Found a Yellow Crabapple Tree

yellow crabapple tree (photo by jhy)

This tree was literally in the ditch. I was driving down a country road and saw yellow fruits, about an inch in diameter flash by. I resolved to stop there on my way home. I did just that, and found a yellow crabapple tree. Until a couple of weeks ago I didn't know they exist. Now I know that there are several varieties, although I'm not sure which one this is. I suspect it may be the cultivar "Golden Hornet."

yellow crabapple fruits (photo by jhy)

That is described as having huge crops of conspicuous yellow fruit with branches bending under the weight. These obviously ripen much later than the red crabapples, as they are just now turning golden. They are often planted simply to be ornamental, since the fruits stay on the branches through the winter. Apparently, they are also a good tree to plant with other apples to aid with cross-pollination.

I sampled one and brought a few home. The fruit is much sweeter than red crabapples. It's almost like a golden delicious apple. Of course, what I love about the red ones is their tart taste, so I don't think these will make my list of favorites.

yellow crabapple fruits (photo by jhy)

The ones I brought home turned completely yellow in two days and are beginning to get spots already. I cut them up in pieces to eat on my yogurt this morning.

Sugar-Free Pear and Crabapple Sorbet

sugar-free pear crabapple sorbet- notice the icy texture and how it will not hold a shape (photo by jhy)

You will need:

• 2/3 c crabapple juice
• 2/3 c sugar substitute such as Splenda or Stevia (I used Splenda)
• 2 T. fresh lemon or lime juice
• 4 c coarsely chopped pears

saucepan 8x8 metal cake pan with lid or foil blender or food processor spoons, spatulas, etc Now that I know what the texture of a sorbet should be like, I decided to adapt one of the recipes that uses a sugar substitute. I did like the flavor of the Crabapple-Pear Sorbet, but really hate using so much sugar. The results with the substitute were not very good.

sugar-free pear crabapple sorbet after blending and before freezing (photo by jhy)

In a saucepan, combine juice, sugar substitute and citrus juice. Bring to a boil and boil one minute. Cool to room temperature. Add the pears and puree in blender or processor until smooth. Pour into an 8x8 inch metal pan, cover and freeze at least 4 hours, or overnight. I let it freeze overnight.

sugar-free pear crabapple sorbet after freezing- you can only shave the surface, it's so icy (photo by jhy)

When I tried to dish this up with an ice cream scoop, it would not come out of the pan. It is full of ice crystals and was too hard to do anything but shave the surface. I let the pan sit out for 15 minutes and tried again. This time I was able to dish some up, but it does not hold the shape of the scoop at all. I even tried to press it into a ball, but it would not stick. The texture is much icier than the sugared sorbet, more like a thick slushie, although the flavor is good. This recipe has less crabapple and more pear, making it a little less tart, and a lighter pink color. The Sugar-Free Pear and Crabapple Sorbet would be a refreshing dessert on a hot day, but it's not nearly as good as the real thing.

Pear and Crabapple Sorbet

a scoop of crabapple-pear sorbet (photo by jhy)

You will need:

• 1 c crabapple juice
• 3/4 c sugar
• 2 c coarsely chopped pears
• 2 T. fresh lemon or lime juice
• salt

saucepan shallow container such as 8x8 cake pan blender or food processor 32 oz. freezer container with lid spoons, spatulas, etc Let me explain, right at the start, that this was an experiment. I had never tried this before. My results were good, but not spectacular. I'm not sure I like this enough to make it regularly, because it has to be made with sugar, rather than a substitute, so that bumps the calories. However, I might make it for a special dessert for company. There are sorbet recipes available which use Splenda™ instead of sugar. I have not tried any of them. I suspect they would need to be eaten immediately after preparation because the reason a sorbet works is that the large sugar molecules prevent the product from forming ice crystals and just becoming a popsicle. Anyway, this recipe was adapted from one that uses cranberry and pears, and it's the real deal... all sugar.

crabapple-pear sorbet after first freezing, before blending (photo by jhy)

