Making County Fair Candy Apple Jelly with Bernardin!

I was so excited to finally fulfil my dream of learning about canning with the help of Bernardin recently!

They gave me one of their starter kits to try out and I have to say it was just perfect. It's everything a beginner needs to get started, but it has all the tools you need to take you through as you learn more and more about canning and get more and more adventurous.

You'll want to hang in until the end of this post today because I'll be sharing a really fun recipe with you and one of my readers will even get to win a kit of their own!

Of course I had to come up with a fun recipe to try, even though it was only my first time. I mentioned the idea of this jelly recipe to Kennedy and she was so excited! So that settled it. This is a perfect no mess, no fuss type of jelly for when you're just getting your feet wet.

I also think it's perfect for this time of year. It has great end-of-Summer-and-into-Fall flavors and now I've got a whole batch just waiting to be enjoyed once the weather starts to cool down.

Here's the easy-peasy recipe!

(Adapted from Taste of Home)

4 cups of Apple Juice
1/2 cup Cinnamon Heart Candies
1 package of Bernardin Pectin (57g)
4 1/2 cups of Sugar

That's it!

In a large saucepan, mix the juice, candies, and pectin. Bring it to a full boil, stirring constantly. Stir in the sugar and bring it back to a boil. Boil for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and ladle into hot sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch of head space. Place the new lids on top of your jars and close them up with the metal bands until they're just finger tight. Process in a boiling water canner for 5 minutes. See how easy that was?

I only made 4 jars because I had these really pretty little jars that came with my kit, but I could have probably made 6-8 little jelly jars from this recipe quite easily. I just put the extras in the fridge to enjoy right now.

It really only took about 45 minutes including clean up! I can't believe I waited so long to learn about canning!

Here's how it all went down:

The kit arrived just like this all together in a big happy box.

Really simple, straightforward instructions were included. They really made it seem easier than anything else I've read online. Look how happy those ladies are on the front! It can't be that hard if they're laughing like that!

They also included a whole bunch of goodies for decorating the jars for gifting with my kit. Bernardin will be selling jar decorating kits at Canadian Tire stores in Canada starting in the fall. That's how I managed to get my jars looking so cute, in case you were wondering. No decorating skills needed!

These cute jar labels are included in the kits too!

Speaking of jars, here's a close of up the jars included with the kit.

I washed them and then warmed them up in the canner just like it said to in the instructions.

And speaking of the canner...

Isn't it a beauty? I thought I was a little strange for being so in love with a big pot, but then Kennedy came home from camp and said "Oooo! Pretty! Did they really give this to you?" So the love of canning must be genetic.

I mixed up my simple recipe and got my canning complete in no time flat.

I may have stolen a candy or two along the way...

Here's how it looked when it was all done! It really looks like it was done by someone who knows what they're doing, doesn't it? That's the power of having the right tools!

Bernardin will be hosting an event called National Can it Forward Day on August 11th at 1pm this year. Whether you're an experienced canner or are just looking to try it out, they have a whole day dedicated to getting you excited about canning! You can follow along with the event hosted by the Bernardin head chef Emerie Brine and even ask questions in a live chat or on Twitter! You'll have to check it out if you're at all interested in learning about the art/craft/awesomeness of canning!

So are you ready to win a kit of your own and get started on a lifetime of canning?

Just fill out the form below! The winner will be announced after National Can it Forward Day on August 11.

Please note that this Giveaway is only open to Canadian residents.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you so much to Bernardin for sponsoring this post and for providing me with the kit to help me achieve my canning dreams!

Good luck everyone!