Old Fashioned Apple Butter
Recently I invited a few friends over for a day of making apple butter. Yes, I said a day, meaning an all day project. None of them had ever made it before and were unfamiliar with the work involved. It can be a long, labor intensive, monotonous process. Years ago I decided I would never again make it alone- thus the canning party was born.
As a child I remember several ladies would get together and make huge batches of the stuff. Traditionally they would all bring their equipment, apples, sugar, vinegar, spices and jars to someone’s home or church basement and the fun would begin. The ladies would chat while knives flew across cutting boards, children would race around creating general mayhem and a good time was had by all. Centuries ago it would have been cooked outdoors in a large copper cauldron over an open fire. Frequently, making apple butter was a village or community event.
Those days are long gone but I still love a fat, fluffy biscuit smothered with the stuff so I decided to update the method to a more modern, and reasonable, process. My friends were all good sports and it presented us with the opportunity to slow down, catch up, chat and share a sweet slice of life.
So take a day, unplug, relax with friends and stir up a batch of apple butter – maybe with a batch of biscuits on the side.
Apple Butter Recipe
You will need 14-20 apples – I always prefer the late season apples and I want a tart apple like a Stayman, (Winesap) although I have used Cortlands when they were available. Avoid using a sweet apple if possible. If sweet is all you can procure there is a note in the recipe to increase the vinegar.
Quarter and core the apples, place in a large stock pot with 1 cup of water and cover with a lid. Cook on medium high heat, stirring often, until the water is boiling. Reduce to medium low heat and continuing to stir frequently to prevent scorching until all of the apples are soft. Remove from heat and processing a few ladles full at a time. Press the apples through a cone strainer or food mill to separate the peelings from the pulp. Discard the peelings when the pulp has been removed.
Preheat oven to 325F, In a large bowl combine:
8 cups apple pulp
4 cups sugar
½ cup cider vinegar, (3/4cup if using sweet apples)
2tsp cinnamon, less if extremely potent
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/8tsp nutmeg
1/8tsp salt
Mix well and transfer to a large, flat roasting pan. You can use 2 – 13×9 pans if that is what’s available.
Place roasting pan(s) in oven on middle rack. Every 20 min remove from oven and stir well, scraping down the sides, (a silicone spatula works best). Return to oven and repeat every 15-20 minutes for 2-3 hours until it will hold a loose shape when you cut through it with the spatula, (photo above). You can test it on a cold plate by placing about a teaspoon on the plate and tipping it up. The apple butter should remain in one semi solid lump as it slides down the plate – if it doesn’t slide at all that’s fine.
Fill 8oz or 16 oz jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace, use a table knife or a thin spatula to remove any air bubbles, wipe rims and threads clean with a wet paper towel. Place rings and lids to fingertip tightness.
Process pint jars 15 minutes and ½ pint jars 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.
*Please refer to the national center for home food preservation, https://nchfp.uga.edu/ or the Ball home canning guide for correct water bath technique.