Crab apples - paradisæbler in Danish - are minature apples made by various wild cousins to the domesticated apple (malus domestica). They're small, tart, and very decorative - and they make a pretty juice which can be used raw or made into a cordial.
Preparation
Pick enough crab apples to fill a pot.
Add water - I like to add enough to almost cover the crab apples, but if you want a more concentrated juice add less and then just steam the apples.
Once the crab apples burst let them simmer and soften for 10 minutes.
Use a sieve and some cloth to drain the liquid from the mushy crab apples. This can take some time, many people will tell you to leave them overnight...
...but I have access to a handy fruit press which speeds up the process a bit, but work with what you have. Before I had this press I would use my hands to wring the juice from the clothed-up mush because I am impatiant 😀
Once you're done, you have the prettiest sweet & tart juice which you can use for whatever - e.g. add it to a home-made cider or make it into a cordial.
Crab apple cordial
All cordial-recipes are basically the same:
- Extract the juice
- Boil juice with sugar to taste
- (Optional) add preservative
- Bottle
My crab apples are quite sweet, so I use 300g sugar pr litre of raw juice, but please have a taste and adjust accordingly.
If you go low on the sugar you should consider adding something to preserve the juice or it may go moldy or start fermenting. In Denmark we typically use Atamon which contains sodium-benzoate (E211). Only add it when the juice is below 80*C, as temperatures above that will break down the sodium-benzoate and ruin the effect.