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Easy Blackberry & Apple Jelly with step-by-step video tutorial!

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 Easy Blackberry & Apple Jelly is a delicious, fuss free recipe which doesn’t require any specialist equipment as you can use a pair of tights and a colander instead of a jelly bag to strain the fruit.

Jar of Easy Blackberry & Apple Jelly on a board with Bramley apples and blackberries.

Today I’m sharing with you my Easy Blackberry & Apple Jelly with step-by-step video tutorial  but perhaps I should have called it Bramble Jelly?

I have to admit to having had a mental block where jelly was concerned. It just conjured up images of upturned stools, muslin or jelly bags and as I didn’t own any of these I gave up without even looking into the subject further.

However, my appetite to make jelly was whetted recently by seeing lots of chatter about jelly on Facebook, so I decided to grab the bull by the horns and get over myself!

Jar of Easy Blackberry & Apple Jelly on a board with Bramley apples and blackberries.

At the back of my mind I remembered seeing mention of being able to use tights to make jelly so after a quick Google for images I drew a blank but there were mentions of using tights at least.

Turns out you can use so many things to strain the cooked fruit in jelly making ranging net curtains, tea towels, muslin, jelly bags, conical fruit strainers etc.

Colander with tights for use as muslin when straining jelly.

So, with no detailed instructions about the tights (I couldn’t just fill them as I didn’t have a stool to hang them from) I embarked Blue Peter style on making a strainer with a colander.

First, I found a brand new pack of 40 denier tights (any denier will do), I say brand new, they were from the closing down sale at Safeway some 15 years ago LOL! Pleased to finally put them to good use!

Then I took my colander and popped it into the tights, tied the legs to one side in a knot and then trimmed off the legs.

Jar of Easy Blackberry & Apple Jelly on a board with Bramley apples and blackberries.

That took all of 20 seconds, so at this point I’m feeling a little stupid for never having pursued jelly making before now.

The next thing I needed was something to suspend the colander over that was deep enough to catch the drips of juice without touching it.

This turned out to be the pan I use for preserving itself!

Jar of Easy Blackberry & Apple Jelly on a board with Bramley apples and blackberries.

I came across reduced blackberries and Bramley apples last week so as I’ve already shared Easy Blackberry & Apple Jam I decided to embark on Easy Blackberry & Apple Jelly.

I noticed the blackberries in our local park are just starting to ripen so it’ll soon be time to forage for free blackberries (which is what I usually do)!

Hopefully, if you’ve been like me and avoided making jelly because it all seemed too complicated, this recipe will persuade you to think again.

Jar of Easy Blackberry & Apple Jelly on a board with Bramley apples and blackberries.

So what did my Easy Blackberry and Apple Jelly taste like and what can you use it for?

Well, hubby was first to try it on a scone and immediately gave it his seal of approval with “this is good”! He hates seeds in jam so a jelly is ideal for him.

You can spread this and use it like you would jam but you can also serve it with cheese.

I love the flavour and also the jewel-like quality and purity that you don’t get with jam.

Jar of Easy Blackberry & Apple Jelly on a board with Bramley apples and blackberries.

This recipe follows the principle of equal weights of blackberries and apples so you can easily reduce the amount of fruit to what you have.

I made just over 8 x 300 ml jars and found that at a rolling boil, the jelly was reaching the top of my pan so you definitely wouldn’t want to increase the amount.

I actually had no idea how much jelly I was going to get so was busy washing and sterilising more jars when I realised I didn’t have enough!

If you like giving homemade preserves as Christmas presents then this Easy Blackberry and Apple Jelly recipe is ideal.

Jar of Easy Blackberry & Apple Jelly on a board with Bramley apples and blackberries.

Things to be aware of when making jelly:

  • Avoid hexagonal jars, they can easily trap air bubbles.
  • You can hold your jars at a slight angle when potting up to avoid trapping air bubbles around the neck.
  • Avoid over boiling, this may result in a jelly with tiny air bubbles trapped inside.
  • If you find your jelly hasn’t set, just tip it back into your pan, re-boil and do the plate test again.
  • Smaller quantities are more preferable than the quantity I used
  • Don’t under any circumstances be tempted to squeeze the fruit when straining, this will give a cloudy jelly.
  • Jelly making follows the same principles of jam and relies on pectin to set so low pectin fruits will need lemon juice or additional pectin.

Jar of Easy Blackberry & Apple Jelly on a board with Bramley apples and blackberries.

More jelly recipes

Side shot of Crab Apple Jelly in a jar with spoon resting on top.

Once you’ve made my Blackberry and Apple Jelly you might like to try the following jellies:

Blackberry preserve recipes

Easy Seedless Blackberry Jam with scone. and blackberries on a board.

