Crab Apple Recipes (mostly from Cooks.com, otherwise from Jackie French)
JACKIE FRENCH'S CRAB APPLE JELLY
1 kilo crab apples (any variety, but red skinned ones give a clear red jelly)
white sugar
Water
Slice but don't core or peel apples. Cover with water. Simmer till soft. Strain- I bung mine through a strainer, then pour that juice through a clean old stocking- the more finely you strain out the pulp, the cleare your jelly will be.
For every cup of juice add 1 cup of sugar. Simmer, stirring often, till a little dabbed on a cold saucer turns into jelly. Pour into clean jars at once and seal.
Blackberry and apple jelly: replace half the apples with blackberries, or loganberries, mulberries or raspberries etc.
Rose petal, lemon leaf, mint or other herb jellies: Add mint leaves, rose petals, scented geranium/pelargonium leaves, lemon or lime leaves, lemon grass stems, a few dried cloves, hunks of fresh ginger root etc to the final stage of jelly simmering. Use a slotted spoon to hoik them out before you pour it into jars. This technique will give you exquisite and very interesting jellies - the savoury ones are good with cold meat, the sweet ones stunning with scones et al.
JACKIE FRENCH'S CRAB APPLE NECKLACES
Thread crab apples on doubled cotton with a needle. Tie them off securely and place in a pan with a syrup of three cups of water, three cups of sugar and a third of a cup of white vinegar. There should be enough syrup to cover the fruit. Leave overnight. Simmer till the syrup is almost gone - don't boil too hard; the whole simmering should take at least an hour or two. Take the necklaces out of the sticky pans and hang them up to dry. As long as the weather is dry they can stay hanging for long time; if it's humid take them down when they're crisp and store in greaseproof paper in a sealed jar till needed.
Crab apple necklaces are excellent decorations for a Christmas tree or round Christmas stockings. Eat them as sweets or instead of sugared almonds
PICKLED CRABAPPLES #1
Crabapples enough to fill four one-litre jars
5 c. sugar
4 c. water
1/4 c. vinegar
Stick or press whole cloves into 1/3-1/2 of the crabapples as you would push a pin into a pincushion.
Fill jars with apples and bring sugar, water and sugar to boil. Pour syrup over apples. Process in a boiling water bath for 45 minutes.
CRABAPPLE JAM
9 3/4 c. crabapples
1 c. water
8 c. sugar
Wash and cook crabapples. Put through Foley Mill/Mouli Mill, mix 1 cup water with crushed apples. Bring to boil. Add sugar and boil again for 1 minute. (Add no pectin). Put in jars and seal with paraffin.
SPICED CRABAPPLES #1
1 1/2 litres of. crabapples with stems
1 litre. vinegar
4 c. sugar
2 sticks cinnamon
1 tbsp. whole cloves
1 tsp. mace
1 tsp. allspice
Choose round crabapples, uniform in size. Wash and drain. Do not peel. Mix sugar and vinegar; add spice bag; bring to a boil. Add crabapples and heat slowly, being careful not to burst the fruit. Let stand in syrup overnight. Pack cold, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Cover with boiling hot syrup. Adjust lids. Process in boiling water bath for 5 minutes.
CRABAPPLE SAUCE
1 (400 ml.) jar spiced crabapples (see above)
180 ml. apple juice
1/8 tsp. ginger
30 ml. dry sherry
60 ml water
2 tbsp. cornstarch
Heat all ingredients except water and cornstarch, simmer 5 minutes, remove apples, form a slurry with starch and water. Use to thicken sauce, then return apples and hold hot for service.
CRABAPPLE JELLY #1
2.25 kg of crabapples
5 c. water
9 c. sugar
1 pkg. powdered pectin
Wash crabapples; remove stems and cut in half. Put in saucepan with water; simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain through jelly bag. Measure 7 cups strained juice into large kettle. Add powdered pectin to juice; bring to a boil over high heat. At once stir in all of the sugar.
Bring back to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil at a full rolling boil, that cannot be stirred down, 1 full minute. Skim off any foam with a metal spoon. Fill hot sterilized jars, leaving 1/8 inch at the top. Screw covers on tightly and put in boiling water bath 10 minutes.
HINTS: There are lots of crabapple trees around these days. Some have lovely bright red fruit and others have pink or yellow fruit. The yellow fruit make the most flavorful jelly. The red fruit make the prettiest jelly. I suggest if you can find them, you mix the different colors.
If you have leftover juice, save it. The juice is excellent added to grape, elderberry or peach plum juice for another batch of jelly. If you are a little short of the amount of juice you need for a batch, you can add a little water (not more than 3/4 cup). Do not try to double this recipe. It won't work.
CRABAPPLE JELLY #2
Put 2 kg of crabapples into a large pan and cover with water just over the tops of the apples. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Strain through a jelly bag or muslin cloth, overnight.
4 c. of crabapple juice
3 c. of sugar
Bring to a boil and boil, stirring constantly, until the mixture sheets from a spoon (2 drops roll from either side of the spoon into 1 large drop which lets go of the spoon all at once). Skim foam, pour into sterilized glasses or jelly jars and seal with wax or lid.
CRABAPPLE BUTTER
4.5kg. crabapples
7 1/2 c. white sugar
4 c. water
1/2 tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
Wash crabapples, remove the stems and blossom ends. Place in large preserving kettle, add water, cover and cook until soft, about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Put through a coarse sieve. Return to kettle, add sugar and spice. Cook slowly until thick, about 2 hours.
