Crab Apple Jelly

A one-line cross-reference that assumes you have the apple jelly method in front of you: fruit barely covered with water, simmered soft, drained through a jelly bag, then the juice boiled with sugar. The only change here is that crab apples go into the pot whole.

• Why wholeCrab apples are small, and cutting them adds nothing but work and oxidation. Stems and blossom ends can be left on and are strained out with the pulp, though the master apple jelly recipe may direct removing them. Cut out any bruised or wormy patches first.
• Water and cookingAdd water barely to cover, no more, or you dilute the pectin and lengthen the boiling later. Simmer until the fruit is soft enough to crush against the side of the pan, roughly 20 to 30 minutes.
• Do not squeeze the bagThe master apple jelly method strains the fruit through a jelly bag. Let the juice drip through the flannel or cheesecloth bag unaided, for several hours or overnight. Pressing forces pulp through and gives a cloudy jelly.
• Sugar proportionThe sugar is set by the master apple jelly recipe, which is not reproduced here; period apple and currant jellies commonly give three-quarters of a cup to an equal cup of sugar per cup of juice, added after the juice has boiled. Warm the sugar before stirring it in so the boil is not knocked back.
• Testing the setNo thermometer is mentioned. Crab apples are high in pectin and acid and set readily; the jelly is done when two drops run together and sheet off the edge of a spoon, or at about 220F at sea level.
• SealingThe book of this period expects tumblers sealed with melted paraffin. Current practice is half-pint jars processed in a boiling water bath for 5 to 10 minutes; paraffin seals are no longer recommended because mould can grow beneath them.
• YieldAbout four pounds of crab apples gives roughly four cups of juice and, with sugar, four to five half-pints. The colour runs from pale amber to deep rose depending on the variety and the skins.