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5:18 pm
Expert
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Fri 9-Sep-11
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Mint Jelly 6 - Bramble Jelly 3
Mint jelly - using Fiona's recipe with white wine vinegar tastes superb. I'm very pleased with it apart from the fact my chopped mint has mostly risen to top 
I left it for 10 minutes as per instructions before potting up and at first it looked to be evenly distributed but the little beggars have now ascended and all joined hands towards the top of the pots. I may have chopped it too finely - used my Braun chopper but if anyone knows any other reason for this happening can they let me know please.
Now the Bramble jam/jelly was not quite so tasty as I would have liked. I used wild blackberries, wild cherries (the ones that look like sloes) and some garden raspberries - in all just over a kilo. Steamed the fruit in my juicer and got just over 2 pints juice. Then made the mistake of trying to sieve the pulp and put it in with juice.....it didn't work 
The pulp just didn't gel with the juice at all well. I wouldn't bother trying this next time. I only managed to salvage 3 x 12oz jars plus a large pot of thick sticky stuff left in the bottom of the pan which we will have to use straight away. Taste is good and strong but could have done with a bit more sugar. I don't mind it not so sweet but I should have tested it more thoroughly.
Trouble was I had been tasting the mint jelly just prior to that and trying jam straight after was not a good idea!
Hey ho not a bad days work tho........note to self:.....I need more jars 
Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.
7:51 pm
Supreme Being
Mon 21-Sep-09
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I also need more jars and fortunately I heard of a source for them as there are none left in the shops now. 
Have you tried turning your jar of mint jelly upside down? Might be a little late but maybe if you stood it in some warm water it might just heat through enough to liquify a bit to work
10:31 pm
Supreme Being
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Tue 22-Sep-09
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Oh dear Maura, better luck next time
12:10 pm
Expert
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Fri 9-Sep-11
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Funny enough I did turn them upside down for a while but it was probably too late when I did it - I must have read that somewhere and it stuck in my mind. Anyway - not too fussed as it tastes so good and will hope for a better result next time. I think I need make sure mint isn't chopped up too much. I'm hoping to do some Rosemary jelly today or tomorrow. I steamed 5lbs apples this morning and have lots of lovely juice to use. There was 3lbs crab apples and 2 lbs eaters (sharp ones) so I'm hoping it will produce a nice jelly. Just going to look for a recipe.
My OH also brought home a couple of punnets of strawberries which I think was a bit of hint. It was the first lot of jam I made and it has all gone now. I doubt I will get much jam out of 2 punnets though.
PS. Turns out the wild cherries are sloes after all 
I told him I thought they were but he said all the photos and info of sloes say they have very sharp thorns on branches and the ones he picked didn't. He then spoke to one of the gardeners and they confirmed they were sloes - hence my jam being a bit sharp! However, I had it on toast this morning and it actually tastes a lot better than it did yesterday.
Happy days 
lovley weather and lots of lovely jam.
Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.
9:49 pm
Supreme Being
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Tue 22-Sep-09
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Sloes don't have the stems that cherrie shave, they grow straight off the stems off the bushes (I think) - hope you found a recipe for the rosemary jelly, it's similar to the mint one - fruit juice, lemon juice,and mint/rosemary boiled then strained, sugar added, just don't put chopped rosemary in at the end, I think some people advocate a sprig inserted in the jar at the end, but not keen myself.
3:12 pm
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Fri 9-Sep-11
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Thanks for tips - I'm a bit worried the rosemary jelly wont have enough of the rosemary flavour (as juice smelled very appley after steaming the two together) so I have left the rosemary bunches steeping in the hot juice for a while.
I have 2 1/2 pints of juice - can you advise how much lemon juice & sugar I need for this amount please?
Also can I be a real pain and ask about the apple pulp I have left over. I peeled and cored the apples before steaming (but wrapped up the cores and peel in muslin and put them in steamer at same time) and now have 1lb of apple pulp which I have blended down. It is a bit of a browny colour so I was wondering if I could make apple cheese with it rather than use if for apple sauce. I dont have a clue how to make cheese - some recipes say it takes 1 to 1 1/2 hours - is that correct. I'm up to my eyes at the moment so maybe I could freeze the pulp for a quieter day.
p.s the apples were a mixture of windfalls that were mainly eaters, with some quite sharp ones so not sure what pectin level will be if that is important.
Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.
10:57 pm
Supreme Being
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Tue 22-Sep-09
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Maura
the usual rule of thumb is 1pt juice to 1lb sugar (not exactly sure how that converts to metric, river cottage preserves book says 600mljuice to 450g sugar, I normally boil up a few lemon skins with the chopped apples (reserved in the freezer from making lemon curd), I then don't bother adding juice.
Otherwise I say the juice of 1 lemon added to a large pan of chopped apples (cores and skins included)
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