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Mint Jelly

Mint Jelly
  • Category

    Preserves

  • Cusine

    American

What do you need?
How to make?

Ingredients

4 lbs of tart apples

3 cups of fresh spearmint leaves, chopped, packed

2 cups water

2 cups white vinegar

3 1/2 cups sugar

Directions

Combine apple pieces with water and mint in a large pan. Bring water to a boil then reduce heat and cook 20 minutes, until apples are soft.

Add vinegar, return to boil. Simmer covered, 5 more minutes.

Use a potato masher to mash up the apple pieces to the consistency of thin apple sauce. If the mash is too thick , add another 1/2 to 1 cup of water to the pot.

Spoon the apple pulp into a muslin cloth or a large, fine mesh sieve, suspended over a large bowl. Leave to strain for several hours. Do not squeeze. After a few hours about 4 cups of juice should have strained out of the mash.

Measure the juice, then pour into a large pot. Add the sugar . Heat on high, stirring to make sure the sugar gets dissolved and doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan or burn.

Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to medium or medium high, so that you maintain a strong simmer. Cook for 10-15 minutes, using a metal spoon to skim off the surface scum. Continue to boil until a digital thermometer shows that the temperature has reached 8-10 degrees F above the boiling point at your altitude . Additional time needed for cooking can be anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour or longer, depending on the amount of water, sugar, and apple pectin in the mix. A thermometer reading isn't always the best way to tell whether or not a jelly is done. Another way to test is put a half teaspoonful of the jelly on a chilled plate. Allow the jelly to cool a few seconds, then push it with your fingertip. If it wrinkles up, it's ready. I usually start testing the jelly this way when the mixture gets to 218 degrees F.

Pour into sterilized* canning jars to within 1/4" from the top and seal. Makes approximately 4 8-ounce jars. *There are several ways to sterilize jars for canning. You can run the jars through a short cycle in a dishwasher. You can place the jars in a large pot of water on top of a steaming rack , and bring the water to a boil for 10 minutes. Or you can rinse the jars, dry them, and place them, without lids, in a 200 degrees F oven for 10 minutes.