Heat 1 c. crabapple juice with 1 1/4 c water, and 3/4 c sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Add pears and simmer until soft, about 5-10 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature, and then transfer it to a shallow pan. I used a square glass cake pan. Freeze for at least 6 hours, or overnight, until solid. Break this mixture into chunks and put in food processor or blender. I only have a blender, and even though it's pretty new and powerful, it wasn't very happy with trying to blend this. I used the puree setting. I probably should have only done portions at a time. When the whole mixture is completely smooth, return to a container with a lid and store covered in the freezer. The less air space there is in the container, and the sooner you eat this after the second freezing, the better it will be.

a soft scoop of crabapple-pear sorbet- before second freezing (photo by jhy)

The taste was excellent, with a nice balance between the tart crabapples and the sweetness. The texture was what you would expect of a sorbet- less icy than sherbet, but similar. I ate some as soon as it was blended. At this point, it was too soft to make into a ball, so was just a blob in the dish. After freezing for another day, I was able to roll up a ball with an ice cream scoop. However, it softened very quickly, and you can see in the top picture that the scoop is already losing its shape. That was after fewer than 2 minutes! Of course, sorbet does give you a frozen dessert option without the fat content. I'll have to try a sorbet with one of the recipes designed to use a sugar substitute, and compare the product. It looks like you could get about 6-8 scoops (servings) out of this recipe.

Pickled Crabapples

whole crabapples cooking (photo by jhy)

You will need:

• at least 2 quarts crabapples with stems
• 1.5 T whole cloves
• 2 sticks cinnamon
• 1.5 T whole allspice
• 6 cups sugar
• 3 cups vinegar
• 3 cups water

large kettles a cooking basket is handy pint canning jars lids & rings bowls, spoons, dipper paper towel This was the first time I had tried these classic pickled crabapples. I learned some things, and I'll share. First of all, you need more than 2 quarts of crabapples if you want to end up with 6 pints of pickles. I had been putting the best of the apples aside as I made juice, leaving the stems on and refrigerating them so that I would have enough for a batch of crabapple pickles. I started with a bit more than 2 quarts, and could only fill 5 pints with some apples left over. Then I discovered that I didn't have any whole allspice. I substituted a teaspoon of ground allspice, and it worked fine. The spices need to be tied in a square of cloth. I used a clean piece of old cotton jersey knit. Muslin would be good too. I fastened it with a rubber band instead of string, and that seemed to work fine. My recipe said to run the apples through with a needle to prevent them from bursting. I used a large corsage pin to do this, and put two holes through each one. Combine the sugar, vinegar and water, add the spice bag and boil for 5 minutes. Then you want to cook the apples in this hot mixture. They should be cooked only one layer at a time. You could ladle them in and out with a slotted spoon. I have a basket that fits in a gallon kettle, and I used that which made it easy to gently lift the apples in and out of the hot syrup. However, the directions I have only say to cook gently until the apples are almost tender. I tried 5 minutes, and that was way too long. Almost all of the apples split, like the one you see here. I wasn't very happy, but decided that I cooked them too long. I reduced the cooking time to just under 2 minutes. Some of the apples still split. As it turned out the inner fruit took on the deep red color of the skins, so the splits didn't show very much, but if you were making these for gifts, you might want to sort the apples after cooking to choose ones that didn't split. As each batch of apples is cooked, remove it carefully from the syrup and put in a clean pan. When all the apples are cooked, pour the hot syrup over all the apples. Cover. Put them in the refrigerator for 12-18 hours.

whole crabapples placed in jars (photo by jhy)

After the 12-18 hours, sterilize the jars and prepare the lids. Carefully fill the hot jars with apples. Be sure to leave head space (don't fill so full that apples protrude above the rim).

syrup poured over whole crabapples (photo by jhy)

Remove the spice bag. Heat syrup to boiling and fill jars with the hot syrup, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Clean rims with damp paper towel. Add lids and rings. Process for 10 minutes in a hot water bath. See Basic Instructions for Hot Water Bath Canning

pickled crabapples (photo by jhy)

It had been a long time since I've had pickled crabapples, but I have to say that they are really yummy. I don't know how many I will use in a year, but I'm going to try to determine that and make some each year.

