I remember it was late summer, maybe early fall, when I first noticed them. Those little red and yellow fruits hanging on the trees in my backyard. Yep, crab apples. I’d seen them before, of course, but never really paid much attention. This time, though, something clicked. I thought, “Hey, I wonder what I can do with these?”
So, I started to dig around a bit, you know, just looking on the internet and stuff. Turns out, there’s a lot you can do with crab apples! They are super high in pectin, which is great if you want to make jellies and jams. The big thing I learned is that they’re really tart, way too tart to just eat straight off the tree. But that’s not a bad thing, it just means you have to get a little creative.
The first thing I decided to try was crab apple butter. I figured it would be a good way to use a lot of them at once. I grabbed a big basket and picked a whole bunch of crab apples from the trees. Then I washed them and cut them up, but I didn’t even bother to peel or core them. Just tossed them in a big pot with some water and let them simmer until they got all soft.

Making the Crab Apple Butter
Once they were all mushy, I ran them through a food mill to get rid of the skins and seeds. It took a while, but I got a big pot of smooth crab apple pulp. That’s when I started adding the sugar and spices. The recipes I found online suggested a lot of sugar to balance out the tartness, and they weren’t kidding! I also added some cinnamon, cloves, and allspice. It smelled amazing while it was cooking down.
It took a few hours of simmering on low heat, but eventually, it thickened up to a nice, spreadable consistency. I ladled it into some sterilized jars, and just like that, I had homemade crab apple butter!
- Smell: Amazing, like spiced applesauce but better.
- Taste: Tart, sweet, and spicy all at the same time. It’s really good on toast or biscuits.
- Look: A rich, deep brown color. It looks really pretty in the jars, too.
So that’s my story about what you can make with crab apples. I’m already thinking about what else I can try next year. Maybe jelly, maybe some kind of sauce… who knows! The possibilities seem endless. If you’ve got some crab apple trees around, give it a shot! It’s a fun way to use up all that fruit and make something delicious.
Post Comment