked and ready to be put in the jelly bag, lay your cloth over a large bowl. Pour the fruit into the centre of the cloth and tie the four corners together so that they can be slung on a stick to drip over the bowl. Traditionally a stool is turned upside down, the stick is rested on the wood between the legs and the jelly bag hangs over the bowl. We experimented and now line a sieve with muslin, place it over a bucket and cover the lot with clean tea cloths (against the flies). - How do I sterilise muslin/the jelly bag?
Iron the clean jelly bag with a hot iron. - How do I remove stains from the jelly bag?
Your jelly bags can also look like new, after you’ve used them. When drained, remove the fruit and put it in the compost bin. Rinse the fruit residue from the cloth with cold water. Put the in a saucepan, cover it with cold water and a good dash of washing powder. Bring the saucepan slowly to the boil. Turn off when boiling point is reached and when cold rinse out well. Magically all stains will have disappeared! - Jam “set” or “setting point”:
Getting the right set can be tricky. I have tried using a jam thermometer but find it easier to use the following method. Before you start to make the jam, put a couple of plates in the fridge so that the warm jam can be drizzled onto a cold plate (when we make jam we often forget to return the plate to the fridge between tests, using two plates means that you have a spare cold plate). Return the plate to the fridge to cool for approx two minutes. It has set when you run your finger through it and leave a crinkly track mark. If after two minutes the cooled jam is too liquid, continue to boil the jam, testing it every few minutes until you have the right set. The jam is far more delicious if it is slightly runny. - Sterilising the jars:
We collect jars all year round for our jelly, chutney and jam making sessions. I try to soak off labels and store the clean jars and metal plastic coated screw-top lids in an accessible place. The sterilising method that we used is simple. Just before making the jam, I quickly wash and rinse the jars and place them upside down in a cold oven. Set the temperature to 160c/140c for fan assisted. When the oven has reached the right temperature I turn off the heat. The jars will stay warm for quite a while. I only use plastic lined lids for preserves as the all-metal lids can go rusty. I boil these for five minutes in water to sterilise them. If I use Le Parfait jars, I do the same with the rubber rings.
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Thank you for your comments. And a bit of silly bath time fun with the Frothing Sea Monster trick!
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Hi
) (or 
( if it tastes bad!)
I am so pleased to have found the Cottage Smallholder site with so many wonderful recipes. I have a bag of windfall Lord Lamborn apples which I am hoping to combine with rosehips and blackberries, as well as a few sloes, as I couldn’t find enough of any of these individually. Do you think this will be alright. I’ll let you know how it tastes tomorrow when I cook up the jelly, having strained the fruit overnight tonight.
Thanks again for all the great ideas
LizO
Hi LizO,
We did this the first year we tried making jelly with a basket of fruit gathered in the garden – a couple of apples, a few blackberries, a pear and some rosehips as far as I can remember. It was very sweet and didn’t taste of anything much but we were delighted with it and christened it Estate Jelly. Now we go for a bit more flavour.
The sloes would be a good addition and give depth. Taste the juice before making the jelly, if it’s really sweet some fresh lemon juice will enhance the flavours. I’d love to hear how it turns out.
How long will the Blackberry and apple jelly keep unopened and opened. I love reading your recipies, so far have made damson gin, damson vodka, damson jam. My daughter has 5 damson trees and I can’t bear to see them going to waste, any more tips – I’ve run out of space in the freezer. Thanks, Bizzylizzy
Hi BizzyLizzy,
Blackberry and apple jelly keeps for at least a year unopened. Opened, it is at its best for about a month, kept in the fridge. These are both conservative estimates.
We have a wonderful damson chutney that we developed last autumn that is well worth making
http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=70
There is also damson cheese which is great too
http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=45
Lucky you having a glut of damsons. I have not found many this year and will be making our recipes with wild plums!
I’ve just found your website, which is fabulous & can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
Last night I finished making your Blackberry & Apple Jelly for Christmas Presents. It tastes absolutely wonderful & have decided to go out again at the weekend to find more blackberries as
I have loads of apples left over & want to make more. That’s if I don’t find another one of your recipes to make with the left over apples.
Keep up the wonderful website.
Amanda
Hi Amanda,
I am so pleased that you are enjoying the site.
We have quite a few jelly recipes using apples:
Sloe and Bramley Jelly (http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=54),
Rosehip and apple jelly (http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=60)
Old fashioned apple jelly (http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=43),
and Francoise’s Herb Jelly
(http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=63)
Blackberry and Apple Jelly is my favourite.
