Hot apple and chilli jelly recipe
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Christmas, Jam Jelly and Preserves | 74 comments
Photo: Hot apple chilli jelly
Danny doesn’t like things to be too hot but strangely the combination of sweet and heat in this jelly gets the thumbs up from him. Apple chilli jelly is brilliant with sausages, pork, lamb or any rich meat. Pork chops baked with a few tablespoons of this jelly are yummy. In fact it’s a very versatile preserve and well worth making. I’ve even added a little to winter salad dressings to give them a bit of a lift. The health benefits of eating chillies are amazing.
I thought that I’d written up this recipe and spent ages looking for it on the site. Basically it’s the same as hot crab apple jelly with the addition of a little lemon juice. I’m writing it up as the left over pulp is the main ingredient for my new recipe – hot spiced apple and cranberry sauce which I will post in a couple of days.
If you are lucky enough to own a fruit steamer like me. You can extract your juice and make the jelly immediately. If not then this is a two day recipe.
Hot apple and chilli jelly recipe
Ingredients:
• 600g of cooking apples washed and chopped
• 35g of medium red chilli peppers, washed and chopped with seeds in
• 1 litre of water
• White granulated sugar 500g to each 500ml of juice
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
• 5 dried birds eye chillies chopped
Method:
Put the chopped apples and chillies in a large heavy bottomed saucepan.
Add 1 litre of water (they should just be floating). Bring to the boil and simmer until the apples soften and become pulpy (lid on). This took about 45 minutes.
Strain through a muslin square or jelly bag overnight. (Retain the pulp to make hot apple and chilli cheese)
Add the juice to a large heavy bottomed pan and add the sugar and the lemon juice. Bring slowly to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. When the juice and sugar has come to the boil remove from the heat and skim well. Return to the heat and bring to a rolling boil until setting point is reached. This took 15 minutes.
Stir in the chopped dried chillies and pour into warm sterilised jars. Seal immediately.
These make great little Christmas or anytime presents.
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I made a batch of this this week and it is wonderful. The colour is glorious and my second batch will be done next week. Thank you so much Fiona. By the way it is the first jelly I have ever made.
Just wanted to say how lovely this recipe is.
I’ve made three batches now, and with one of them I also added a bit of root ginger, which I think worked quite well.
I must also agree with Urs above, when I tasted the mixture part way through the process I thought it was going to be much to hot, but the final jelly is just perfect.
Many thanks
Hi Frances
Apologies. I did miss your question.
Yes I reckon that you could make plum chilli jelly – as these are not so high in pectin as apples I’d put in 4 tablespoons of lemon juice.
Re the plum cheese. I’d follow this recipe
https://www.cottagesmallholder.com/hot-crabapple-chilli-cheese-3733 and up the sugar to 400g if you want it to last more than 2-3 months.
Hi fn,
Just wondered if you had missed my question above???
Thanks
Hi, Chris here.
I am just about to make this jelly and realised I have bags of fresh chillies but no dried birds eye ones for the finished jelly. Will fresh ones work just as well or I do have a jar of crushed chilli flakes, can I use them?
Also, having grown so many chilli plants this year was wondering if anyone has a method of oven drying them. I have some frozen but wondered if I could oven dry them too?
Hi Chris
Use the chilli flakes at the end – they should include the seeds 🙂
Hi,
Have you ever made this with plum jelly instead of apples. I made the apple one last year and it was delicious, have now got 5 pints of plum juice and wonderedd if I could add chillis to that?
Also, can I make plum cheese from the pulp and if so, what is the best way.
Thanks
This jelly turned out amazing!
One tip — I made the jelly just as instructed, with 35g of chilis. I tasted the broth and thought, “much much too hot!”. I even took out some broth and mixed it with sugar and still thought it would be too hot. So, I made a second batch, adding chili to taste.
I ended up jarring up both batches, and the original batch ended up perfect! The more dilute-chili batch is still lovely… but it is not nearly hot enough.
I thought I would share that for anyone who feels the need to dip their paws in the jelly-broth and make adjustments. Fiona’s recipe as-is is just right.
Hi
This jelly sounds great. But, I am confused about the sugar quantity. You advised 500g for every 500ml of juice – does that mean I use 1000gms for the recipe above? I am getting that calculation from the water.
Thanks
Hi Morag
You need to measure the juice obtained – when it has dripped through the jelly bag. Then you work out your sugar ratio 🙂
Hi, Lakeland sell jars, lids, labels etc, but I just use old jars from food stuffs I have used, jam, curry sauce etc. Wash in hot water thoroughly, rinse, then sterilise in the oven. You can buy labels at W.H Smith for a few pence.
Hi,
I am in the UK. Where is the best and cheapest place to buy jars from. I have found somewhere locally, but they are quite expensive.
Thanks
Frances