Gooseberry and Elderflower Jelly

Gooseberry and Elderflower Jelly

Ingredients

1kg gooseberries, as fresh as possible
100g elderflower heads – approximately 15 heads
750ml water
1kg raw cane sugar ~ I just use normal granulated sugar
25ml Lemon Juice

Method

Simmer the gooseberries in the water in a saucepan until they are soft and mushy. This should take between 45 and 60 minutes.
Turn off the heat and then put the elderflower heads into the pan, and leave for several hours to cool and infuse.
Sieve the gooseberry and elderflower mash through a muslin overnight. Don’t press the fruit through or your jelly will end up cloudy.
In the morning measure how much liquid you have and weigh out an equivalent weight in sugar. So for 1 litre of liquid, weigh out 1kg sugar. For 900ml liquid, weigh out 900g sugar.
Put the liquid into a saucepan, bring to the boil and then pour in the sugar.
Bring back to a rolling boil and add the lemon juice.
Boil until the liquid reaches setting point, this should be between 15 – 20 minutes. Test by dropping a little of the jelly onto a cold saucer, counting to ten and pushing it with your fingertip. If the jelly crinkles, the setting point has been reached.
Pour into sterilised jars and lid.