Thanks for leaving a comment.
Thanks for the jelly recipe – I made it last night and it was fabulous. I shall be trying the damson cheese recipe before the fruit flies take over my fridge too!
Discovered your marvellous recipe after leafing through old cookery books – what a relief!
Just what I needed and the jelly absolutely delicious. I was amazed to find so many blackberries for free on the common near my home.
[...] Having got the Elderberry Rob and Blackberry and Apple Jelly under my belt, I thought I’d better do something with the two tubs of hawthorne berries that have been sitting in the fridge. My fave jam last year was Rosehip and Apple, so I was thinking I might try a Hawthorne & Apple with these. [...]
Am making a batch of haw,elderberry,crab apple and blackberry jelly tomorrow.Will use lemon juice as you stated if taste is not great although based on last years might not need it. Will let you know how it turns out!
Hi, I started making Blackberry and Apple jelly yesterday from frozen blackberries collected last month and my home grown cooking apples.(I’m a complete newbie and I have never done any preserving before).
I used 1kg of each fruit with enough water to cover half of it. Heated untill if all turned to mush and then left it overnight to drip through muslin. This morning I collected the juice and only managed to get 1 pint off. Is this right as it doesn’t seam alot considering the starting weights? Will finish off jelly later. Also can I just use normal granulated or is it best to use preserving sugar because of low pectin of blackberries? Sorry so long winded!
Just to update you, I went ahead and made the jelly using ‘normal’ sugar. Turned out perfect and got 3 half pound jars. Jelly set in no time at all, in fact so inspired I have just made apple and blackberry jam using a sieve to get rid of pips etc. Even easier and I got 6 jars out of it.
I am now a jam freak and eyeing up may neighbours crab apples draping over my fence. Must go and have a word!
I just made a batch of the jam and it is to thick to spread! Do you know if I was to re heat it with some water would I be able to reset it again? Also can you double or triple the quantities, I read on a different site that to much fruit would not let it set well?
I made a batch of the jelly in August after gathering a few carrier bags of berries.
It turned out perfectly,so I went to gather more berries which I then washed and put in the freezer.
I have just made my second batch!
10 jars altogether.
I love your site and refer to it regularly.
Made the lamb cutlet recipe for lunch today which was superb!(the one with the white wine and balsamic vinegar).
Loving the website and have just this afternoon made my first jelly – greengage (ripe, ready and free from my in-law’s garden). In our own garden we’re having a wonderful crop of blackberries this year and having discovered that we didn’t quite make it through all we froze last year I wanted to do something more than just freeze this year’s donation. This does lead to two questions:
Can I not make blackberry jelly without the apple? or will it not set? (I know that there’s something to do with pectin but still unsure of which fruits have high pectin and which ones don’t).
Or, if I have to wait a little for the apples to be ready, can I freeze my blackcerries just now and then just defrost them before adding to the jelly recipe above?
Cheers in advance
Hi Ails
You need the apple to make the jelly set. However you could add pectin (I’ve seen it in Waitrose) and experiment.
You can freeze blackberries and use them for jelly later.
Hi there, fantastic recipies, off to pick blackberries this afternoon! I dont know if it’s widely available in the UK but here in France the supermarkets are stocked high (as are my cupboards), with ‘confisuc’ and ‘gellésuc’- jam and jelly sugar.they are packed with pectin so if you are making anything, that doesnt contain apples, it doesn’t need anything added to help with the setting, the ‘gellésuc’ is much finer grain, but i have used jam sugar for jelly and it was fine. cant wait to get making. the apples are throwing themselves off the tree at a rate of knots!
Hils
Ails- yes, you can make Blackberry jelly with just blackberries- to ensure it sets you need a mix of ripe and unripe fruits. If you only have ripe fruits, then use Jam Sugar (has added pectin in it) which you can get at most supermarkets, or add pectin to your ordinary sugar – again, this can be found in most supermarkets near the sugar/baking section at this time of year, I bought some in Asda this week, or add some lemon juice with the sugar.
Blackberries freeze like a dream, but there is no need to wait for ripe apples, if you use unripe apples now with your fresh blackberries, your jelly will set really easily as the fruit mix will be more acidic.
Natasha, if you really want to re-heat your jam to make it runnier you can do so, but it is an awful pain doing it ( I speak from experience…) and it is better to do it with fruit juice, not water as you need a) the flavour of the fruit b) the acid in it to make the jelly set. It is also a somewhat inexact and unpredictable enterprise- too much juice and the jelly won’t re-set…I would suggest keeping the jelly as it is and using it to flavour and sweeten fruit dishes such as crumbles or pies or jam and fruit tarts, replace each ounce of sugar in the recipe with a generous tablespoon of jelly,break it into little pieces, put some boiling water on it and whisk it up to liquidise it and it will make your fruit puddings even more gorgeously fruity.
