Crabapples, the generic term for the fruit of numerous varieties of plant. Usually grown as a garden ornemental for its aesthetic properties. My mother I remember used to call them scroggys, but for why I have no idea
The fruit has a woody texture and is very sour in flavour. But like any fruit, it can be used in a variety of ways if desired. Normally it is just used for making a jelly, but there are other ways.
Because of its intensely sour flavour, copious amounts of sugar is required to balance it out. Anywhere from 100% the equivelent weight to fruit, down to 50% depending on your individual taste and the sourness of the fruit. Therefore if you have a lot of fruit to work with, try the same recipe with 50% sugar to fruit, 75% and 100%, to see what suits you best for future reference
I had to dig deep to find recipes in my files for anything crabapple related and apart from the usual crabapple jelly, butter and cheese, which would have come from sometime when I was but a kitchen trainee I am guessing, I drew a blank. Mainly to them not being a common fruit elsewhere in the world, and not something I have had much to do with. So I had to put in a call to a good friend and colleague for his advice. So apart from the jelly, butter and cheese recipe, the other's came courtesy of Chef Mark.