Pour into hot sterilized jars and seal at once. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes or store in refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
CRABAPPLE KUGEL
1 (250g) pkg. wide noodles
2 eggs (beat with 1 tbsp. sugar)
Salt to taste
Cinnamon to taste
2 heaping tbsp. crabapple jelly (stirred)
2 large or 4 small apples, grated
Handful of raisins
1 tbsp. oil
Cinnamon for top
Cook noodles until tender. Drain well. Add remaining ingredients except for cinnamon for topping. Turn into large casserole dish. Top with cinnamon and bake for 1 hour at 180 degrees C.
HOT MULLED CIDER
3.8 litres apple juice
3 sticks whole cinnamon
1 tbsp. whole cloves
1 tbsp. whole allspice
1 lb. light brown sugar
1 jar miniature whole spiced crabapples
Mix and heat to ALMOST boiling. Then simmer for 30 minutes to an hour. Remove spices and add miniature crabapples with their juice. Serve hot. Can be stored for several days in refrigerator.
WASSAIL
1 c. orange juice
1.4 litres pineapple juice
1 litre crabapple or apple juice
4 c. water
1/2 c. brown sugar or regular sugar
4 sticks of cinnamon
8 whole cloves
1 tsp. whole allspice
In the bottom of a large coffee urn, place the juices and water. In the top of the urn where, the coffee grounds go, place the sugar, cinnamon and cloves. Plug in and let perk. Smells great!
CRAB APPLE FRUIT SALAD
1 (85g.) pkg. raspberry gelatin
1 c. boiling water
3/4 c. cold water
1/4 c. sherry
1/2 c. chopped celery
1/2 c. diced apples
1/2 c. chopped dates
1 c. drained, crushed pineapple
1/4 c. chopped walnuts
2 tbsp. mayonnaise
Salad greens
Spiced crabapples
Dissolve gelatin in boiling water; add cold water and sherry. Chill until slightly thickened. Combine celery, apple, dates, pineapple, walnuts and mayonnaise; blend. Fold into thickened gelatin. Place in lightly oiled 1 litre mould. Chill at least 4 hours. Unmould on salad greens, garnish with crabapples. Serves 6.
CRABAPPLE JELLY #3
Select firm crabapples. Wash and remove blossom ends. Cut into quarters without peeling. Barely cover with water and boil until fruit is tender and soft. Place in cheesecloth and allow to drip, do not squeeze.
Measure equal parts of juice and sugar. Boil rapidly to 100 degrees celsius (220 F) which is called 'jelly stage'. Pour into sterilized jars and seal with wax.
CRABAPPLE JELLY #4
Stem flawless crabapples; cook until soft in a small amount of water. Put into cloth bag and drain out juice overnight into a bowl or directly into a cooking pot.
Add 1 cup sugar for each cup of juice and cook until sugar is dissolved and mixture reaches the jelling point. (A small amount dropped on a cold saucer will form a "skin" on top OR when mixture is dripped from a spoon, two drops in succession will join to form one drop.) If foam forms on top you may let the mixture stand until the foam disappears or, better yet, skim off the foam into a dish and eat it. A bonus for the cook! Pour into boiled jars. Seal with paraffin or with scalded jar tops. If jar tops are used, screw them on tightly and invert the jars until cold.
SWEET PICKLED CRABAPPLES
Apples
Cloves (whole)
4 c. sugar
2 c. vinegar
1/2 tsp. salt
Use tart, well flavored apples. Wash, stick with 2 whole cloves. For each 4 pounds of prepared apple, make a syrup as follows:
Boil together 4 cups sugar and 2 cups vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon salt, until sugar is melted. Put apples into syrup and simmer until tender.
CRABAPPLE JELLY #5
Wash 7 kg of crab apples and cut into quarters without peeling. Place in large porcelain kettle, cover with cold water and simmer gently until tender.
Drain through cheesecloth, shifting pulp to keep juice flowing. Measure juice (4 cups) into 12 quart kettle and boil 5 minutes. Add 3 cups sugar and boil 5-8 minutes longer or until a drop jells on a cold plate. Turn into hot sterilized glasses. Cover with paraffin and seal. Continue cooking juice 4 cups at a time until all juice is used.
PICKLED CRABAPPLES #2
2.25 kg crab apples
1 litre. vinegar
7 c. sugar
Put in cloth and tie:
1 tbsp. whole cloves
2 2" cinnamon stick
Wash crab apples, leaving skins (and stem if desired). Prick several holes into each apple. Bring to a boil remaining ingredients and crab apples. Cook slowly until tender. Remove spice bag. Pack apples in sterilized jars and fill with hot syrup. Seal tightly.
PICKLED CRABAPPLES #3
3 c. brown sugar
3 c. white sugar
1 c. water
2 c. cider vinegar
4 sticks cinnamon
1 tsp. whole allspice
Bring the ingredients to a boil. Drop in some of the apples, simmer until tender. Put in sterilized jars and pour hot syrup over the apples and seal. This makes 3 litres.
SPICED CRAB APPLES #2
5 c. brown sugar
2 c. vinegar
2 cinnamon sticks
2 tbsp. whole cloves
4 litres crabapples
Cook sugar, vinegar and spices for 20 minutes. Drop in fruits, a few at a time, and cook until tender. Pack into hot sterilized jars, adding syrup to within 1/2 inch of top. Seal process at simmering temperature for 10 minutes. Makes 3 litres.
You can use peaches or pears instead of crab apples.
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