55 Apple Curd and Windfall Jelly

The fruit of apples do differ in greatness, forme, colour and taste; some covered with a red skin, others yellowe or green, varying indefinitely according to the soyle and climate; some very great, some little, and many of a middle sort; some are sweet or tastie, or something sower; most be of a middle taste between ...

John Gerarde, 1597

My childhood home was blessed with an apple orchard. Not so unusual in Somerset cider country, although ours weren't cider apples. Bridgewater Pippin and Tom Putt, both 'cookers', Hoary Morning, Old Pomeroy, an unidentified Russet that my mother has since decided was a Golden Knob, and a Crab Apple. The gnarled, misshapen trees were much older than the house.

Apple harvest was a frenetic affair. We always had too much fruit. My mother would fill the apple store, the pantry shelves, the freezer, and still the apples came. Bags of apples and an honesty box would be left at the gate. Visiting friends were not allowed to leave unless they took a boxful home. The drip-drip-drip of pulped apples straining through a jelly bag was constant: apple and ginger, apple and mint, apple and rosehip, apple and rosemary. Every meal included apple something. Apple dumplings were my favourite, and apple meringue, and crab apple jelly on thickly buttered bread. Yum!

I didn't have crab apples but I did have a huge bag of windfalls from the trees hereabouts, varieties unknown*. And now I have six pounds of windfall jelly and four pounds of apple curd. The recipes were my Grandma Eva's and I'm sure she'd be happy for me to pass them on. They are written as they came to me, with my comments in square brackets**.


Apple Curd

Peel, core, boil and pulp two pounds apples. [Add the barest minimum of water to cook. I use a metal hand whisk to break down larger pieces once soft.]
Put half pound butter or margarine to melt in second saucepan.
Whisk half pound granulated sugar into apple pulp [my apples were quite sweet so I used
a little less sugar].
Whisk melted butter into sweetened apple pulp, a little at a time.
Whisk two beaten eggs into the mixture, a little at a time.
Cook slowly for half an hour. Keep stirring.
Whisk in juice of one lemon, a little at a time.
Bottle as for jam/jelly. Keeps for up to eight weeks if refrigerated.
[Enjoy. I do!]


Windfall Jelly

Chop whole apples into pan [remove all the grotty bits but include peel and cores].
Add two pints of water and the grated zest of a lemon [for the pectin] per every four pounds
of chopped fruit.
Cook to pulp, strain overnight [Eva used an old pillow case as a straining bag,
ironed to sterilise].
In a jam pan dissolve sugar in the apple juice, one pound granulated per pint. Add the juice of the lemons and bring slowly to the boil.
Add a knob of butter and return to the boil [this will keep frothing to a minimum].
Test for set at five minutes intervals. [Drop a teaspoon of jelly onto a fridge cold plate and leave for a few moments. Tip the plate and the jelly should wrinkle not run.]
Pour into sterilised jars and seal.
[Voila, windfall apple jelly, tasty and thrifty!]


If you have a favourite apple recipe do please share, I have so many windfalls that I'm looking for new ideas.

Apologies to those whose comments are being swallowed by my spam filter, which is operating rather too efficiently just now. I'm marking them 'not spam' as soon as I see them, which both sends them to where they're supposed to be and hopefully ensures it won't happen again.

And Hello! to Bobbi at The Lazy Designer, Helen at Handbags by Helen, Susie at Eat it Anyway, Miritam at Moderna Muje Retro, and Riva. Thank you all for letting me know you visit here, I do like to meet new 'bloggy' friends :D

* The hedgerows here are full of fruit - mostly apples and damsons - that no one much picks, it's such a waste of good food.

** Apologies for the lack of metric and US measures, and ingredients lists, but I wanted to share Eva's recipes as she wrote them.