The Cottage Smallholder

Thanks Hattie

It was one of the recipes I bookmarked funny enough. It gives the amount of sugar you need as 450g per 1 kg fruit - which is odd because normally the jelly recipes tell you how much sugar you need for the amount of liquid your fruit has produced. Presumably this is because not all fruit or methods of juice extraction will produce the same quantity of juice.

My steamer has given me 800 ml of juice so need to work out now how much sugar that requires - but I think I have a book tucked away somewhere that does that.

I have been told that adding apple juice does help with set and flavour.

I'll give it a go and see what happens. The grapes cost £3 in Aldi's so not a lot to lose if no good, but I do hate waste. I'm sure it will be fine tho'......memo to me......think positive

Hi Janet, that's interesting as I would have expected under ripe grapes to have a better set. Did you add any pectin or apples to yours?

Thanks for tip about elderberries - I have never used them before so no idea of taste. Is it easy to describe???? Would be interested in giving them a go this year as they are normally plentiful around here.

Thats ok Janet - I know what you mean about describing taste - I can't describe my Hedgerow jam/jelly. I really like it but it's not as sweet as other jams. This year have labelled it Wild Fruit Jam to see if it sounds more appealing

The Grape Jelly is another one I'm not so sure about. The set is a bit wobbly even though I added some powdered pectin and it really isn't as "grapey" as I had imagined it might be - but that might be down to using ordinary eating seedless red grapes instead of the big juicy black ones. It does taste nice and has a lovely colour so wont be wasted but will try a different type of grape next time.

A lady I know swears by lemon juice only for getting jam/jelly to set and has been making jams for a lot longer than me but I think it can make some jams a little bit tart and change the taste so I'm still not too sure about that. I always use the amount of lemon juice suggested but when I've added more if it hasn't set I feel you can taste the lemon coming through so prefer to add some form of pectin.

Thanks for info about elderberries - I'm looking forward to getting to the ones at bottom of my garden before the birds do or it will be purple droppings on my washing and patio again....little beggars