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Orange-Apple Jelly
In preparing apple jelly a pleasing variety may be made as follows. Boil the apple-juice and the sugar in the usual way for about ten minutes, and then throw in with them some slices of orange a quarter of an inch thick. The peel may be left on, but the pips should be carefully removed. Let all cook together, and when the apple jelly is potted, put two or three slices of orange into each jar. Time, about three-quarters of an hour to boil the jelly. Sufficient, one sliced orange for a pint of apple jelly.
This is a variation note rather than a standalone recipe: it assumes you already have apple juice extracted from cooked apples and know the standard jelly method. A few figures the original leaves unstated are worth filling in.
- The juice comes firstCook tart apples with enough water to cover until collapsed, then drain through a jelly bag without pressing. Windfalls, crab apples and cores are all high in pectin, which is why apple jelly sets without additions.
- Sugar quantityThe recipe gives none. The Victorian standard is 1 lb sugar to 1 pint of strained juice; reduce to about 12 oz per pint if the juice is low in pectin from very ripe fruit, and warm the sugar before adding so the boil does not stall.
- Judge the set, not the clock"About three-quarters of an hour" is a rough guide only, depending on your pan and the water in the juice. Boil hard until the syrup reaches 220F (104C), or until a spoonful wrinkles on a chilled saucer.
- Orange slices go in late for a reasonOrange slices go in late -- They are added after the first ten minutes; the recipe does not say why, but slices added at that stage are more likely to hold their shape and suspend in the finished jelly. Cut them the full quarter-inch the recipe specifies.
- Peel and pithLeaving the peel on adds oil and a slight bitterness. A thick white pith on a modern navel orange may turn sharply bitter over a long boil, so a thin-skinned orange is the safer choice.
- Skim, or the jelly cloudsSkim scum from the surface throughout and once more before potting. A jelly is made from strained juice rather than pulp, and clarity is the visible sign of it.
- Potting"Potted" here meant hot jelly into hot jars, covered at once; Victorian covers ranged from waxed or brandied paper discs tied down to poured wax. Use sterilised jars and either seal at once with two-piece lids or process filled jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes; wax seals are no longer considered reliable for long storage.
- YieldOne sliced orange per pint of jelly, as stated. A pint of finished jelly fills two half-pint jars, so plan on two or three orange slices per jar as directed.
Apple jelly was the backbone of the Victorian preserve cupboard because apples supply both pectin and acid in abundance, meaning a cook could set a jelly with nothing but fruit and sugar in an era before commercial pectin was sold. That reliability made apple juice a carrier for other flavours: Victorian cookery books give versions scented with quince, geranium leaf, ginger and mint as well as citrus.