spiced crab apple butter with rose water and cinnamon

spiced crab apple butter with rose water and cinnamon - delicious on toast

making spiced crab apple butter with rose water and cinnamon

wild crab apples from the garden

spiced crab apple butter with rose water and cinnamon

Autumn is here, and the crab apple tree in the garden is full of beautiful ripe fruit. A delicious treat for the visiting deer - who come back every year to feast on the harvest, and for us too.

This recipe for spiced crab apple butter is a favourite - as there is no fiddly peeling and coring of the apples necessary and you can adapt the flavourings to your own personal preferences. I love the addition of fragrant rose water and the warm spice of cinnamon. 

Crab apple butter is delicious on your morning toast, but goes really well with strong cheeses, and a spoonful in gravies and slow cooked stews is good too. 

Apple butter is a traditional preserve - originating in Belgium and the Netherlands. It is a concentrated apple sauce - where the sugar caramelises with the apples producing a dark, sweet preserve. 

I'll definitely be making a few more batches of this to see us through the year. A taste of autumn, fresh from the garden. 

Cooking tips: 
If you are not a fan of rose water, you can leave this out, just add the same amount of water. 

You can make this recipe with other types of apple and quince too.

Swap in some honey for the sugar if you prefer - 10/15% of the total sugar required is a good amount (e.g. if the recipe needs 1kg sugar add 900g sugar and 100g honey for a 10% addition). 

Other flavour additions that would work well: citrus zest/juice, vanilla, nutmeg, cardamon, bay leaves, orange flower water. 

makes about 4-5 x 450g preserving jars

ingredients:

1.8 kg crab apples (or apples/quince)
1 litre water
sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
150 ml rose water

method:

1. Wash, check and halve the crab apples and put them into saucepan with the water, rose water and cinnamon. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer until the fruit becomes mushy and soft, stirring occasionally. The time it takes will depend on the fruit you have, but can take about 40-60 minutes. 

2. Push the fruit pulp through a sieve or food mill - discarding/composting the remaining seeds/skin. Measure the final weight of the resulting apple purée and return it to a clean pan with 350g sugar for every 450g of apple purée.

3.Dissolve the sugar on a low heat, then bring to a boil stirring frequently, until the crab apple butter is very thick. If you draw a spoon through the mixture it should leave a trail. 

4. Pour the crab apple butter into warm, sterilised preserving jars and seal the lid immediately. It's ready to eat as soon as it is cooled. Once opened store in the fridge. 

recipe adapted from: spiced crab apple butter

You can read more about apple butter here

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