Spiced Crabapples and Honey Cinnamon Crabapples. Load hot apples into hot quart jars, fill with syrup to 1/2 inch headspace. Run you chopstick or small non-metallic spatula between the apples and the jar to remove air bubbles (metal may scratch the inside of the jar). Add extra syrup if needed.
In a large nonreactive pot, mix vinegar and sugar until brown sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil. Put cloves and cinnamon sticks in a cheesecloth bag, and tie with a string. Add crab apples and spice bag to the pot, and boil until apples are tender. Remove the fruit with a slotted spoon, and pack into hot sterilized jars.
Crabapples are grown in orchards to help with pollination. They so do not make good eating apples but my do they make nice jelly. Crabapples are naturally full of pectin so no Certo required. Jean has a tree in her orchard and the crabapples are ripe with a glorious shade of red.
These preserved crabapples can be served with your Thanksgiving turkey dinner or alongside a cheese plate. Yield: 2 pint jars per 6 cups of crabapples. Medium Syrup, recipe follows * Prepare Medium Syrup; keep hot in Dutch oven. Wash crabapples.