Making Jellies and Syrups


Blackberry and Apple tart. Was delicious with the fresh berries!


To deal with the rosehips, grapes and quinces I've laid my hands on recently, I've been making juices. Rosehip Syrup is the one I'm working on today. I'm using the recipe I found at Cottage Smallholder (thanks!).


http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/kateys-best-rosehip-syrup-recipe-121


The batch I made the other day was only a half amount and it still made two small bottles so this full batch will be hard to bottle as I'm down to using jars now. I already have some apple/blackberry juice in the freezer as well as some grape, so I can make that into jelly later into winter. Looking forward to that already. While out foraging a week ago my foraging friend and I stumbled onto some crabapples, walnuts and mulberries, so the crabapples have been made into jelly, and I hate to say it, but we're almost all the way through it already! Need to get some more I think. To make the jelly juice before adding sugar, I cover the fruit with water and bring to a steady simmer so the fruit softens, then when it's all squishy and juicy and yummy smelling I drain it through a muslin cloth over night.
Quince; 800mls juice to 600g sugar made ~ 1090mls jelly
Crabapples; 1.3kgs of fruit made 1 litre juice, with 750g sugar made ~900mls jelly
Mulberries; tried to make jelly, but ended up being more like syrup, think it needs pectin.

Also have made blackberry jam, 6 jars ~ 1500g of it. Turned out good consistency. Followed the Edmonds cookbook recipe for raspberry jam.