Crab apples are often grown ornamentally for their handsome trees, lovely pink spring blossoms and dainty ruby-coloured fruits. Certainly that was the main reason we planted ours in the backyard originally but as we have gotten more and more into growing and appreciating food plants and their produce they have become more than a 'pretty picture' to us.
I have been meaning to make crab apple jelly for several years but each year struggle to get my act together at the right time and/or our little trees haven't produced enough fruit for the recipes I had. I only picked about 700g of crab apples last week (more than previous years though), but I found an adjustable recipe, that allowed for adding the water, sugar and lemon juice according to the quantity of fruit on hand.
Crab apples are small rosie little fruits, which are way, way too tart to eat 'as is' but are gorgeous for making aromatic jellies, syrups and preserves or pickles with. Crab apples are an excellent source of pectin, which is a natural 'setting agent' found in fruit pips, cores and skins, that helps make good jams and jellies.
And, and... they look so pretty once cut in half. Stunning I think!
It only gets more colourful as you can see above with the crab apple juice in the pot with the other ingredients, on it's way to becoming the sweet and spicy full-flavoured jelly. I find crab apples do actually have a sweet, rose-apple scent to them even before you cut or cook them.
Ta-dah! My finished product...only 2 and a bit jars were made from my 700g of fruit, but that's plenty for us, including a jar for a lucky friend.
Crab apple jelly is usually served with light meats such as turkey, chicken and hams but is also great with roast lamb. I reckon it also lends itself to being incorporated in to cakes and tarts too. Why not?
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