Homemade Apple Butter
By Yankee Magazine|Oct 04 2007|
This homemade apple butter is lovely spread on toast, exquisite on vanilla ice cream, and an excellent use for the fall’s excess apple bounty.
Yield
Makes about 6 pints.
Ingredients
10 pounds apples (use a mixture of varieties for good flavor)
1 cup water
2 cups cider
Sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Core but do not peel apples. Cut up apples and place them in a large kettle with the water and cider. Cook mixture until apples are soft, then put through a food mill. Place mixture in a pan and cook down for about 25 minutes, stirring to keep from scorching. Then measure the pulp, and for every 3 cups of pulp add 1 cup of sugar (or less for a tarter butter). Add spices and salt, and cook, stirring frequently, until butter is thick. Pour into hot sterilized canning jars and seal.
VARIATION: A quick way to make the butter without constant stirring is to cook the mixture uncovered in a roasting pan in a 250 degree F oven for about 3 hours. Stir a couple of times, and when the butter is at the desired consistency, spoon it into hot sterilized canning jars and seal.
This recipe is like what I remembered apple butter tasting like from when I was a kid. It has more spices in it than the recipe in my canning book. Just be sure to get an early start, as it takes a long time for it to cook down and get the texture and dark color. I cooked it very slowly on top of the stove. It definitely is an all day job, time consuming, but not hard, well worth the time it takes. Very good.
Getting started on our Christmas Gifts. My family loves homemade gifts especially from old recipes