Last night at dinner we finished the very last spoonful of Mom's crabapple jelly that she put up in 2018. It was a sad moment. Crabapple jelly and crabapples in general were a staple of my childhood. We had 3 trees in the backyard and everyone around us in the neighborhood, and pretty much everyone who lived on the prairies had a steady and dependable supply.
Somehow, the humble crabapple fell out of fashion and it became nearly impossible to find them on offer in the supermarket. Even the name became scarce. Often the produce manager had no idea what they were.
My mother continued to make jelly long after our trees were gone. She would find the odd farmers' market or sometimes the odd farmer who had a crop and she would buy 40 pounds at a time. We all - the whole extended family - relied and rely on her preserves. This year, however, her sources dried up and there are no precious jars left waiting for us to collect.
I went looking many time in the shuk for small, sour apples. I found many types, but none with the bite of crabapples. So I decided it was a fool's errand to keep looking for rural Saskatchewan in the Middle East.
I am making jelly today from beautiful plums. I am using the pips of apples to add pectin to the jelly to help it set. And I am using my Mom's method for making it happen.
BT's Plum Jelly With Cloves
Ingredients:
4 1/2 pounds (2 kilos) prune plums (aka Italian plums/Serbian plums)
12 whole cloves
6 whole peppercorns
6 cups (grams) sugar
12 apple pips
pinch of salt
filtered water
Directions:
Wash, stem and de-stone plums
Add to large cooking pot and cover with water - up to about an inch above the fruit
Cook fruit on medium flame until it breaks down
Divide contents into two portions
Add each portion to a cotton sack (I use old pillow cases)
Hang sacks over large bowl to collect the juice
When fruit is cool, wring the sacks to remove as much flavor as possible
Pour juice back into cooking pot
Discard the cooked fruit
Place the pips, peppercorns and the cloves into a small cheesecloth bag
Tie tightly
Add bag to pot
Add sugar and salt
Cook on low heat for 20 - 25 minutes
Remove cheesecloth bag
Add lemon juice
Pour boiling water into sealing jars
Pour cooked jelly into jars and seal tightly
Store in cool, dark cupboard or refrigerate
Should keep for several months
Enjoy! !בתיאבון
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