Baking Crab Apples: A Simple Guide To Deliciousness

Crab apples are a versatile ingredient that can be used in a variety of sweet and savoury dishes. Crab apples are tarter than standard apples and are usually too sour to eat raw, but cooking them can bring out their tangy, sweet flavour. They can be baked into a variety of dishes, including apple fritters, apple butter, apple crisp, apple cider, apple jelly, apple sauce, apple pie, apple cake, apple bread, apple muffins, apple jam, apple syrup, apple liqueur, apple vinegar, apple turnovers, apple tarts, apple leather, apple cider vinegar, apple chutney, apple raisin muffins, apple hot pepper jelly, apple strawberry tarts, apple yogurt bundt cake, apple pie bars, and apple caramel sauce.

Crab Apple Butter

Ingredients:

• Crab apples
• Lemon juice
• Maple syrup
• Brown sugar
• Cinnamon
• Allspice
• Cloves (optional)

Method:

First, clean and cut your crab apples, removing all stems, cores, and blossom ends. You can leave the skin on. Then, fill a large pot approximately halfway with crab apples and add four cups of water. Boil until the apples are cooked through and mushy, adding more water if necessary to prevent burning.

Next, remove the apples from the heat and put them in a blender. Blend on medium-low for about 30 seconds, or until smooth. Measure out five cups of crab apple sauce and return it to the pot. Add one cup of apple juice (store-bought or homemade), maple syrup, brown sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, and allspice. Adjust the spices to your taste.

Finally, heat and cook the mixture until it reaches a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for approximately 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Transfer the crab apple butter to sterilised jars and process in boiling water for 10 minutes, or let it cool and store it in freezer-safe containers.

Serving Suggestions:

• Eat it like applesauce
• Serve it over pancakes or IN pancakes
• Add it to plain yoghurt
• Serve it on crackers with cheddar cheese
• Use it as a condiment for sausage and egg sandwiches or cheeseburgers

Crab Apple Jelly

Ingredients:

• Crab apples
• Sugar
• Lemon
• Cinnamon stick (optional)

Method:

• Remove the beards from crab apples (leave stems intact) and wash.
• Halve crab apples and slice lemon.
• Place in a preserving pan or similar heavy-based saucepan (large pot) with cold water.
• Bring the pan to a boil, then simmer on medium heat for 25–30 minutes, crushing crab apples as they cook.
• Once the crab apples are pulpy, remove from heat.
• Strain crab apples in a jelly bag or use a colander lined with a pair of tights, muslin, or a tea towel set over a pan. Leave to drain overnight into a large bowl. Do not squeeze the bag or the result will be cloudy and not beautifully clear jelly!
• The next day, measure the juice.
• Pour juice into a preserving pan with 450g of granulated sugar for every 575ml of juice.
• Place the pan over a gentle heat and stir until all the sugar has dissolved. The pan must not bubble.
• Bring the pan to a rolling boil, stirring frequently, until the setting point is reached (105°C).
• Remove the pan from the heat and test for set by placing a few drops of jelly on a chilled saucer and place in the fridge for 30 seconds.
• The jelly is ready if a crinkle forms when you push your finger through it. If it’s not ready, carry on boiling for a minute at a time and re-test until set is achieved.
• Put the jelly on a low heat and remove any scum with a slotted spoon, otherwise the jelly will start to set and this process will become difficult.
• Keep over a low heat and pot into sterilised jars to stop the jelly from setting before it reaches the jars. Small jars are best.
• Place lids on immediately and allow to cool.

Your crab apple jelly can be stored in a cool, dark place for up to a year. Once opened, it should be kept in the fridge and consumed within a few months.

Crab Apple Sauce

Crab applesauce is a great way to use wild crab apples. Depending on your personal taste and the varieties of crab apple trees you have access to, your sauce can be tart, sweet, pink, or uncoloured.

Ingredients

• 8-15 lbs crab apples
• 1 cup maple syrup or brown sugar, to taste
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• 2.5 tablespoons lemon juice
• 4 cups water

Optional Ingredients

• 1 cup of sugar, or to taste
• Wild vanilla extract

Method

First, wash the crab apples. If your apples vary in size, cut them into equal-sized pieces for even cooking. Put the apples into a pot with a splash of water to cover the bottom, then cook until they can be mashed. You can also use a slow cooker if you cut the recipe in half, and apple juice can be added instead of water, if you like.

