Mint jelly recipe
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Jam Jelly and Preserves | 38 comments
Jars of homemade mint jelly
I slipped on my golden boots (only joking) and rustled this up yesterday when rain stopped play in the garden. I’d researched apple mint jelly in the meantime and discovered that cooking apples give a better overall flavour (Bramleys ideally if you live in the UK). I also needed to use and a lot more vinegar than I thought.
This recipe tastes like a jelly equivalent of homemade mint sauce, minty and full of flavour but much more delicate than the in your face commercially produced mint sauce. I also ‘saved’ the jars of mint jelly that tasted like tea, adding more vinegar and sugar. Not quite as good as this recipe, as I used eating apples and lemon juice but still tasty.
I’ve also described two methods. One for those who don’t have a steam juicer and use a jelly bag one for those who are lucky to have a steam juicer (like me).
The left over apple must looked so glorious that it seemed to be a shame to chuck it away. One of the sauces that I love with pork or fatty meat is apple sauce but generally never seem to have an apple to hand when the joint is roasting in the oven. So I will be making apple sauce with the left over apple pulp tomorrow. Look out for the recipe in a couple of day’s time.
You will need a heavy bottomed saucepan or Maslin pan
| Mint jelly recipe |
- 1.8 kilos (4 pounds) of cooking apples (Bramleys are ideal).
- 20g (3/4 ounce or 3/4 cup) bunch of mint tied with string
- 50g (1 3/4 ounces or 2 cups) of mint leaves chopped fine
- 570ml / 1 UK pint (2 1/2 cups) of water
- 570ml / 1 UK pint (2 1/2 cups) of white wine vinegar
- Sugar at a ratio of 454g (1 pound) to 570ml of liquid – a pound to a UK pint of liquid (2 1/2 cups)
- Prepare the apples. Don’t peel or core, just chop into chunky pieces and remove any pips that have been cut as these can make the juice bitter.
- Method 1: Jelly bag method
- Add the apple chunks to a large heavy bottomed saucepan.
- Add the bunch of mint and the pint of water.
- Simmer (lid on) until the apples look fluffy and are entirely soft.
- Strain through a jelly bag overnight.
- Measure the amount of apple juice and add 4/5ths of white wine vinegar (e.g. 715ml/1 pint and a quarter of juice would need 570ml/1 pint of vinegar – 2 1/2 cups of vinegar to 3 cups of water).
- Method 2: Fruit steamer
- Put the apple chunks and the bunch of mint into the top of your fruit steamer and fill the lowest saucepan at least three quarters full of water (I do this and let it heat up as I chop the apples).
- Steam the apples and mint until you have a UK pint and a quarter of apple juice (715 ml or 3 cups)
- Pour the extracted juice through a very fine sieve or piece of muslin.
- Then the process is the same for both methods.
- Put the juice and the vinegar into a heavy bottomed saucepan. Heat gently.
- Add white granulated sugar 454g to 570ml of liquid / 1 pound to 1 pint (2 1/2 cups) and stir until you are absolutely sure that all the sugar has been dissolved.
- Bring to a rolling boil and test for set after 20 minutes. Testing every four minutes thereafter. If you have a jam thermometer – my jelly set at 103c (217f).
- When the jelly has set, remove from the heat and stir in the chopped mint.
- Leave the jelly for at least 10 minutes before giving it a final stir and ladling into hot sterilised jars.
- Wipe the tops of the jars, seal immediately and label when cold.
- Store in a dark dry place. This should keep for at least a year.
Leave a reply
Hi Vaughan, when you add the sugar is that 454 grams per 570 ml strained liquid? Or is it 454 grams ler 570 ml of the combined strained liquid and vinegar? Thanks Simon
Please can I ask – is it like when making crabapple jelly, where you must not squeeze the straining bag otherwise it will go cloudy? I am just watching my apples and mint mixture dripping now and there is very little juice coming from it so I am very tempted to squeeze it. Thank you for your help.
Hi Sarah I wouldn’t worry too much about squeezing if there isn’t much juice coming out. It might be cloudy but is that worse than no juice at all? You’ll need about 1 litre juice to achieve roughly 5 Jars of jelly – that’s the 8oz size jar. How much liquid did you use and what weight apples? Maybe not enough water to start with or cooked for too long.
What is a frit steamer? Is it the same as an ordinary steamer?
Hi Eileen – no it’s constructed differently. It has a top tier where the fruit goes – this is like a colander then under that is the collection chamber for the juice – this has a spout sticking out which you attach a plastic tube to and drain off the juice. At the bottom is the pot which holds the water to create the steam.Here is a link to the company I purchased mine from – they are very good.
http://tinyurl.com/zrttzjv
Made this jelly last year and we enjoyed it so much I’m making double this year.
First measure the number of ml of apple juice you get. Lets say you get 750ml
Then divide this number by 5 i.e. 750/5 = 150
Them multiply this figure by 4 = 150×4 = 600
So you need 600ml of vinegar along with 750ml of apple juice.
Sorry I don’t understand how much vinegar to add. (Jelly bag method instruction 7). can anyone enlighten me please?