Hubby is the god of preserving – I’m rubbish. This may be due to my lack of perseverance. If it doesn’t work first time I resign myself to the fact I can’t do it and pass the reins over to Hubby.
In terms of preserve making, here in the UK, jam uses the whole fruit whereas jelly is clear and bright and is made using the juice extracted from the fruit. Hubby decided rub in how good he is at this jam making malarkey by making both a successful jam and jelly. One using quinces and the other using blush gooseberries.
Quinces look a bit like ugly, overgrown yellow pears and in the UK can be very hard to get hold of unless you have a friend with a quince tree. A few veg box schemes were also selling them too. Hubby has a friend who offered us some of his quinces. Only after he had made a cracking batch of quince jelly did he announce that his friend has chopped down the said quince tree. The romantic ideas of making refined quince jelly for all the impressed relatives for Christmas was dashed.
Now for the science bit – when quince is boiled it turns red (leading me to be boring and wonder if it was a pH indicator *yawn*). Be warned this stains the cloth you use to strain the juice with. Strangely this stain is intensified with heat and stain remover. The resulting jelly has a distinctive floral taste, unlike anything I was expecting and goes very well with cheese.
The blush gooseberries had been hibernating in our freezer ever since we picked them at a PYO back in June. They are slightly sweeter than green gooseberries…still won’t make me like them. However Hubby did manage to transform them, along with some elderflower cordial, into a beautiful jam.
Both recipes are inspired by Preserves – River Cottage Handbook.
Quince Jelly
makes 5-6 225g jars
1.5kg quinces
Granulated sugar
100ml cider vinegar
1) Roughly chop the quinces, discarding any bad parts. Don’t peel or core them. Put in a deep saucepan, just about cover with water then bring to the boil. Simmer gently, covered for 45 min. Tip the contents of the pan into a jelly bag or piece of muslin (in our case a clean tea towel!) suspended over the bowl and leave to drip for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
2) Measure the strained juice. For every 600ml, weigh out 450g sugar. Return the juice to the cleaned out pan with the vinegar. Heat to boiling point then add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Increase the heat and boil rapidly for 10-12 min or until setting point is reached. Remove from heat and skim off any scum.
3) Pour into sterilised jars.
Gooseberry & Elderflower jam
makes 5-6 340g jars
1 kg gooseberries
2 tbsp elderflower cordial
1kg granulated sugar
1) Top and tail gooseberries and place in pan with 500ml of water and the cordial. Cook gently until the berries are soft, but hold their shape.
2) Add the sugar. Stir carefully so not to break down the berries until the sugar has dissolved then bring to a full rolling boil for 9-10 until jam reaches setting point. Remove from heat and allow to rest for 10 min then pot and seal.
12 comments
4 pings
James
November 16, 2009 at 9:09 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
If he makes the preserves and you make the bread to go with them that sounds like a good deal to me!If you make it a few months earlier & use elderflowers, rather than cordial it takes it to a new level…..
Jennifer
November 16, 2009 at 9:31 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
They both look fantastic, and I love that book. Shame the tree was chopped down.
Johanna
November 17, 2009 at 11:04 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
great colour on your quince jelly – and I know because my mum is very particular about it as she makes it every year
The Curious Cat
November 17, 2009 at 11:21 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Sounds delicious! I'll have to have a go at making jam or jelly one of these days! xxx
Sarah, Maison Cupcake
November 17, 2009 at 3:53 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
This jelly looks so pure and clear. I'm always meaning to have a go at preserves but never get round to it. I hope I could come up with something as attractive as this.
nipitinthebud
November 17, 2009 at 5:06 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
they look lovely with their little hats on :o) I made quince jelly but haven't got round to posting it yet. It's a peculiar flavour isn't it – I added some dried lavender to some of my jars and time will tell whether that was an inspired move or not! Also quince paste which didn't set as firmly as it was supposed to – i think the quinces were too ripe. It's quite nice with roast potatoes or veggie sausages but not perhaps what I'd choose to pass on to friends.
My Farmhouse Kitchen
November 19, 2009 at 4:04 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
I stumbled upon you out in blogworld…what really caught my eye was the quince jelly…and it looks wonderful…..you've inspired me…..More later,Kary
Tracey
November 21, 2009 at 2:44 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
I´d love to have a go at making preserves, especially these (they look wonderful). Unfortunately gooseberries and elderflower are difficult to come across where I live ; )
Merlotti
November 22, 2009 at 10:21 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
ha ha – looks better that my attempt at damson jelly. Mine was so over-bubbled and thick that you could thow it at the wall and it would stick! Well done both of you – think my wishlist will include the river cottage preserves book this year!
The Caked Crusader
November 23, 2009 at 9:11 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
We can't be good at everything. I'm never very confident at jam making either. Just be glad you're married to such a master-preserver!
Alex
November 23, 2009 at 12:02 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
I'm just like that – if it goes wrong I wail for Mr F to come and salvage the dish!
Browners
December 22, 2009 at 12:27 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
I love the sound of the gooseberry and elderflower jam. You’ve inpsired me to plant some gooseberry bushes.
Out with the old, in with the new « Butcher, Baker
December 29, 2009 at 9:00 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
[...] a good balance. successful preservation this year included Pickled Red Cabbage, sweet chilli jam, quince jelly, gooseberry jam along with many other projects that got eaten before being posted [...]
Village Show Debut « Butcher, Baker
September 19, 2011 at 8:40 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
[...] year Hubs plans to sweep the board with his Quince Jelly. Since our usual friend and quince supplier decided to chop down his quince tree (you can imagine [...]
Ribston Pippin Apple Pie « Butcher, Baker
October 11, 2011 at 10:40 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
[...] £2 for 1kg bag. We raced the WI contingent for the quinces so we can make our annual batch of quince jelly. We got there only 15 min after it opened and they were already running low on [...]
Village Show Debut » Butcher, Baker
February 8, 2012 at 8:01 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
[...] year Hubs plans to sweep the board with his Quince Jelly. Since our usual friend and quince supplier decided to chop down his quince tree (you can imagine [...]