The county of Kent, where my English home is situated, is famous for many things. The White Cliffs of Dover. The Royal Navy heritage at Chatham. Canterbury Cathedral and Chaucer. Jools Holland, a Rochester resident. Hops and oast houses. But it is perhaps best known for its orchards. Pears and apples, in particular, are grown throughout the county, and are used in all sorts of produce. Local apple juice and pear juice are just delicious.

We have several apple trees in our garden, and when they bear fruit I pick as many as I can and use them in recipes. The following is a great recipe for using up apples from your garden, or just those at the bottom at the fruit bowl that no one’s eating! Being a preserve, if stored correctly in sterilised, sealed jars, it should last some months. And if you use a pretty jar and top, this can be a lovely, personal Christmas present.

Ingredients

2kg eating apples

200ml cider vinegar

250ml water

250g caster sugar

Ground cinnamon

Ground cloves

Ground allspice

Lemon zest

Vanilla essence

1. Peel, core and chop the apples and place in a large preserving pan.
2. Pour on the vinegar and water and sprinkle on the sugar.
3. Cook gently until the apples are soft when run through with a knife.
4. Mash up the apples (or if you want a smoother preserve, sieve it).
5. Weigh the apples, and split into batches of 250 grams.
6. Add to each batch 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, 1 tablespoon of lemon zest, 1/2 teaspoon of cloves, 1/2 teaspoon of allspice and one drop of vanilla essence.
7. Return to the pan and cook gently until thickened. Here’s a good information sheet for knowing when preserves are set: http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_07/jelly_point.html.
8. Pot up the preserve, store and serve when you’re ready.

Delicious on crumpets, scones, toast and tea cakes, and stirred into rice pudding or natural yoghurt.