Crab Apple Jelly

 

3½ pounds firm, crab apples (8-9 cups) which yield 3½-4 cups of juice

Enough water to be level with apples in the pot (3-4 cups)

3  5-inch sprigs fresh rosemary

zest of half a lemon

about 4 cups granulated sugar (1 cup sugar: 1 cup juice)

 

Wash crab apples and remove leaves and most of the stems. Inspect fruit for rot and black spots. Discard less than perfect fruit. Place apples, zest, and rosemary in a 6-8 quart stainless steel saucepan. Pour water into the pot until it is level with the crab apples, about 3-4 cups. Do not add sugar, yet. Bring fruit and water to a boil over medium heat. Turn heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove pot from heat and use a potato masher to break up the apples. Return to heat and continue to simmer until fruit is soft — another 5 or 10 minutes. Do not cook longer because you will run the risk of destroying the pectin. Place a muslin-lined sieve over a large, clean bowl. Pour cooked fruit in and allow mixture to drain overnight. If you push it through the sieve with force, your juice will likely become cloudy. Measure juice. You should have about four cups. If you don’t, place a heavy object on top of the pulp to slowly release more juice. Sometimes I drizzle a little hot water over the pulp and use what drips out to make up the difference and get me to four cups.  Pour juice into a clean, deep, wide, heavy-bottomed saucepan that allows room for boiling a liquid that is going to froth and rise about four inches. Bring fruit juice to a simmer over medium heat. Add sugar and stir over low heat until sugar has dissolved. Turn up the heat to medium and bring mixture to a low rolling boil. A rolling boil is when the entire surface of the liquid is boiling, not just the edges.  After five minutes start checking the juice for set point. Remove the pot from the heat each time you check.  At first, the rolling boil will be frothy and rise up the sides of the pot. Watch carefully and control the frothiness by adjusting the heat. Otherwise, the mixture will boil over and make a mess. As the mixture cooks, it changes from a frothy boil to a ploppy boil. Continue to test for sheeting until you reach set point. Immediately remove pot from heat it is reached. Skim any surface residue with a slotted spoon.  Here’s a photo of sheeting from my recipe for my oven-roasted strawberry jam. This set point test method works for both jellies and jams. Ladle hot jelly into clean, warm jars, leaving ¼ inch of headspace. Wipe the rims with a clean damp cloth. Cap them and turn them upside down and allow to cool. This helps give the jars a good seal without processing, but unless they are processed in a boiling water bath, they will need to be stored in the refrigerator until ready to use. Alternatively, you could heat process them. Crab apple jelly tastes equally great on toast or served alongside roasted pork or chicken