July 2008 - These photos are also from the trip out to the New Forest we made in hope of finding wild mushrooms or bilberries - we found neither, but found instead Rowan berries and crab apples
What Are Crab Apples?
Malus sylvestris - This plant is the wild ancestor of domestic orchard apples - indeed many of the hedgerow 'crab apple' trees to be found may in fact be the feral offspring of discarded apple cores - apple varieties don't breed true from seed and indeed plant breeders may raise and discard many thousands of seedling plants in order to get one worthwhile variety - so it's perhaps no surprise that feral apples tend to bear small, sour fruit.
But these are true wild crab apples - the name, by the way, probably has nothing to do with crustaceans, instead deriving from the Norse/Germanic word skrab, which appears to mean 'rough, wiry plant' (and from which we also get the words scrub and shrub).
Picking Crab Apples
Even in the true wild species, there will be found much variation from one locality to another and even between plants in the same general location - some have plump fruits with pale green skins, others have smaller, rounded ones flushed with red or russett. Some may produce a few apples, others may be positively groaning under the weight of the crop - and some seem more prone to insect damage and rot than others.
So scout around before you fill your basket - if there's one tree, there will be others - and much time is saved in the processing back home if sound, intact apples can be collected.
More Uses For Crab Apples
Fruit Leather - this is a good way of using up the puree made from the sieved pulp, after the clear juice has been drained off in the jelly bag. The pulp is sweetened with a little sugar (not necessary if made with domestic apples) and spread out to dry.
I used a sheet of baking parchment (which turned out to be less than ideal) - spreading the pulp into a layer about half a centimetre thick. This is best left to dry in a warm place - a sunny windowsill with a slight breeze is great.
After just 24 hours (moving as necessary to follow the sun), the pulp has dried to a rubbery film.
I would have liked to have peeled it off in one piece and cut it into neat shapes, but it stuck rather too well to the parchment - it did come off, but in torn pieces.
The pieces were put on a wire rack and given a further 24 hours in similar conditions - after which they dry to a tough, leathery consistency
The finished product - essentially apple sauce jerky - has good lasting qualities and can be eaten as it is (the aciidity is attenuated by the drying process), or it can be cut into small pieces and mixed into muesli or trail mix.
Crab Apple Cordial - this is made with the clear juice strained through the jelly bag (less than clear here because I was impatient and committed the sin of squeezing the bag) - sweetened with sugar until it's just bearable to taste, but still plenty acidic - the mixture is boiled briefly (any more than a minute, and you'll make jelly), cooled and poured into a bottle.
Stored in the fridge, this will last a couple of weeks - diluted one part to about eight parts water - or more - it makes a delicious refreshing drink, perfect for hot, sticky summer evenings.
