Lilly-Pilly Jelly

With Autumn now well and truly underway, lilly-pilly trees throughout South East Queensland are producing fruit. Rather than allowing these visually appealing fruits to simply fall off of the trees and rot, bring them into your home for everyone to enjoy.

Lilly-Pilly jelly is an easy to make recipe and can be used in place of jam on scones, toast, muffins, etc. As the tree flowers progressively throughout Autumn, many batches can be made, giving you an endless source to either enjoy yourself or give away.

Lilly-Pilly Fruits: the small red globes (shown here with Aubergines)

To make Lilly-Pilly Jelly:

Firstly, select the reddest fruit from the plant. If some fruits are still pale pink or even a beige colour, leave them on the bush for your next batch. Once you have selected the fruit you intend to use, wash them in a basin of cold water and remove any stems and/or the furry like stamens on top of the fruits themselves.

The fruits being washed.

Place the fruits in a large pot and add enough water to just cover them. Bring to the boil and allow to continue boiling for approximately half an hour. Drain the liquid through a cloth into another pot or bowl. Be sure not to squeeze the liquid out of the fruit (through the cloth) as this will make the jelly cloudy.

To every cup of liquid, add one cup of sugar. To this liquid add the juice of half a lemon (you may need use a whole lemon if you are making a large batch). Bring to the boil until the sugar has dissolved and the liquid begins to thicken.

To test if the jelly has set, place a saucer in the freezer for a few minutes. Put a few drops of the jelly liquid onto the saucer. If the mixture begins to set when coming into contact with the cold saucer, it is ready to bottle. If not, you may need to add some Jamsetta.

Pour into bottles that have been sterilised in hot water. Put the lid on tight and turn the jar upside down. This seals the jar and removes any other bacteria that may still be in the jar.