I make Hot Pepper jelly all the time and after trying many recipes, find the one that comes with Surejell or Certo are as good as any. I always use white vinegar, not cider. That may be the stong taste you refer to. Follow the recipe and use as little of the hot peppers as you want or try milder peppers. Never had a problem with it not jelling, altough it may take longer. Don't reduce the amount of vinegar or sugar.

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2005-01,GGLD:en&q=pepper+jelly

I made hot pepepr jelly couple of weeks ago and I am planning to make an other batch tonight.

I used the recipe I found on Kraft Fooeds website, but substituted 1/3 of the vinegar with lemon juice and I used only ripe red and orange peppers. I used more hot peppers than in original recipe, but kept the combined amount of sweet and hot peppers same. A also cooked the peppers little bit longer, so that the liquid got nice orange color.

It took about a week for it to jell well.

I brought a jar of the jelly to work and many people wanted to buy it from me.

Here is a link that might be useful: Certo Hot Pepper Jelly

I'm a little late, but this is my favorite recipe.

1/2 c. fresh jalepeno peppers, stemmed and seeded, cut up (I use a mixture of jalepeno, serrano, tabasco, pequin and habanero)
1 lg. red bell pepper, stemmed and seeded, cut up
2 c. apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 c. dried appricots, chopped finely (or peaches or pears)
6 c. sugar
1 (3oz.) pkg. liquid pectin
4 drops red food coloring, if desired (I don't use it)

Put peppers and vinegar in food processor. Pulse until coursely chopped.

Combine apricots, sugar and pepper/vinegar mixture in large saucepan. Bring to a boil, boil 5 min. Remove from heat, skim off foam that forms. Allow to cool for 2 min. Mix in pectin. Pour into jars, process 10 min. in BWB. Makes about 7 half pint jars.