Blackberry jelly

Autumn is coming and every day there are more blackberries ripe.

  I've been picking them daily and storing them in the freezer. I used a few of these plus today's picking to make this jelly. This made a very small batch and it would have been better to at least double the quantities.

There are three ingredients:

1 1/2lb blackberries
1/2lb cooking apples
sugar-quantity later!

Method
Put the blackberries in a pan, with the cored and roughly chopped but not peeled apples.
Add just enough water to cover the blackberries and cook until the apples and blackberries are "collapsed".
Put the mixture into a jelly bag (ideally) although I just used a sieve. Muslin would do instead of a formal jelly bag. A sieve will keep out the pips but won't give such a smooth, clear texture. Next time, I will probably use muslin inside the sieve. I'm not quite sure why I didn't today.

Measure the volume of the clear liquid.
Place the liquid in a saucepan and add granulated sugar in a ratio of 1 lb sugar for 1 pint of juice. Sorry, but I'm not sure there is a simple metric ratio.
Stir over a gentle heat until the sugar is dissolved then bring to the boil. Boil for 8 minutes and then test for a set.

I put a small amount on a cold saucer. If the jelly has set, it's surface will ripple when pushed with a finger.
I didn't add pectin or lemon juice and worried that this wouldn't set. No fear, this jelly formed a very solid set after 10 minutes hence saying to boil for only 8 minutes before checking. It is probably the apples which help the set as they are full of pectin. Some commercially sold pectin is made from apples. If apples are not added, another setting agent may be needed.

Pot and seal.
Store in a cool place.

This made a 1lb pot and a ramekin dish of jelly. The batch cost 73p as the blackberries and cooking apples were free.