Crab Apple Jelly

Ingredients
5 lbs partially ripe crab apples 5 cups water 8 cups sugar

Remove blossom ends and stems. Cut into thin slices leaving peels and cores intact. Place fruit into a deep saucepan, add water, cover and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Use a hand masher to crush fruit completely and make a juicy sauce. Allow mix to simmer for 5 to 10 minutes longer. Remove from heat, strain through a jelly bag and gently squeeze pulp but do not force any pulp into the juice. Save the pulp if desired to make jellied apple buter. Recover the juice and place into a saucepan. Add sugar and stir constantly over moderate heat till sugar is thoroughly dissolved. Bring to a boil for 1 full minute then pour into hot, sterile jars and seal.

Variation: A minted version of this same recipe can be made by adding 1 bunch of bruised fresh mint sprigs just when you have dissolved the sugar. Do this by tying them into a bundle and passing the bundle through the hot crab apple sauce till you obtain the desired mint flavor. Then remove the mint and finish the recipe.

Crab Apple Pickles

Version 1 Ingredients
6 lbs fully ripe, uniformly colored crab apples 1 quart cider vinegar 2 cups sugar 2 sticks cinnamon 1 tbsp whole cloves

Wash fruit but do not remove stem or flower ends. Apple must be intact. Puncture the skin a few times with a toothpick. Make up a spice bag and place spices within. Place apples in a deep saucepan, add vinegar and sugar and suspend spice bag in the solution. Place over moderate heat and bring mixture to a slow boil. Cook at a soft boil for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove fruit and pack into hot, sterile jars. Cover with the hot syrup and seal. Allow to age for 1 month before serving.

Wash apples. Place both vinegars, brown sugar and a spice bag containing the cinnamon, cloves and allspice into a saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil. Puncture the skin of each apple and add to the boiling sauce. Cook at a soft boil for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove fruit and pack into hot, sterile jars. Cover with hot syrup and seal. Allow to age for 1 month before serving.

Crab Apple Preserves

Ingredients
2 quarts partially ripened crab apples 1 sliced orange 1 sliced lemon 1 cup sugar per cup of sauce

Remove stems and flower remnants from apples. Core, peel and slice into quarters. Place peelings in a deep saucepan and just cover with water. Add the orange and lemon. Mix thoroughly and simmer till peelings are soft. Strain mixture and save juice. Place juice in a saucepan, add the citrus and crab apple slices. Add 1 cup sugar per each cup of fruit and juice. Mix thoroughly. Bring mixture to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer till fruit softens. Pour mixtue through a strainer. Boil syrup down till quite thick. Add fruit to hot sterile jars, cover with hot syrup and seal. Allow 1 month before using.

Crab Apple-Quince Jelly

Ingredients
3 quarts partially ripened crab apples 3 pints quince 1 cup sugar per cup of juice

Stem crab apples. Remove blossom ends and cut into slices. Wash, peel and cut quince into slices. Cook fruit in separate saucepans till soft and the juice flows freely. Separately, pass both sauces through jelly bags, then combine the two juices in a deep saucepan. Measure juices and add sugar as per above. Cook till sugar has completely dissolved, then bring to a full boil for 1 minute. Pour into hot, sterile jelly jars and seal.