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Crab Apple Butter

jennypat Zone 3b NW MN

14 years ago

I am so upset! For years I made apple butter, from a recipe my MIL gave me. Then I didn't have access to the crab apples, so didn't make it for a long time. Now I can't find it! I finally have a nice crop of the crab apples she used and I don't have the recipe. My MIL is gone now so I can't ask her.

This apple butter was not the typical brown apple butter, it was red, tart and great with ham!

Does this sound familier to anyone? I know she used Dolgo crabs, as they gave the butter a nice tart flavor, and nice red color. She also used the little cinnamon red hots candy in it. It was made like a really thick jam. But that is all I remember!

Thanks

Jenny P

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Comments (8)

digdirt2
14 years ago
Try Crabapple Butter

Or you can use the Spiced Apple Rings recipe witht he red hots and puree it.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Spiced Apple Rings @ NCHFP
jennypat Zone 3b NW MN
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks Dave, both those are close, I will have to experiment. I do believe that she did not have cloves in her recipe. I know that the flavor was not like that of spiced apple rings I have had in the past, which I dislike. I think it is the cloves and nutmeg combo that I don't like with the apples.

As I said, I guess I will have to experiment.

Jenny P
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iice9
14 years ago
Dave: Thank you so much for posting that. I have that cookbook and never thought to look in it for jam/butter recipes. I mostly stick to the first chapter which are the traditional Mennonite recipes.

May I offer a suggestion that I picked up last year from a good friend. She does 4 cuts on the crabapples slicing off the sides only and makes applesauce from those. It's the most beautiful red colour. You have to make two cuts anyway to remove the stem and flower, and this removes the need to press through a food mill to remove cores and seeds. I intend to try it with this recipe in a few weeks when the crabapples are ready here.

I wonder if I could use the cores and seeds that remain to make pectin or would it even be worth the effort?

Irene
jennypat Zone 3b NW MN
Original Author
14 years ago
HI Irene, thanks for the suggestions, but I have never cut off the stems and flowers. These crab apples are not very big, it would take forever! We always cooked them up, and used the food mill.

Jenny P
digdirt2
14 years ago
Jenny - yeah it is the cloves and you can safely leave them out - they are just for flavor and we don't care for them all that much either. ;)

Irene - wife wants to know if done that way will it still set-up ok? It would seem that you would be losing the natural pectin need for it to set? Thanks.

Dave
iice9
14 years ago
Dave: I haven't tried it yet but you raise a good point. I know the applesauce I had made that way was lovely with a great texture. Having not made apple butter before, nor I think, having tasted it in years, maybe you could educate me as to what it would be like? Is it like a thicker applesauce or is it more like a jam?

Irene
digdirt2
14 years ago
Well the fruit butters my wife makes are very smooth - more like a jam I'd say - because she double mills it. Our applesauce is more coarse, similar to canned store bought in texture (not taste of course) as it only gets milled 1x.

I did a double take when I looked at the Mennonite Girls Crabapple Butter picture because it looked way too chunky to me compared to what we are used to in our house. But wife says she may give that recipe a try this year if we get enough apples.

Dave
iice9
14 years ago
Dave: Thank you. I can see I need to do some more research before I tackle the apple butter.

And I just had a read of my Mennonite Treasury of Recipes Pickles and Preserves Section. My eyebrows are in my hairline. I love the recipe for IKRA -I remember my mother used to make it. I never cared for it. One of the recipes calls for a quart of oil. There is virtually no acid in it and the recipe says to fill the jars and steam for 20 minutes. Who even knows what that means? lol

Makes you wonder that any Mennonites survived eating that canning, doesn't it?

Irene

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