The cooking process should take about 20-30 minutes. If you're short on time, you can also just cook the apples whole until they break down, just remember to stir the pot so it doesn't burn on the bottom.

Mash the cooked apples with a potato masher. Pass the mashed apples through a food mill to remove the skins and seeds. If making a large batch, an apple sauce maker is much more efficient than a food mill.

After the sauce is strained through the food mill or apple sauce maker, it's seasoned to taste with cinnamon and maple syrup or sugar. Then the sauce is transferred to canning jars and processed in a boiling water bath canner.

It will look like red apple sauce after running through the food mill.

Apples vary drastically in natural sugar content. Depending on your apples, your sauce may need no sweetening. If you don't sweeten your apple sauce, you'll want to add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice per each quart jar of sauce. Wild red crab apples will always be tart, and I always sweeten sauce made with them.

Crab Apple Fritters

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg (2 1/4 tsp) active dry or instant yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water or milk
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra
• 2 Tbsp butter, softened
• A drizzle of oil or 1-2 Tbsp butter
• 2 cups chopped crab apples (or regular apples)
• 2-3 Tbsp brown sugar
• A shake of cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp butter, melted
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup or honey
• Canola oil, for frying
• Icing sugar, for the glaze

Method:

First, make the dough. In a large bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water or milk and add a pinch of sugar. Leave this for 5 minutes, until it becomes foamy. Then add the remaining sugar, flour, butter, egg, and salt, and stir until the dough comes together. Knead the dough for 5 minutes, or until it is soft and elastic but still tacky. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and set it aside for an hour.

While the dough is rising, make the filling. Cook the butter, apples, sugar, and cinnamon together for 3-5 minutes, until the apples are just tender. Set this aside to cool completely.

Roll out the dough into a large rectangle (about 8x12 inches) and spread half with the cooled apples. Fold the other half of the dough over to cover the apples and pinch the edges to seal. Roll the dough out again until it is as thin as it was originally. Don't worry if some apple pieces are poking through. Fold the dough over itself and cut it into 1/2-inch strips in both directions, so you are left with lots of little chunks.

Flour your work surface and gather the dough and apples into balls. Shape these into patties about the size of your palm, sprinkling with flour as you go—the patties will look messy and rough, and that's okay! Place the patties on a parchment-lined sheet, cover with a tea towel, and leave to rise for an hour. The fritters need to rise long enough to puff around the apples, which will help them hold together when cooked.

To make the glaze, simply whisk together the icing sugar, melted butter, and maple syrup (or honey).

When you are ready to cook your fritters, heat a couple of inches of oil in a deep skillet or shallow pot. The oil should be hot but not smoking—aim for about 375F if you have a thermometer. Cook the fritters a few at a time, without crowding the pot, and flip them with a slotted spoon once they turn deep golden. Transfer the cooked fritters to a paper towel-lined plate to absorb any excess oil, and drizzle generously with the glaze while they are still hot.

This recipe makes about a dozen fritters. Enjoy!

Crab Apple Jam

Crab apples are naturally high in pectin, which is a complex carbohydrate that thickens to a gel when cooked. This makes crab apples perfect for making jam and jelly. Here is a recipe for crab apple jam:

Ingredients:

• Crab apples
• Orange
• Sugar
• Cinnamon (optional)

Instructions:

First, cut your crab apples in half—there is no need to peel them. Squeeze the juice from your orange and add it to a pan with the halved crab apples and, optionally, a cinnamon stick. Bring this to a boil, then lower the temperature and cook until the apples are tender, which should take about 15 minutes.

Remove the cinnamon stick and use a potato masher to squish the crab apples inside the pan. Scoop the pulp out and use a wooden spoon to press it through a metal sieve, either into a jug or straight back into the pan. Squish every bit of crab apple puree and juice through the sieve.

Pour the crab apple puree into the pan if you haven't already and add the sugar. Heat slowly to dissolve the sugar, then bring to a boil. You want to boil it to 105°C for the setting point. Carefully ladle the hot crab apple jam into sterilised jars.

This recipe makes approximately one 250g jar of crab apple jam. It is a sweet yet tart jam that can be served on toast or scones, as a dessert topping, or at the side with roasts. It can also be added to sauces and gravies, stirred into Greek yoghurt, or added to porridge.

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