Apple Butter

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Spread liberally upon a piece of toast, English muffin or even a waffle – it’s a great breakfast or late-night snack. An authentic homemade treat that is actually pretty easy to prepare.

Makes 3-4 pints

Ingredients

5 pounds baking apples
1 cup apple cider
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup white or Turbinado sugar (Sugar in the Raw)

1 tablespoon cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp ground allspice
Pinch salt
¼ cup amber or dark rum, or Calvados

Instructions

  1. Peel, quarter and core apples. 
  2. Preheat oven to 325F
  3. In a 6-8 quart pan, combine apples and cider.  Cover and bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until apples are very soft (20-45 minutes).
  4. In a blender or food processor, puree apple mixture in batches.  Pour puree into a large roasting pan. Add sugars, stirring till sugar is dissolved.  Thoroughly stir in cinnamon, cloves, allspice and rum.
  5. Bake, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thick enough to mound, 30-60 mins. 
  6. You can put this up in sterile, airtight jars (which make nice gifts).  Or store in refrigerator for up to 1 month.  It also freezes indefinitely.

My husband says: Your exact cooking time, in both steps, can vary a lot, and depends on a couple of things. First, different apple varieties take different amounts of time to get to the right taste and consistency. And in the baking stage, you can control the desired taste of the end product: less time makes a lighter, fruitier butter, while more produces a darker, richer and more caramelized flavor. Just dip in and taste every few minutes while it’s baking!