If you are looking for a handmade gift idea this Christmas, look no further! I have been rustling up (a lot) of spiced apple chutney as a gift for my guests at the Christmas event that I am hosting on 1st December – click here for the event blog post. Due to the long mature time required for this chutney, I made all my batches this week and now have 61 jars complete!
The recipe was kindly given to me by Lucy from Lotti and Lu. I have purchased some amazing cakes from Lucy in the past and have also used some of her recipes which have been great. I knew if I was to find a good chutney recipe, Lucy was be the best person to ask!
Below is the original recipe which says makes 12 jars, although these must be small jars as I made 61 160ml jars and had to times the recipe by 9! If you are to use the same sized jars as I have, then I would say the below quantities will make approximately 7 jars.
Ingredients
900g apples
225g onions
55g raisins
55g chopped dates
12g each of ground coriander, paprika, ground mixed spice
15g salt
340g granulated sugar
425ml malt vinegar
You will need
- 160ml jars – £1 each from Wilko
- Jute Twine – £5 for 300m from Hobbycraft (this will give you so much that you’ll also be able to use it for Christmas present gift tags!)
- Air Drying Clay – £3.75 for 1kg which is loads from Hobbycraft
- Stickers – I bought round gloss 51mm ones with my own design on from printed.com
- Star Cutter – My 3cm cutter is from Homesense but you can buy similar from Amazon
- (plus cooking equipment – scales, measuring jug, preserving pan/large casserole dish, peeler, knife, chopping board, wooden spoon, ladle, scissors)
Method
1. Sterilise your jars. Check out BBC Good Food’s article on How To Sterilise Jars if you are unsure on how to do this.
2. Peel, core and chop the apples, chop the onions.
3. Put all the ingredients into the preserving pan. Slowly bring to the boil until the sugar has dissolved.
4. Simmer for 1 1/2 – 2 hours, stirring occasionally. The smell of vinegar can be rather intense so if you can, open a few windows and doors!
5. The chutney is ready once it becomes very thick, all the ingredients have combined and a spoon can be drawn across the bottom of the pan leaving a clear channel.
6. Carefully ladle the hot mixture into the sterilised jars.
7. Store for roughly 2 months before eating.
8. To make the little clay stars roll out your air drying clay to roughly 3mm of thickness and using your star cutter, cut out the star shapes. I found it is best to cut the stars on the board that you intend to dry them on as moving them to another board can misshape them. With a small round item (I used a kebab skewer) create a hole in one of the star ends for your twine to thread through. Leave to dry from roughly 24hrs.
9. Once your stars are dry, thread roughly 60cm of twine through the hole in the star. Wrap the twine around the top of your jar and secure it with a little bow.
10. Lastly, to add the finishing touch, pop your sticker on to the lid of the jar!
Hope you found this interesting and it has got you in the mood for some chutney making!
Thanks for reading x
Fantastic idea for Christmas hamper gift’s x
Hello – have you got any tips on how you created your sticker design and if you used a program for this? Would love to recreate for Xmas presents but struggling with the stickers !! Thank you – yours look beautiful!
Author
These were done in photoshop and then, using a template from printed.com (which is where I had them printed) I could ensure they were the right size x
Ah thank you ! I have made them and they look beautiful … Sorry to ask, did you keep yours in the fridge ? I haven’t but I’m a bit worried that I should have !!
Author
I didn’t and mine was fine!
Please could you advise what type of apples you used for this. Looking forward to making these for Christmas gifts…
Love this… my lovely husband and our friend made Nigella’s chilli jam and used the same little jars to give to friends and family… a home made gift is so appreciated any time. Your little stars are beautiful and I’d love to try making the chutney too ❣️