If you want the jelly to spread, remove some from the jar in advance ( say the night before wanting to use it) put it into a warmed bowl and leave in a warm place- airing cupboard for example- the warmth should soften it nicely.If it is mega stiff, add a little boiling water too!
Hello Hils
Thanks for the tip – I must try experimenting with pectin enhanced sugar.
Hi Kate (uk)
Thanks for all your help. Thank goodeness someone with your experience reads the comments.
I’ve just discovered your website and love it.
I want to make some blackberry, crab apple and elderberry jam but do not know the quantities. Can anyone help please?
Gillian
Sorry I wrote down jam instead of jelly. I still need help!
Gillian, quantities do not matter- the size of saucepan is all you need worry about- small saucepan = small batches of jelly…
Wash the fruit and shake dry. Cut the crab apples in half, use a fork to take the elderberries off their stalks ( doesn’t matter if some stalks go in the pot), hull the blackberries and remove any visible creepy crawlies ( they come out when the berries get wet).
Put the crab apples in a saucepan,put in enough water/fruit juice to just-only just-cover them, add the blackberries and elderberries. Warm them through gently so they cook very slowly and all the juice comes out of the fruit. When it is all nice and soft and pulpy give it a mash with a potato masher or a wooden spoon, this will help bring out all the juice. Strain the juice through a jelly bag or muslin overnight so you have just clear juice left, then for every pint of juice add a pound of sugar and boil juice and sugar to make jelly. If your apples are ripe use sugar with added pectin or add some lemon juice so you get a good set.
Hope that helps!
p.s.- Half and half apples/berries tends to be best by the way.
Kate
Many thanks for your helpful advice. In the end I had to use a mixture of crab and cooking apples and I didn’t pick the matching weight of elderberries, but it all worked out very well and the jelly tastes good, which is the most important thing. I have also made some apple and bramble jelly (Best Recipe) which has turned out a better colour than my normal recipe.
Whilst out blackberrying (still a little early, loads more to come!) I noticed that there are a lot of sloes this year. Apart from sloe and apple jelly and sloe gin does anyone have any bright ideas for what else I can use them?
Gillian
I’ve been hunting for blackberry & apple jam recipes and found this one. If I didn’t strain off the liquid to make the jelly, should I let the fruit cook down to a pulp then add the sugar and puree it? Other recipes I’ve found just seem to leave things simmering until reaching setting point. Does the ‘jelly’ version look more appealling do you think?
Hi Angie
I prefer the jelly route myself. We make it in teeny pots to give as presents and to add to sauces. We nake blackberry and apple cheese with the remaining fruit. This is a jelly recipe I’ve put a link to our jam recipe below.
You need to pass the mixture through a seive, to get rid of the pips, skins etc.
If you want a recipe for blackberry and apple jam we have a good one here
http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=430
Thanks for that. I don’t have 1kg of blackberries so might give the jelly recipe a go. I have loads of apples from our garden and also other trees in the area so will make some chutney with the rest. Think I might buy a clean bucket this afternoon for the draining … !
Would you use pectin or granulated sugar for the jelly recipe?
Thanks, Angie
Hi Angie
The apples have enough pectin to use ordinary white granulated sugar. Preserving sugar can give jam or jelly a nasty taste.
It was nice and easy to make, although there was only enough for 3 jars. I have loads of apples so now keep a bag in the car to be able to harvest blackberries wherever I see them, to make another batch!
I found a small crop of blackcurrants this morning – would apple & blackcurrant jelly work?
Hi Angie
Apple and blackcurrant would work but blackcurrants are out of season now. Could they be elderberries? You need to be very careful that you know what you are picking – there are plump berries on the laurel bushes that are deadly poisonous. Richard Maybey’s book – Food for Free is a godsend.
Hi,
I was also surprised to see them, but the bush is in a very shady spot. They are definitly blackcurrants, I know what elderberries & laurel berries look like. We have Richard Mabey’s book (isn’t it fab?!) and I double-checked in there. I’ll give the apple & blackcurrant combination a go when I do another batch of the apple & blackberry jelly again.
I do love the idea of using nature’s harvest and find it frustrating to see apples left on peoples’ trees unpicked!