Crabapple Jelly- No Added Pectin

crabapple jelly in half-pint jars (photo by jhy)

You will need:

crabapple juice (at least 4 cups, but up to 8 is fine)
• an equal number of cups of sugar, eg. for 5 cups of juice, use 5 cups of sugar

one gallon (or larger) kettle quarter or half pint, or pint canning jars lids and rings spoons, canning funnel, small dishes, etc paper towel It's best if some of the crabapples that you used to make the juice weren't fully ripe, as they will provide more pectin, but apples have enough natural pectin that crabapple juice usually gels well without adding any commercial product. However many cups of juice you begin with, you'll end up with slightly less jelly. So if you want four full half pints of jelly, start with a bit more than 4 cups of juice. I began with 4 cups of juice, and the picture looks as if I got four jars of jelly, but one was not full enough to seal. Not a problem- we ate it up over the next few days! But if you want to produce a certain number of jars for gifts, or something, you don't want to be short. Pour the measured juice and sugar into a kettle. You don't want the kettle to be very full or you'll have an awful spatter mess on the stove. A large surface area, and shallow depth of liquid, is better than a narrow, deep pan. Bring to a boil and continue to boil, without stirring, until the jelly stage is reached. This can take a while, possibly an hour or more. This is approximately 8 F degrees higher than the boiling point. (At most altitudes this will be 220 F, but you'll need to make adjustments for high altitudes.) Another good way to test without a thermometer is to check with a cold spoon. I keep a metal spoon in the freezer, and when I think the liquid is starting to thicken I use the cold spoon to dip a little bit from the pan. If it breaks off the spoon as a jelly, it's ready. I'll add a picture here when I make the next batch. Turn off heat. Skim the foam with a metal spoon.

Ladle or pour into clean, sterile jelly jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Having the jars sterile is really important so you don't have to process the jelly. Fill one jar at a time, so that the jelly is as hot as possible for each. Clean the rims, Place clean, softened lids on the jars, and add a ring. This is steps 4-8 of Basic Instructions for Hot Water Bath Canning. Here's the way to sterilize the inside of the lid. When you have put the lid and ring on a jar turn the jar over and let it sit upside down for 30-60 seconds. Then turn it right side up again, and place the jars at least an inch apart. In this way, the hot jelly has come in contact with the lid. Because jelly has so much sugar, you can seal jars this way and not have them spoil. Eventually, I'll write a whole post about this step.

crabapple jelly on an English muffin (photo by jhy)

Let the jars rest without moving them until cool. The lids should seal without any problem. If one doesn't, you can re-heat the jelly and try again, or just move that jar to the fridge for consumption. This is a lovely, tart jelly with a clear red color. It's good on bread products or to accompany meat.

Crabapple Pie

slice of crabapple pie (photo by jhy)

• You will need: crabapples- about a gallon of whole fruits
• pie crust for a 10" pie, double crust- ready made or your favorite recipe
• 2 cups sweetener (sugar, or combined with something such as Splenda™ or Stevia™)
• 1/2 c flour (or a little more)
• butter or margarine

knife and cutting board
large bowl
10" pie plate
spoons, scrapers

Preheat oven to 425 F.

cutting crabapples- can you tell that I got some help with this step? (photo by jhy)

Cutting the fruit is the longest part of this preparation, but at least you don't have to peel the crabapples! Do wash them, but you can ignore the stems and blossom ends. Then just cut four slabs off the sides of the apple, and discard the whole core. You'll need 7 cups of crabapple slices. Add 1/2 c flour, and 2 cups sugar or a mix of sugar and granulated sweetener. I find that about half and half tastes good and cuts the calories a lot.