If you still have more blackberries to use up then here are some delicious blackberry jam recipes:

I know you’ll love my Blackberry & Apple Jelly so don’t forget to tag @FabFood4All on social media or leave a comment below when you make it. I love hearing from you!

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Jar of Easy Blackberry & Apple Jelly on a board with Bramley apples and blackberries.
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Easy Blackberry & Apple Jelly with step-by-step video tutorial

Easy Blackberry & Apple Jelly is a delicious and fuss free recipe which doesn’t require any specialist equipment as you can use a pair of tights and a colander instead of a jelly bag to strain your fruit.
Course Breakfast, Snack, teatime
Cuisine British
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours 10 minutes
Resting time 2 hours
Servings 8 300 ml jars
Author Camilla Hawkins

Ingredients

  • 1 kg blackberries
  • 1 kg Bramley apples
  • granulated sugar 450g per 500 ml juice
  • water

Instructions

  • Soak and rinse the blackberries to get rid of any insects etc.
  • Cut the apples into dice (don’t peel or core).
  • Place the fruits into a preserving pan or similar with enough water to barely cover.
  • Gradually bring to the boil and then simmer for 1 hour (uncovered).
  • Strain the fruit (see notes) and leave for at least 2 hrs or overnight covered with a tea towel. (Do not under any circumstances be tempted to push or squeeze the fruit, this will result in cloudy jelly).
  • Place 2 – 3 saucers in the freezer for testing set.
  • Measure the juice and stir in 450g or granulated sugar for each 500 ml of juice. (Mine measured 1.85 ltr to which I added 1.665 kg sugar).
  • Heat gently to dissolve the sugar, stirring constantly.
  • Remove any scum with a slotted metal spoon.
  • Once the sugar has dissolved slowly bring the pan to the boil and once at a rolling boil, time for 20 minutes, then take off the heat.
  • Test a few drops of jelly on a chilled saucer and pop in the fridge for a minute.
  • Push you finger through the jelly and if it crinkles and forms a gel like clot which you can tip over then it’s ready. If not carry on boiling for 2 minutes and repeat plate test until set achieved.
  • If there is any scum left then remove (there shouldn’t be now).
  • Then pot up into hot sterilised jars (see notes) using a ladle and jam funnel if you have one and place lids on immediately.
  • You may find the jelly tries to set before you get it in the jars, if this happens then just set the pan over a low heat.
  • Store in a cool, dark place and once opened keep in the fridge.
  • Unopened jars will be good for at least a year and most likely much longer.

Video

Notes

Sterilise jars by washing in hot soapy water (or take straight from dishwasher), fill with boiling water, empty and then place in oven for 20 minutes at 140°C where you leave them until the jam is ready. Washed lids should be sterilised with boiling water and then left to drain.
To make a strainer if you don’t have a jelly bag etc, put a colander into a new pair of tights, tie the legs into a knot on the side and snip off the excess. You could also line a colander with clean net curtains, a tea towel or muslin.

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Comments

  1. Cherry

    I skip the pot and stew and strain overnight by one simple step using a steam juicer it creates your clear juice ready for sugar and leaves the pulverised fruit in the top pot which I then freeze and eventually make into fruit leather or fruit roll-ups which can be a sweet kick when I’m craving a snack. It also means you have a concentrated juice of whatever fruit it is to jar up and seal for use all year even after harvest season. I live on a non-working farm and we are surrounded by blackberries/brambles damsons, haws, and crab apples so I can often be seen in season along the hedgerows with my baskets and buckets, for jelly jam and sauces all for the price of the sugar.

    Reply

  2. Helga Eyers

    Thank you, got a few scratches from today’s forage and in the process Olof making jelly as I type, just waiting for the juices to drip through the Muslin cloth, will just leave it overnight and complete tomorrow. So looking forward to a. We batch

    Reply

  3. Helga Eyers

    I made this last year adding lemon juice which gave it just a little bite. It was a great hit with everyone and as the blackberries are again plenty full, I shall be foraging and making this again. Thank you for the recipe, it is delicious

    Reply

  4. Barbara

    I substituted mulberries for blackberries and added elderflower cordial to taste (about 1/8 cup) before adding the sugar. My family loves it, my grandaughter eats it off the spoon! Thank you for the inspiration.

    Reply

  5. Sarah

    Reduced this recipes to 1/5 and it made a jar exactly!
    200g blackberries
    200g apples
    225g sugar (we got 250ml of juice)
    We did the set test at about 15 minutes.

    Thank you so much for this recipe, we will definitely be making more!

    Reply

  6. Jenny

    Like you, I’ve always been a bit wary of the word fruit `jelly` but it was well worth trying this recipe. The taste is fabulous and very addictive. Just going out for a walk to find more ingredients. Thank you

    Reply

  7. Sarah jane Gaffney

    I used 1.5 kg of both just because that was how much we had picked and we got 9 jars out of that. Recipe was spot on thank you

    Reply

  8. Shelagh

    Camilla, once again you are spot on.

