The juicy flesh inside is low in malic acid so there is little tartness in it, which lets the full sweetness of the apple come through. You eat the apples whole, even the core.
The Doddin tree is very compact, and not very tall. The tree sends out suckers so that if left unpruned, it can become bush-like. The apples ripen in early July, usually very quite heavy yields.
The Doddin Preservation Society was established in 2007. Commercial stock started being made available in 2011. The Society estimates that at one point, there were only 20 known trees left.
Cooking Tips
For fresh-eating out of hand.
Nutrition
High tannin levels can make your teeth brown if you eat a lot of Doddin Apples.
Storage Hints
Doddin Apples don’t store well at all; they should be eaten within a few days at most of picking.
History Notes
The origin of Doddin Apples appears to have been localized around Redditch, Worcestershire, England, though at an unknown date, certainly sometime before the start of the 1900s.
Because of their sweetness, small size and ease of eating, they were always a popular target of marauding children.
During the rationing of the Second World War, locals would take Doddin Apples into cinemas as snacks because sugar was rationed, and the apples were very sweet.
Sources
BBC News. The Redditch Doddin apple: return of a rare fruit. 13 December 2010. Retrieved February 2011 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/herefordandworcester/hi/people_and_places/nature/newsid_9280000/9280815.stm
Dipple, Ian. Bid to revive rare Redditch apple tree. Redditch, Worcestershire, England : Redditch & Alcester Standard. 13 December 2010.
The Doddin Preservation Society. What is the Doddin? 27 January 2011. Retrieved February 2011 from http://grytpype.co.uk/DPS.html
Rare breed of apple comes back to Redditch. Redditch, Worcestershire, England : Redditch Advertiser. 14 December 2010.
Royal Horticultural Society. Plant news: Rare apple back from brink.25 January 2011. Retrieved February 2011 from http://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/News/Rare-apple-back-from-brink