Homemade Crab Apple Jam Recipe
Is sweet, tangy and delicious, the perfect way to preserve crab apples! It doesn’t require a jelly bag, stand, upturned stool or kitchen door knob, just a colander and a pair of tights, muslin or tea towel set over a pan. Couldn’t be easier!
After a quick web search I realised that the yellowish crab apples with a pink tinge weren’t going to be ripe yet so I left them alone.
Hence, I went back in early October when all the crab apples had ripened and turned a lovely dark pink and almost looked like cherries.
Canning Homemade Crabapple Jelly
I picked a bag full and stored in my fridge for 2 weeks until I had time to develop a crab apple recipe!
My crab apple jelly uses just 3 ingredients, crab apples, sugar and a lemon. I added a lemon for a bit of tang, brightness and it also provides additional pectin for a quicker set.
Crab apples aren’t available in the supermarket but they grow on trees in gardens, parks or can be foraged for in woods, parks etc.
Apple Jelly Recipe
Crab apples ripen from late September to October. They range in colour according to variety from yellow through to red and anything in between.
The best way to tell if a crab apple is ripe is to cut it in half and if the seeds are dark brown then you know it’s ripe.
When ripe they taste tart but with a familiar hint of sweetness you get from dessert apples, so they’re not an eating apple.
Southern Forager: Garlic Rosemary Crab Apple Jelly
No, as long as you wash the crab apples thoroughly this is an unnecessary step that would take up valuable time as they don’t detach easily.
Never squeeze the pulp or jelly bag or the result will be cloudy jelly which would be a shame as the colour is like that of a precious stone!
Once your jelly has reached setting point keep your jelly on the lowest heat which will prevent the jelly from setting before it reaches the jars.
Apple Jam Recipe
Crab Apple Jelly can be stored in a cool dark place for up to a year but once open should be kept in the fridge and consumed within a couple of months.
I’m sure you’ll love my Easy Crab Apple Jelly recipe, my dad raved about it and said it really brought out the flavour of his roast lamb and my neighbour really enjoyed hers with cheese and biscuits!
Sterilise 8 small jars by washing in hot soapy water (or take straight from dishwasher), fill with boiling water, empty and then place in oven for 20 minutes at 140°C where you leave them until the jam is ready. Washed lids should be sterilised with boiling water and then left to drain. (If not fully dry you can pop lids in the oven along with the jars with just the fan running after the jars have had their 20 mins or heating).
My Little Victory Garden: Secrets To Making Crabapple Jam, Jelly, Or Jamly
To make a strainer if you don’t have a jelly bag etc, put a colander into a new pair of tights (you can sterilise in boiling water), tie the legs into a tight knot on the side and snip off the excess. You could also line a colander with clean net curtains, a tea towel or muslin.Crab apples fall into two camps – the native British ones that are found in country hedgerows and the pretty little ornamental ones that are often found in gardens and parks. Both mature in the autumn and their high pectin content means they are brilliant for making the most stunning pink jelly.
For this recipe you will need 4–5 sterlised jam jars (about 200ml/7fl oz each), refer to the Recipe Tips to learn how to sterilise jam jars.
The setting point gel test is traditionally known as the ‘wrinkle’ test, but I prefer to call it the gel test because at this point it should look like a light gel, rather than a strong wrinkle. Remember jam should set in the jar and not in the pan! You will know when the jam or jelly is nearly ready because the loose, light-coloured bubbles on the surface will have almost disappeared to reveal a glossy surface, and the boil will be slower and more rhythmic. When it gets to this stage, remove the pan from the heat – the preserve will continue to cook so it is important to do this – and drop a little of the hot preserve on to a cold plate or stainless steel spoon. Leave to one side or pop in the fridge for a minute or so to cool. Lightly push with a finger to see if the jam comes together in a gel that holds its shape and is not too runny. Any gel should be light, delicate and not too sticky. If the mixture remains runny, return the pan to the heat for a couple more minutes and then test again.
Homemade Crabapple Jelly With No Added Pectin
By the time crab apples are ready to pick in the autumn, most garden herbs will be dying back and their stems fairly woody. However, the stalks and leaves will still have a great aroma and are perfect to add flavour to crab apple jellies. A variation on this crab apple jelly recipe is herb crab apple jelly – simply exchange the cloves for 50–100g/1¾–3½oz mint, sage, rosemary, thyme, basil or lavender sprigs, leaves or stems and 100ml/3½fl oz cider vinegar or white wine vinegar. Add the herbs at the same time as the 1.25 litres/2 pints water (instead of the cloves) and add the vinegar at the same time as you add the crab apple stock to the saucepan.
Crab apple jelly is delicious when served with cheese or cold meats, spread on toast, folded into pancakes or added to gravies, casseroles and game dishes to bring a delightful piquancy.
To sterilise the jars and lids, put them through a hot (at least 60C) dishwasher cycle. Do not dry them with a tea towel, leave them to air dry. Alternatively, preheat the oven to 140C/120C Fan/Gas 1. Wash the jars and lids in hot soapy water and place them upside-down in the oven for 15 minutes.Transform the tart flavor of crabapples into a delicious homemade crabapple jelly. Crabapples have enough natural pectin so no additional pectin is needed for this crabapple jelly recipe.
Small Batch Apple Jelly
One of the fruit trees on the edge of our property is a crabapple tree. These are often planted along with traditional apple trees to help with pollination. They are hearty trees that don’t require much care.
Both crabapples and apples are in the Rosaceae family, and members of the Malus genus. Crabapples are small trees often reaching about 15-to 25-feet at maturity. The fruit is under two-inches in diameter and the flavor is very tart. My crabapples ripen before the rest of the apple trees, so I like to take advantage of their ruby goodness.
With a little sweetening, crabapples can be transformed into a delicious crabapple jelly that can be enjoyed on homemade bread, swirled into yogurt or paired with roast pork.
Classic Crab Apple Jelly
Jellies are made by heating juice with sugar, and need the right mixture of fruit, pectin, acid, and sugar for it to form a gel. Pectin is a naturally occurring complex carbohydrate in fruit that is concentrated in the fruit’s skin and the core. When pectin is cooked with sugar, it thickens to a gel.
Crabapples contain lots of natural pectin, so no additional pectin is needed for this recipe. Here are tips for making crabapple jelly:
Select firm crabapples with no signs of insect or worm damage. Unripe fruit has more pectin than ripe fruit, but ripe fruit has more developed flavor. So try to mix about 75% ripe fruit with 25% under ripe fruit. You can tell if an apple is ripe by cutting it open and looking at the seeds. A mature crabapple will have brown seeds, and an under ripe apple will have light colored seeds.
Mary Wynne's Crab Apple Jelly Recipe
Allow time for the crabapple juice to strain. When making juice or jelly, I typically split the process over a few days to allow extra time for the juice to strain completely. This is even more important with crabapple jelly because you want to get as much of the natural pectin from the juice as you can so your jelly thickens up properly.
Follow the recipe, and work in small batches when making crab apple jelly. Since you are counting on the natural pectin found in the fruit, you don’t want to overheat the mixture. If you double the recipe, it will take longer to heat to the proper temperature. Too much heat will destroy the pectin, and it will break down and fail to gel.
If you are new to making jelly, the NCHFP website has a nice description of how to tell when the jelly point has been reached: Testing Jelly without Added Pectin.
Foraged Crabapple And Rose Jelly
Cooking time will vary with each batch because the natural pectin level is different in each individual apple. I use all three testing methods but rely on the freezer plate method for the final check.
You can use a large pot with a lid as a water bath
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