7 cups crabapple slices (photo by jhy)

Fit the bottom crust in the pie plate and heap the fruit mixture into the plate. This will be very full, but it cooks down to leave a nicely rounded pie. Dot with butter or margarine. Cover with top crust and seal the edges. Cut a few slits in the top crust. Cover edges with foil or with pie crust shields.

crabapple pie ready to bake withpie crust shields in place. You can see that I have a drip pan on the lower shelf and a few blobs of leftover crust. (photo by jhy)

Bake for 40-50 minutes until filling bubbles through the slits. Cool before cutting. I adapted a recipe for apple-cranberry pie to this. The resulting crabapple pie is a wonderfully tart pie with red filling. It has immediately shot to near the top of my favorites list. The flavor is quite tart, so you might possibly want to add more sugar/sweetener. The filling was a tiny bit runny, but congealed more by the second day. You could add a couple more tablespoons of flour if you want. Made with all sugar, a slice equal to 1/10 of a 10-inch pie has 442 calories. If half sweetener is used, the calories are reduced to 365 per slice.

crabapple pie (photo by jhy)

Preparing Crabapple Juice for Storage

skim the foam with a metal spoon (photo by jhy)

You will need: Prepared juice, see Making Crabapple Juice
kettle large enough to heat the juice you want to process
quart canning jars
lids and rings
canner
jar lifter
canning funnel
a kettle to sterilize the jars (or you can do this in the canner)
spoons, ladle, scoop, small dishes, etc.
paper towel (or some very clean cloth)
cloth towel

Basically, you are going to fill sterile jars with hot juice, and process for ten minutes in a boiling water bath. Be sure you understand the Basics of Hot Water Bath Processing, and that you have all the necessary Equipment.

jar with a half-inch headspace (photo by jhy)

Heat the juice to boiling. It will probably develop some foam on the surface, and you can skim that off with a metal spoon.

Fill clean, sterile jars with the hot juice, leaving a half-inch headspace. Wipe the rim of the jar with a clean, damp paper towel. Make sure the rim is really clean or the jar probably won't seal. Cover with a softened canning lid, snugly screw on a ring, and place the jar in the canner which should be about half full of hot water.

When all the jars are filled and in the canner, process for ten minutes. Remove to a surface covered with a towel. Let cool, check to be sure they are sealed. Remove rings if desired. Label and store.

seven quarts of crabapple juice, sealed (photo by jhy)

Crabapple Sauce Serving Suggestion

crabapple sauce with bananas (photo by jhy)

The crabapple sauce is one of my favorite fruit treats. I can hardly describe how much I like the tartness, with the texture of applesauce that most of us have loved since childhood. This morning, I sliced some banana into the bowl with the crabapple sauce. This is a perfect combination!

The crabapple is tart and the banana is smooth and sweet. What a great medley of flavors and textures.

A 1/2-cup serving of the crabapple sauce, unsweetened, is about 100 calories. You will almost certainly want to add some sweetener, and if it's sugar or honey, you'll need to add those calories in.

This size serving would supply about 20% of a daily dose of vitamin C, and 5% each of calcium and iron. Crabapples are also high in Potassium, providing 10% of this mineral. Like any apple, they are a good source of fiber, but are high in carbohydrates because of the natural sugars.

See Crabapple at nutritiondata.com

Crab Applesauce from Juice-Making Pulp

crabapple pulp in the food mill (photo by jhy)

You will need:
Pulp left from making Crabapple Juice
A large pot- I use a 1- gallon kettle
A food mill
Clean jars or containers to store the applesauce

This recipe assumes that you have pulp left over from making Crabapple Juice. Don't throw that pulp away! There is a lot of food value left there. You will need to put it through a food mill, since it was cooked with the cores and skins on.

a dish of tart crab applesauce (photo by jhy)

Carefully empty the pulp from the jelly bag into the food mill. If it is this type of mill, you will need to set it over another pan to catch the sauce. A one-gallon pan works perfectly. Then press the pulp through the sides of the mill. When you are finished, wipe down the sides of the mill to capture any crabapple sauce that is sticking there and discard the pulp. As you can see, you get a wonderful pink applesauce, all with natural flavors and color.