I have just made Blackberry and apple jelly following your recipe. jelly set on plate ,put jelly into warm jars and left to stand with the lids on for 5 hours and then even put jars in fridge(last ditch attempt) it has not set. I sterilised everything and even put a sachet of pectin in . Any suggestions? Can i reboil and add more pectin? Any thoughts welcome.
Hi Angie
Yes it hurts to see apples just hanging on trees. In fact we asked some neighbours and picked some for them, us and friends.
Hi Andrea
You can reboil the jelly to get a firmer set. The boiling process removes water from the jelly so the longer that you boil it the harder it will set.
Just remember to remove the pan from the heat while you are testing for a set. Using ice cold spoons from the freezer can help.
just made a batch of jelly I have put it in jars but it seems to runny – is it worth taking out of the jars and reboiling??
Hi Kay
Did it reach a good (wrinkly)set before bottling?
If so leave for at least 24 hours as it thickens gradually as it gets cold.
If it didn’t reach a good set reboil.
Thanks for the advice I have reboiled it and it has set well. Definitely worth doing – although even less now – only 2 jars – will have to make some more -
Hi Kay
If you kept the pulp you can make blackberry and apple cheese.
I’ve just cooked up 2.5 lb each of foraged apples (cookers? – not sure) and feozen blackberries and have got only 600 ml of juice, which looks quite syruppy – well coats a spoon. I’d like to make up the quantity a bit. Would it be okay to re-boil the remaining fruit mash at this stage (before adding sugar) with 1/2 depth of water, as in original recipe? I don’t want to risk ruining the set, but I don’t like a set that is too thick, and this seems a good way to get a better end result. Any advice?
Hi Heather
That would be fine or you could just add some water to the thick juice. The jelly will not set until enough water has evaporated but will set v quuickly if the juice is too thick.
Thanks Fiona. Look forward to finishing off tonight.Will let you know how I get on. Cheers.
Added water and did a second straining last night and ended up with a respectable 2.5 pints of juice which has resulted this morning in 5 lovely jars of jelly. Took about 18 minutes to eventually reach setting point via the wrinkly sample method, but along the way, as I was skimming off the thick scum that appeared,the scum also contained quite a lot of jelly within it. Is this normal when using apples in a recipe? I’ve not used apples until I started making jellies this week.I was worried that I might be skimming off vital setting agent, but did get a good result eventually. Same happened with the hot crab apple and chilli jelly I made earlier. Chilli jelly recipe ended up with a much lighter set, but is still good. Thanks for all the help along the way. Cheers.
Hello Heather
No need to skim during cooking, just add a knob of butter when the jelly has reached setting point – stir and the scum will disappear
Been a fan of your blog for a while, especially the recipes. You’re my first port of call when there’s a glut of fruit/veg! Have just tried this recipe and while my technique needs refining (clarity & consistency) it tastes absolutely delish! Thx smallholders : }’
Hi, Would it be possible to freeze the juice and then make up when I have two or three batches?
Hi Dee Mann
Yes freezing the juice/fruit for later would be fine.
HELP I have potted my blackerry jam in 1lb kilner jars, the lids have all steamed up, is it safe to reopen the jars and wipe steam away then re-seal the jars?
Hi Jules
Did you heat/sterilse the jars? If you did you don’t need to worry there wil be a build up of steam.
If you didn’t. You need to sterilise the jars properly, reheat the jam very gently and repot. It won’t taste quite as good but you will be safe from nasty killer growths.
Just found your web site. Off down the lane for some blackberrys and apples . Will post my results soon Thank you
thanks for your help re ‘help my kilner jars’ i did sterise my jars the oven way, but did reopen them to wipe the lids, am i safe or should i do as you you say reheat the jam and re- sterise the jars? thanks
Sorry if you have answered this question above but is there a recipe for the blackberry and apple cheese that you can make with the left over apple and blackberries after draining off the juice, it seems such a waste to just through them away! have just made nearly 4 jars of the jelly and it tastes wonderful, I didn’t remove the scum with butter as that stops it being vegan but was able to easily scrap it off just before jarring up, thanks for such a wonderful site!
Decided I would just check the recipes for apple and bramble jelly. Opened yours and thought there must be a lot of Cheveleys in England and probably not the one near Moulton!! I lived in Moulton for 12 years and my parents for 45. I live in Little Downham Nr Ely now. Glad your recipe was as I thought mine should be. Many thanks, off to make the jam. Will read your website later.
Kindest regards, Muriel
Hi Fiona,
I was just wondering, do you think I could make Elderberry and apple jelly, using Elderberries as an alternative to blackberries in this recipe?