    I used a combined weight of 600g brambles/bramley and was a wee bit short of a normal jam jar + 2 little glass “yoghurt pot” jars, delighted!

    The little jars are just right for a gift, I find the reusable silicone cap vacuums on nicely too.

    I now have a selection of your jams in my pantry, all one punnet recipes.

    Is it too much information to know my tights washed clean and I reckon they would be wearable at a push . . . .

    Reply

  9. Rosemary

    I used 850g apples and blackberries but only got two smallish jars! Maybe I didn’t use enough water to simmer the fruit. It looks good though so may try again with this year’s crop. Thanks for the recipe.

    Reply

    • Dot Bowen

      The jelly was nice but the yield really terrible. Forget small batch it was miniscule.
      I also thought the fruit pulp before straining was “dry”.
      Still delicious, just need to increase amounts.

      Reply

      • Camilla

        Hi Dot, it sounds like you had the heat too high and or not enough water to begin with which would account for you thinking the fruit was too dry. My fruit yielded 1.85 ltrs or juice on straining yielding 8 x 300 mls jars.

        Reply

  11. Michelle Rao (Gilson)

    are these metric measurements ? how do I convert them ? Please add my email to your list I tried but your link failed ty

    Reply

    • Camilla

      Hi Michelle, sorry for the late reply I’ve been working all day (and night) and yes they are metric measurements for which you’ll need a set of scales. You can’t convert a weight to a volume as it won’t be accurate. So I could send you off to a conversion website but chances are that the resulting jam would not be a success because of it. Today I thought I’d try to make a blueberry jam and give cup measurements but depending on the size of the blueberries the difference in weight between 1 cup or blueberries and the next was anything from 124 to 142 grams which wen you multiply up gives a huge difference to the total recipe. So I gave up as realised it just couldn’t be done (which I already knew really). Regarding your signing up to my news letter, that’s something you’ll need to do, perhaps try again or on another device. I’ve removed your e-mail from the comment to protect your data.

      Reply

  12. glenn hutton

    I use to go blackberry picking when I was a child and it has some great memories… Might take this up again if I can make recipes using them like this one!

    Reply

      • Shannon Hepburn Carey

        Do you need a water bath or any other extra step in the canning process? I’d like to try this but I want to make sure it won’t spoil edits I get to enjoy it all. We don’t do much jams and jellies in the house regularly.

        Reply

        • Camilla

          Hi Shannon, we don’t water bath jams in Europe and elsewhere. This jam is shelf stable providing you sterilise your jars first and follow my instructions:-) It’s best eaten in the first year for optimum colour and flavour but the sugar will preserve it for years. Just keep in a cool, dark place to keep it at its best. I keep mine in a cupboard in my garage.

          Reply

  14. William Gould

    We grow our own blackberries and have a couple of apple mini-trees, so I’ll save this for next year!

    Reply

  15. Susie Wilkinson

    I will be passing this onto my Dad, he always makes blackberry and apple jelly from his home grown fruit!

    Reply

  19. Heather

    I had no idea it was so easy to make jelly! I love the helpful things to be aware of section and this looks absolutely delicious! Great flavor combination .. very creative!

    Reply

  20. Claire Jessiman

    I love Jelly although to me this is most definately Bramble 🙂 I’ve got a jelly bag and hang it between two chairs using a hockey stick. Hadn’t come across the tip about hexagonal jars before so will bare that in mind.

    Reply

  21. Ruchi

    Absolutely amazing idea to combine apples and blackberries in one delicious jelly. I love seasonal products and how much vitamins they give!

    Reply

  22. swathi

    Your blackberry apple jelly sounds perfect love that simple smooth texture and color. I am yet to try this combo may be next time. when can try this recipe.

    Reply

  23. Veena Azmanov

    This jelly is absolute perfection. I love the color you have from the blackberry – glorious. We love jelly but I have just to combine blackberry and apples. Sounds perfect. I’m going to try soon.

    Reply

  24. Tina

    I love the combination of the berries and apple as I have never thought to combine the two before. I think this would go great on some fresh baked bread! Thanks for the tips for straining the fruit!

    Reply

  26. Padmajha Sureshbabu

    I first saw this pic on instagram and could not stop drooling! Such beautiful click Camilla! I haven’t made jams or jeliies before but going through your post, I find it so detailed and the process explained so well! This really tempts me to try!

    Reply

  27. Tammy

    Your jelly is absolute perfection. I love the idea of blackberries and apples together…I’ve never had blackberry jelly but it sounds and looks amazing! ^_^

    Reply

  29. Valerie

    I don’t like seeds in my jams either. I bet this would be great on English muffins or pound cake. I had no idea you could use tights to make jelly.

    Reply

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