KUSA — You may have noticed an abundance of crabapples this year. We wanted to know what to do with them and how they're different from other types of apples.
According to the Colorado State University Extension, Crabapple trees are closely related to apple trees grown for fruit. The main difference is that crabapple fruit is 2 inches diameter or less. Fruit greater than 2 inches diameter is classified as an apple, the CSU extension website said.
Fruit varies in size and color, from 1/4 inch to 2 inches and from yellow and orange to purple to brilliant red. Some varieties drop fruit upon ripening in fall; the fruit of many other varieties persists into late winter.
Some homeowners might not like the messiness associated with large-fruited crabapples, but they're valued for making jams and jellies.
We asked you on Facebook what you do with crabapples. Kathryn Leslie said she makes Crabapple butter. It sounded pretty simple. She said to cut them in half and them boil them until soft. Once they're soft, push them through a mesh strainer. Boil the mush with equal parts sugar until thickened. She said that would take a couple of hours.
Pat Tomko shared the following recipe for crabapple jelly:
4 pounds of good apples cut in half.
Put in pot and cover with water.
Boil about ten minutes
Mash with masher and then boil for about another five minutes
Drain juice through a strainer to get rid of the pulp.
Throw away pulp and then drain juice again through cheesecloth a couple times until juice is clear.
You will need one package of SureJell for each batch of juice.
Follow the instructions in the SureJell packet for quantities of juice and sugar. You should get 6-8 small jelly jars of delicious crab apple jelly.
Crabapples trees are fairly drought tolerant and are primarily grown for their spring flowers, which are white, pink, rose or red. They're also smaller than other trees making them a good choice for small residential lots. About 25 varieties are commonly available and planted in Colorado.
Do you have another suggestion or recipe you want to share? Head to our Facebook Page.
