• 3 lbs crab-apples
• 3 pints water
• 1 lemon
• 1 lb sugar per pint of prepared juice (see below)

Sort the fruit, removing damaged apples, stems and insects. Wash and place in a large metal pan with the juice from the lemon. Add just enough water to cover the fruit. Bring to the boil, simmer until the fruit is reduced to a pulp (about 2 hours).

Pour the pulped fruit/water mixture into a muslin bag and allow to drip into another vessel overnight (I tied several sheets of muslin onto the legs of an inverted dining chair, positioned this in the bath, and allowed the juice to drain into a large saucepan). Do not squeeze the bag as this will cause the juice to become cloudy.

Wash and sterilize as many glass jars and lids as you think you might need (I used boiling water for this and filled the jars with jelly whilst they were still hot). Nine pounds of fruit eventually filled 18 jars (about 300 g size).

Measure the clear juice which has drained out of the pulp, place it back in the large metal pan and add 1 lb of sugar per pint. Bring to the boil, ensuring the sugar has dissolved, and simmer, stirring, until the setting point is reached (about 10 minutes). The setting point is determined by placing a small amount of molten jelly onto a chilled saucer and making sure it will set - the surface of the blob should wrinkle as soon as it cools; if it doesn't, keep cooking (I had to simmer this batch for a LOT longer than 10 minutes).

Remove any foam from the top of the molten jelly using a metal spoon. Carefully pour the liquid into the glass jars, immediately secure the lids and wipe the outsides. You can seal the lids by using wax, although I didn't. Store in a cool dark place (mine is in the fridge).

Enjoy with toast and butter. This slightly tart jelly also goes well with rich meats such as lamb, duck and goose.