As soon as we got home from the hospital after David was born a sweet friend brought over an amazing dinner - which included some delicious casserole, freshly canned green beans and homemade apple butter. I was enamored by the freshly canned green beans and apple butter. At the time this awesome mama had 3 young children and I was inspired by her homemade freshly canned goods and that she could find the time to make it.
I asked for her recipe for apple butter and she happily shared it with me...I've had my girlfriends over to make bunches a couple of different times, but forgot to get any pictures to post on my blog. What a foul!
I am posting it here now so that I can point any friends to it that might want to also make it.
Making my apple butter has become a yearly tradition for me to welcome fall/winter. I made 50+ jars in 2007 to raise money for my trips that year to Honduras and Venezuela. And every year I have people ask me when I'm making more. I already have a couple orders for jars this fall. And last year we vacationed to North Carolina and tried to pick apples so that I could come home and can tons of apple butter....this is what happened.
It might look a little daunting, but it's fun to make and not hard at all....you should at least try it once.
APPLE BUTTER
Step One:
5 pounds apples, peeled, quartered and cored
2 cups apple cider
Cook apples in the apple cider over medium low heat until soft, but not mushy (this will take about 20-30 minutes). Stir often. When done drain apples (reserving about 1 cup of the cider) and place in a blender or food processor (1 or 2 cups at a time). Blend until it's very smooth. If it's very thick, then add a small amount of reserved apple cider at a time until it's a little thinner. Do not make too thin. Then, measure the blended apples and place into a large pot.
Step Two:
To each CUP of pureed apples (usually 5 pounds makes 8-9 cups of pureed apples), add the following:
1/2 cup sugar (brown or white sugar is fine)
Step Three:
To the entire pot add the following:
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tbs cinnamon
1 tsp all spice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Cook over low eat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Continue to cook until thick enough. Pour into HOT jars and seal in a water bath covered with 1" water above the lids. For 1/2 pints cook for 5 minutes. For 1 pint cook for 10 minutes. If you need information about canning, just google it. I have no special canning tools - I just have the jars, new lids and a large pot.
Oh, and if you use this recipe let me know what you think.
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