Guelder Rose and Crabapple Jelly is a traditional British recipe for a classic jelly (clear jam) of wild Guelder rose, orange and crabapple liquid boiled with sugar until it reaches the setting point and stored in jars and which is typically served afor breakfast with toast. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Guelder Rose and Crabapple Jelly.
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Guelder rose fruit is one of those wild foods that people tend to hate. The fruit in their raw state are slightly toxic and very bitter. As they cook they give off an aroma that's been likened to 'essence of wet dog'. But, on cooking they do become much sweeter and much more pleasant in taste. Indeed, they used to be cooked as a poor man's cranberry sauce. I have several shrubs within easy walking distance and I've found that this jelly is probably the best way of preparing them and it's delicious for breakfast spread on toast. Don't pick guelder rose fruit until they've turned soft on the tree. They are best after a couple of frosts and I tend to wait until they've started to dry out. They have very little pectin in them so you will need to add fruit with lots of pectin (hence the crabapples in this recipe or use pectin or jam sugar) to get the jelly to set.
Ingredients:
800g Guelder rose fruit
2 oranges, peeled and chopped
12 crab apples, chopped
500ml of cold water
250g Sugar per 250ml of juice
Method:
Pick over the Guelder rose fruit, removing them from their stems (these are very bitter).
Combine the Guelder rose fruit, oranges, crab apples and water in a heavy-based saucepan and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes, using a potato masher to occasionally mash the mixture.
Strain over night or for 12 hours by pouring the mixture through a muslin cloth or jelly bag. Do not squeeze the pulp or press down or stir with a spoon as this will result in a cloudy jelly.
Next measure out the liquid, and for every 250ml, add 250g of sugar. You can use any sugar (I usually use a mix of grated jaggery and light brown sugar).
Heat mixture, stirring continuously until the sugar has melted, and allow it to come to a gentle simmer.
Simmer for between 15-20 minutes, or until the liquid has reached setting point. (Setting point is when you can put a little bit of the juice on a cold plate and when you push a finger through the juice it crinkles and these do not collapse.) Make sure you don’t over simmer the juice as you might end up with toffee!
Wash your jars and lids with hot soapy water, then sterlise them by placing wet into a 120C oven until they are dry.
Take out of the over, allow to cool for a few minutes, then pour the hot Guelder rose liquid into the jars. Screw on the lids, securing them as tightly as you can.
Allow to cool over night then label and store. Keep in your refrigerator once opened.
If you're looking for variations, then adding rose-hips to the base recipe works well.
Note that you can use the strained fruit pulp to prepare fruit scrap vinegar.
