A taste of fall: homemade pickled crabapples

By shygirl

When most people think of crabapples, they think of small, inedible* fruit. The trees they grow on are often beautiful (even ornamental), and they are excellent pollinators, but traditionally, crabapples aren’t eaten fresh. They are more likely to be used to make jellies and jams, or, in the focus on today’s blog post, pickled crabapples. Some of you might remember pickled crabapples as a side at Thanksgiving along with, or as an alternative to, cranberry sauce. Try the recipe below to enjoy your own delicious, homemade pickled crabapples!
Canned (Pickled) Crabapples

Ingredients

• You need:
• 3 pounds crab-apples
• 3 cups extra fine granulated sugar or 2 1/2 cups honey
• 2 1/2 cups cider vinegar
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon whole cloves
• 1 teaspoon whole cardamom seeds
• 3 sticks cinnamon, each broken in 2 or 3 pieces

Details

Preparation time 30mins
Cooking time 135mins
Adapted from starkbros.com

Preparation

Step 1

Prick the crabapples in 2 or 3 places with a fine skewer and place half in a large kettle. Cover with the sugar (or honey), vinegar, and water. Stir all together.

Tie the spices in cheesecloth and add to the crabapples in the kettle.

Cover the kettle and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the apples are tender but not falling apart.

When all the crabapples have been cooked, remove the kettle from the heat and return the first batch to the hot syrup.

Drain the crabapples, discard the spices, return the syrup to the pan, and bring to the boil.

Pack the crab apples into pint or quart jars, cover with the boiling syrup to within ¼ inch of the tops, and screw on the lids.

Process for 20 minutes in a boiling water bath.