Cornish pickled apple speciality ‘Pickled Sweet Lark’ by Andrew Ormerod (2011)

                                                                              Sweet Lark apples

Recipe from a lady in West Cornwall.

‘My mother used to make Pickled Sweet Lark during the Second World War with apples from the local orchards. I remember putting cloves in them when I was a girl.  The pickled apples were stored in earthenware jars.’

‘We traditionally ate it in the winter time on Sundays, with cream and splits (a local type of  bread roll).  Over time the flavour intensifies as the vinegar syrup penetrates the fruit and the apples turn a rich brown. It keeps very well too; I have some I made 10 years ago. My husband prefers it with his Sunday roast.’

Ingredients

1.4kg (3lb) granulated sugar
1.1 litres (2 pints) cider vinegar
3.2kg (7lb) apples

Method

Wash the apples in slightly warm water and dry them.  Push three cloves into each apple.
Heat the vinegar and dissolve the sugar. Place the whole apples in the vinegar syrup on the heat and boil for a few minutes. Apples should have a similar texture to beetroot when cooked – slightly soft but flesh shouldn’t be collapsing.  Apples are placed in a sterile container such as a Kilner jar in the vinegar syrup solution where the flavours intensify over time.

Cornish pickling apples

This recipe is for Sweet Lark apples,  a variety found in West Cornwall such as around the Hayle area.  Sweet Lark produce yellow fruit about the size of the Mandarin which are ready to harvest in mid October.  Traditionally Sweet Lark, Cornish Longstem or Chasewater Longstem have been used as pickling apples.

You can use other varieties of small sweet apple – as long as they don’t fall apart when they are cooked in the sweet vinegar solution.

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