How to get that hawthorn goodness down you and the kids, without the bland factor?

I’ve been experimenting with Chinese recipes for Haw Balls. Chinese hawthorn is more tangy and strongly flavoured than our native Crataegus monogyna. so I’ve added elderberry oxymel and some spices to jazz things up a little.

Will my son and his friends give them the thumbs up? That’s the great thing about 8-year-olds – they don’t care if they offend you or not. You’ll get the truth. Unless you ask where their homework is…

POST SCRIPT: Marty’s verdict …”it needs to be less tangy and more sugary…and it’s got spices in, urrgh!”

Whoops. I forgot to tell my spice hating son there was grated ginger in it. He had just drunk Prime, so the sugar thing is relative.

My verdict: “Tasty and nice texture, though the icing sugar coating melted into the the truffles! I want to try this with Rowan or something really tangy, or add crab apple so I don’t need to add so much extra spice and lemon etc. “