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Apple Butter starts with apple sauce. You can use store bought, home canned,or frozen & thawed, or freshly
prepared apple sauce. This version is made without added sugar, but if you must - a total of 4 cups may be added.
This
requires a very large crockpot or roaster type appliance that cooks with a very low heat. The recipe is very easy to
divide in half, or may be cooked down by adding half of the apple sauce and all the spices and then adding the remainder of
the apple sauce as the apple butter cooks down. To preserve, this must be canned in a water bath canner or pressure
canner. I do not recommend freezing.
Ingredients:
9 quarts apple sauce
2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground allspice
optional - 2 to 4 cups granulated sugar
Procedure:
The purpose is to cook all of the water out of the apple butter, until it becomes thick and spreadable. While it
is cooking down, it will spatter all over the place, but it does need to be uncovered or vented so steam (water vapour) can
escape. Add as much of the apple sauce to the crockpot, filling to within an inch of full. Stir in the spices
and a cup or so of sugar if you must. Adjust heat to medium or high and you are set for at least 12 hours. The
next morning, add more apple sauce until the pot is almost full. You may have to do this one or two more times, untill
all of the 9 quarts of apple sauce are incorporated. By now it should be a spreadable consistency and you can start
preparing your canning equipment and jars. It will take 10 minutes in a boiling water bath canner to ensure a seal.
Serving Size:
9 to 10 pints approximately
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