Monday, October 15, 2007

Apple Butter

I got the domestic bug again. I made apple butter with apples from a friend's orchard in Springdale.


I cooked the apples with the peels and cores left intact (for better flavor and natural pectin). I just quatered them, threw them in a big heavy pot with 2 quarts of apple juice, and cooked them until they were nice and soft. Then I processed them through a food mill (it took me a long, long time because the only food mill I have is a baby food mill). I put them back in the pan with all the juice, 3 cups of sugar and lots of fragrant spices. I used cinnamon, freshly ground allspice, ground cloves and some nutmeg. Cook until thick, about 1.5 hours.
The house smelled so delicious during the whole process.

Then I just bottled them up and processed the jars in boiling water.

3 comments:

marta said...

mmm. this sounds deliciously gourmet. and i've been lucky to have had a jar of our very own.. which was emptied in no time. keep up the baking and whipping up goodies with your own two hands! i love that about you.

jamieanne said...

Oh what a perfect treat this time of year. I never knew it could be that easy (well, reasonably easy) to make.

Jen said...

I laughed out loud about the baby food strainer. My sister and I made some with what was left when we did applesauce in the spring. It was a lot of work, so good job!

I heard somewhere there is a crockpot recipe for it, but I don't have the recipe yet. Now that sounds easy and appealing to me.