Hedgerow jelly

September is such a stunner; beautiful light with the sun lower in the sky, clear, still nights filled with stars, dew encrusted cobwebs decorating shrubs, dahlias as big as dinner plates and all the bounty of harvest in the garden.

But I always get slightly panicky at this time of year - so much to preserve and dry and store for winter and never enough time! I feel the bounty of summer slipping through my fingers. I cheat a little by freezing washed fruit and berries whole to make jams, jellies, chutney and syrup later in the year. And I try to remind myself to enjoy it and be thankful for the harvest and just do what I can.

The hedgerows are currently dripping with edible fruits and berries - every year I make a hedgerow jelly. It’s a mix of all the wild things - not too sweet, plenty of tannins, good with cheese or charcuterie or on toast. A little jar of ruby-coloured autumnal perfection to see you through the winter months. The jelly is a little different every year depending on the mix of what I’ve gathered but here is an approximate recipe.

Makes about 2 litres of jelly (but easily halved)

3KG ripe hedgerow fruit - I used a mix of rosehips, haws, sloes, crab apples & plums - washed and apples halved*

2.5 litres of water - the enough to cover fruit

Granulated sugar (quantity depends on the liquid)

Put the fruit in a large pan and cover with water. Bring to the boil over a high heat and then turn down the heat and simmer until all the fruit has broken down. You can encourage this along by crushing the fruit with a potato masher. This took about 20 minutes

Ladle the fruit mixture into a colander lined with a clean muslin. I used two for this quantity. Tie up the muslin into a bag with a piece of string and suspend over a bowl to let the fruity liquid drip through. You can use a broom handle between two chairs or hang off the door handle of a high up kitchen cabinet with the bowl on the kitchen work surface.

Allow to drip overnight. Don’t squeeze the bag, tempting as it is, as then the jelly will be cloudy.

Measure the strained liquid into a measuring jug and weigh out 400g sugar for every 600ml liquid.

Put the liquid in a large pan (a preserving pan is ideal) and bring to a simmer over a medium heat. Add the weighed out sugar and stir to dissolve. Then turn up the heat to high and boil until the temperature reaches 104C on a jam or probe thermometer. Test for a set using the wrinkle test (add a dollop of jelly to a saucer you have chilled in the freezer and put it back in the freezer for a couple of minutes - if the jelly wrinkles on the surface when you push it with your finger the jelly will set).

If you don’t have a thermometer test once the vigorous bubbling subsides. If you don’t have a set on the jelly boil for another two minutes and test again.

Skim any scum off the top of the jelly and decant into warm sterilised jars. This will keep for a year or more in a cool larder but do keep in the fridge once you’ve opened the jar.

*You can also add ripe elderberries, blackberries or damsons - this year I’m saving mine for other recipes. You do need a good quantity of apples in the mix, I aim for 1/3, to make sure there is enough pectin. Though it’s worth noting that damsons and ripe haws also contain lots of pectin.