Medlar Jelly

[Thomzo]

HI
I know it's the wrong time of year but does anyone have a reliable recipe for medlar jelly? I have tried Jane Grigson's recipe a couple of times but can not get it to set. I end up with medlar syrup instead which, although scrummy, isn't the same on toast.

Cheers
Zoe

[wyrdwoman]

Could you post the recipe here? I thought it may be a lack of pectin in the medlars (they need to be well and truly ripened) but the only other recipe I found for medlar jelly was just medlars and sugar basically.

I have 3 medlar bushes near me and am luckily the only person on my street who seems to know what they are. I made medlar wine last year and so far it has been very successful - a lovely light wine.

[Thomzo]

Hi
The recipe I have is to use 1/3 firm medlars and 2/3 bletted (I have no idea how you manage to get a range of ripeness, Jane Grigson doesn't quite explain that).

The recipe is simmer to extract juice then boil with sugar, 500g sugar to 600ml juice.

The first time I tried it the fruit were well and truly bletted and I thought perhaps they were too ripe. Last year I tried it a bit earlier and some were still hard in patches.

Perhaps the wine is a better idea. That sounds delicious.

Cheers
Zoe

[wyrdwoman]

I guess medlars from different bushes will be ripe at different times. Also, they start bletting from when you pick them, so maybe pick some 2 weeks in advance of picking the others.

But your recipe is the same as the one I found so I have no idea why it won't set. My medlar liqueur didn't turn out as well this year as it did last year so maybe they were slightly different.

I have also got a recipe for medlar cheese around somewhere if you want it. Too late for lasts years crops but it will be Autumn soon (it seems that way anyway - where do the months go?)

[the.fee.fairy]

Ummm...what's a medlar?

[wyrdwoman]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medlar

You don't see them very often up North, so I was thrilled when I realised what the bushes near me were. Once bletted they taste like spicy apples.

[pskipper]

In France they are called cul de chein (dogs *rse) for some reason!

[Thomzo]

I have also got a recipe for medlar cheese around somewhere if you want it. Too late for lasts years crops but it will be Autumn soon (it seems that way anyway - where do the months go?)

Oh yes please. No hurry - obviously - but as it suddently seems to be March already then perhaps I shouldn't say that!

I only have one tree but get quite a lot of fruit off it and it's quite young so I will probably get more each year.

The previous owners of my house were really keen gardeners and planted the medlar as a sapling. I only recognised it because my old house had one in the garden. They were really surprised I could identify it.


Cheers
Zoe

[Millymollymandy]

I have a manky old medlar and it usually has a mix of bletted and non-bletted fruit on at the same time (until the birds get them, or they fall off, or whatever happens to them).

Tried them and didn't like them!

[wyrdwoman]

Tried them and didn't like them!

Make them into wine! Much better than leaving them.

Medlar Cheese
medlars, washed and cut up
Juice of 1 lemon
water
To each 1 lb fruit puree allow:
1lb sugar
small pinch cardamom.

Squeeze the lemon. Put medlars and lemon juice in a pan, cover with water. Cook slowly until mushy. Liquidise and/or sieve. Add the cardamom and sugar, cook very slowly until the sugar is dissolved, then cook, still very slowly, until the "cheese" is thick. This may take 3/4 - 1 hour. Stir frequently, then continuously, as the mixture thickens, to prevent burning. The cheese is sufficiently thick when a wooden spoon drawn across it shows the bottom of the pan, and the mixture only slowly re-covers it.
Warm moulds or jars, and brush inside with glycerine or oil to prevent sticking. Spoon in the hot cheese. Cover and store as jam. The cheese can be truned out and cut in slices.

[Thomzo]

Thanks for the cheese recipe. I will bookmark this and try to remember to come back to it in Autumn.

[ohareward]

I thought I would add a few botanical facts about the medlar.
Mespilus germanicus. Deciduous, spreading tree or scrub. Has dark green leaves that turn orange-brown in autumn, white flowers in spring and brown fruits in autumn, edible when half rotten.
Fully hardy. Needs sun or semishade and fertile, well-drained soil.Propagate species by seed in autumn.
Robin.

[Millymollymandy]

Mine is on my pond bank with its roots in water for 8 months of the year! The last two summers were dry and the pond level fell alarmingly and the fruit was only half the size it should have been, so if you are planting one, they do need a fair amount of water!

[Thomzo]

And they get dreadful greenfly. The flowers are very pretty though and the leaves are a nice colour in autumn.

[the.fee.fairy]

what's bletting?