Add sugar or sweetener to taste. I like things tart, and find that 1/4 c. sugar or Splenda to quart of crabapple applesauce is just about right. Store in the refrigerator, or package in containers for the freezer. It freezes well. This may also be canned. I'll add a post about how to do this kind of thing soon. Personally, I don't like to can applesauce. I think the extra heating time destroys some of the flavor and texture.

Tips: As you can see, one can still buy this old-fashioned style of mill. I haven't used any of the newer kinds. This one works great and I love using the tools I've worked with since childhood. At some point the pulp will become quite dry. You must make a judgement call as to when to stop forcing it through the mill. You don't want to waste good food, but you don't want to ruin the texture of the sauce.

Making Crabapple Juice

crabapple tree loaded with fruit (photo by jhy)

You will need:
Something to gather the fruit in- I use a shopping basket with a handle
A large pot- I use a 2- gallon kettle
A jelly bag (and frame, or some way to suspend it)
Another pot- I use a 1-gallon kettle, to catch the juice below the jelly bag
Clean jars or jugs to store the juice
(Optional- food grinder, or potato masher)

Crabapples may or may not be considered a wild food. Not many people plant the trees except ornamentals any more, so your best bet to find one would be to look in old farmyards, and around abandoned homesites. This is so much like foraging that I'm going to consider this a wild food.

You need to find a tree that has large crabapples. That is to say, the fruits will be about 1- 1 1/2 inches in diameter, somewhat egg shaped. The crabapples with fruits the size of a dime are not likely to be any good for eating.

Pick as many as you want, but you'll need 20 cups of fruits to make one batch of juice. Half a brown shopping bag will be plenty. It's fine to have some that aren't quite fully ripe, especially if you think you'll be making syrup or jelly from the juice, because the unripe fruits will have more pectin. Picking up drops from the ground is fine, but you'll have more insects and debris to deal with.

wash the apples (photo by jhy)

Wash off the crabapples. They aren't usually very dirty, but this removes any dirt that may be there. It gives you a chance to pick out the bugs, grass, and twigs. You'll want to pull off the stems, and cut off the blossom end. I usually just cut straight across the blossom end taking a minute amount of the bottom of the fruit. The stems pull off fairly easily if you pull down against the side of the fruit instead of straight out away from the fruit. Leave the skins and the cores; they are no problem. Discard any apples that have wormholes through them. Sometimes you can salvage half the apple, but they are so small that if a worm got in, the flesh is usually all damaged. Minor skin blemishes won't matter at all for juice.

Now you need to boil the fruits to release the juice. Measure 20 cups of the prepared whole fruits. Cutting up the fruit is recommended by most recipes. This is really laborious with so many small fruits, and crabapples are a bit hard too, making it extra difficult. I finally switched to running the fruits through my food grinder using the coarsest cutting wheel. This worked great, but I decided to try something even easier. I started cooking the fruits whole, but as soon as they softened up a bit I used a potato masher on them and then finished the cooking. This is the easiest of all! The ground fruit yielded a little more juice, but the time savings is immense.

Cut up or not, put the apples from 20 cups of whole fruit, and 8 cups of water in the large kettle. There is nothing magical about these amounts. However, I know I will get 2 full quarts of juice from that amount. Simmer for about 15-20 minutes until the fruit is no longer floating.

crabapple juice being strained through a jelly bag (photo by jhy)

Set up the jelly bag over the second kettle, and pour the cooked apples into the jelly bag. Leave this to strain the juice for several hours. If you want perfectly clear juice, don't squeeze the bag at all. If you don't mind if the juice is a little cloudy, you can gently squeeze it (I don't squeeze it, because I make applesauce from the pulp)

Pour the clear liquid into clean jars or jugs and store in the refrigerator for use within a few days. It may be canned to keep just as juice. That is explained at Preparing Crabapple Juice for Storage

Tips for using a jelly bag. If yours looks like this one, make sure the bag is tied tightly enough that the weight of the pulp doesn't pull it off the frame. Pour or ladle the hot fruit in carefully. The juice can splash if it is forced through the fabric. If you wet the bag first, it won't stain quite as much. I don't think this matters much... it's a jelly bag, right?