Apple butter

Here is another recipe from my grandma’s favorite cookbook, “The Lilly Wallace New American Cookbook”. For those of you who are too young to remember apple butter, there is no butter in apple butter. It is, instead, like apple sauce reduced to the consistency and sweetness of jam.  My grandma flavored hers with warm spices, like cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. When I was a kid, my favorite sandwich was peanut butter and home-made apple butter.

 

Notes:

The use of a food mill is obligatory to get the correct consistency.  Apple butter should be smooth and unctuous. This is a good recipe for home-grown fruit that is not perfect. Just cut out any damaged or worm-eaten parts and use the rest.

Ingredients:

  • Apples
  • Water
  • Apple cider
  • Sugar
  • Cinnamon, nutmeg, ground allspice, ground clove
  • Squeeze of lemon juice

Procedure:

  1. Put a small plate in the freezer. This will be used to check the set of the finished apple butter.
  2. Peel and core the apples.  In a saucepan, Add to just cover  a 50/50 mix of water and apple cider.
  3. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and continue cooking until the apples are very tender.
  4. Put the apples with their cooking liquid through the fine die of the food mill.  Discard any pulp that doesn’t pass. Measure the volume of fruit puree and then return to the saucepan.
  5. Add 40% the volume of the fruit puree in sugar, depending on how sweet you like your jam. Add spices to taste. Bring to a boil.
  6. Continue boiling hard, stirring constantly until the butter reaches a thick sauce consistency.  Check the set by placing a little bit of the butter on the chilled plate. If not liquid separates from the butter, it is done.  Stir in a squeeze of lemon juice to brighten the flavor.
  7. Put the butter into sterilized jars and seal.

 

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