Not earing apples, not cooking apples- useless?!

[coldcomfortHeart]

We have a sadly neglected apple tree in our neighbours garden and can help ourselves to the fruit, but it's sour as anything to eat and I tried cooking with them but they didn't mulch down the way Bramleys and other cookers do. Is there anything that can be done with them?

Feels wrong to leave them to rot.

Earing apples.

Eating apples

You can make that fancy French apple pie where you slice the fruit really thin and layer it like a fan.

Or maybe make cider.

Chutney?

can cook and then stick in a blender if you want pulp for something?

or just leave as lumps for a crumble or similar, would be fine

or tarte tatin as above

Yes to chutney... Our apple tree has strange apples the same as you described, too sour to eat but stay chunky when cooked. I made chutney with last year's crop and gave it away as christmas presents, everyone asked for more!

There's every possibility they're cider apples. They are really sour to eat (kind of turn your mouth inside out) and seem very dry. However, they are likely to juice really well. Even really sour cider apples make wonderful juice. If you keep them wrapped in newspaper in a cool place, they should make you lovely juice through the winter.

Have you got an apple chutney recipe, Knitter?

Sounds like we've got one of these apple trees, and it has seemed like such a waste over the years.

Just been to see if I still have last year's recipe and I do, thank goodness!

Prep time 1-2 hours
Cooking time 30 mins - 1 hour
makes 2-3 pints

Ingredients
1.8kg/4lb apples, cored and chopped
4 medium onons, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 lemon, juice only
1 tbsp mustard seeds
900ml/1.5 pints vinegar (cider or malt)
450g/1lb raisins
1 tbsp ground ginger
2 tsp salt
900g/2lb soft brown sugar

1. Bring apples, onions, garlic, lemon juice,mustard seeds and 590ml/1 pint vinegar to the boil.

2. Simmer for 1 hour

3. Add the raisins, ginger, salt, sugar and the rest of the vinegar.

4. Simmer until thick

5. Pour into clean, hot jars and cover as usual. Store for 6-8 weeks to allow flavours to develop.

I think I made 3x this amount in one go which was a LOT of chopping, but made plenty for giving away. I'm trying to decide if I can be bothered to ake more this year, I really want to but I'm 27 weeks pg and not sure I have the energy!

Thank you very much.

I'll have a go, there is so much fruit on the tree this year.

I was just going to say, are they cider apples?

We have loads of them (have an orchard) and we make cider and juice. Its yummy [hic]

Do you have a press, Queen? We've got a little one for grapes/soft fruit but it is slow work.

Thanks all. When I put them in a crumble they just stayed so hard it wasn't... right, somehow!

I had wondered about the cider thing but am not brave enough to try and make it! Juice-wise- would you have to add lots of sugar to make it palatable?

I'm definitely going to try that chutney recipe, thanks so much.

There are loads of cake and pudding recipes that call for cooked apples that hold their shape. I made a toffee apple pie yesterday ( like banoffee but with er apples ) that used ours and it was divine.

Just wanted to update as I have just finished filling jars of Knitter's chutney, and it's GOOD! I added two and a half teaspoons of really hot chillie flakes so it's nice and spicey. only error i made was cutting the apples too small, as they've more or less disintegrated. So thanks again everyone!