We have never really managed to get them to 'blet' properly. they seem to go mouldy first. The one occasion when they did, I cannot say that the taste was particularly outstanding.
For Medlar jelly they do not need to be 'bletted' only properly ripe and going soft (after a good frost is best). Then you purée the fruit with water and allow the mix to drip through muslin. Do not squeeze through if you want a clear jelly. Then it is a pint of liquid to a pound of Jam sugar. I like the jelly but my wife says it is too strongly tannin tasting for her.
I've just picked mine. I leave them in a cool spot (frost free, of course), laid out with the calyx parts uppermost in a shallow box. You may need a few boxes to do that. I check them periodically until I can see the colour change (they go darker, sort of 'stained' under the skin), Perhaps a few weeks. Then I try them for taste until I'm happy they're done. The skin just peels off to reveal the brown flesh which I find has a sharp sweet rich flavour.
You can leave some on a plate on a cool windowsill, I leave mine in the kitchen which is the collest area of my house. After a few weeks, they will go dark and squishy, and the flesh inside will be very dark. You can eat them then, and they taste like a cross between apple sauce and dates. But you must wait, if they are light brown, they will not taste nice. They are messy to eat. And they can go mouldy, best leave them so they do not touch each other, give them plenty of air.
I have made medlar jelly, whereby they were boiled up, then filtered through white cotton sheeting suspended between two chairs, over a large pan, then reduced down. And I have made medlar jam, where I filtered out the seeds and coarse matter, but left in fine matter so it was not translucent. I preferred the latter.
If it tastes of tannin, then I suspect the fruit were not bletted correctly. Unbletted or partially bletted fruits are astringent, horrible, bletted ones are sweet.
We got our Jelly making recipe from some Eastern Europeans who used to make it and sell the result from door to door. They certainly did not have space or time to blet the fruit before making the preserve.
I did not find it tasted of tannin, it was very tasty to me.
I would if we could actually remember it beyond what I posted originally. My jam maker is not going to make any this year as we already have more Jam than we can eat in a year with Raspberry, Crab apple, Chokeberry, Strawberry, Quince, Blackcurrant, Redcurrant, Loganberry and others whose names escape me at present.
Basically it is a pint of juice to a pint of Jam making sugar and follow the instructions for cooking time on the sugar package. Sorry.
![[Deleted User]](https://w9.vanillicon.com/v2/91e48d76e5bd5acad2186fec953ffc84.svg)
[Deleted User]
Posts: 29
Posts
We have never really managed to get them to 'blet' properly. they seem to go mouldy first. The one occasion when they did, I cannot say that the taste was particularly outstanding.
For Medlar jelly they do not need to be 'bletted' only properly ripe and going soft (after a good frost is best). Then you purée the fruit with water and allow the mix to drip through muslin. Do not squeeze through if you want a clear jelly. Then it is a pint of liquid to a pound of Jam sugar. I like the jelly but my wife says it is too strongly tannin tasting for her.
I've just picked mine. I leave them in a cool spot (frost free, of course), laid out with the calyx parts uppermost in a shallow box. You may need a few boxes to do that. I check them periodically until I can see the colour change (they go darker, sort of 'stained' under the skin), Perhaps a few weeks. Then I try them for taste until I'm happy they're done. The skin just peels off to reveal the brown flesh which I find has a sharp sweet rich flavour.
H-C
Go on, just try 'em! They are different, I'll accept, but the Tudors loved them, so what can be wrong!
H-C
The only way to find out if you like them or not is to taste and see.
Never added apples to the jelly so no idea what effect that would have.
You can leave some on a plate on a cool windowsill, I leave mine in the kitchen which is the collest area of my house. After a few weeks, they will go dark and squishy, and the flesh inside will be very dark. You can eat them then, and they taste like a cross between apple sauce and dates. But you must wait, if they are light brown, they will not taste nice. They are messy to eat. And they can go mouldy, best leave them so they do not touch each other, give them plenty of air.
I have made medlar jelly, whereby they were boiled up, then filtered through white cotton sheeting suspended between two chairs, over a large pan, then reduced down. And I have made medlar jam, where I filtered out the seeds and coarse matter, but left in fine matter so it was not translucent. I preferred the latter.
If it tastes of tannin, then I suspect the fruit were not bletted correctly. Unbletted or partially bletted fruits are astringent, horrible, bletted ones are sweet.
We got our Jelly making recipe from some Eastern Europeans who used to make it and sell the result from door to door. They certainly did not have space or time to blet the fruit before making the preserve.
I did not find it tasted of tannin, it was very tasty to me.
I would if we could actually remember it beyond what I posted originally. My jam maker is not going to make any this year as we already have more Jam than we can eat in a year with Raspberry, Crab apple, Chokeberry, Strawberry, Quince, Blackcurrant, Redcurrant, Loganberry and others whose names escape me at present.
Basically it is a pint of juice to a pint of Jam making sugar and follow the instructions for cooking time on the sugar package. Sorry.
Last edited: 08 November 2016 21:03:26