Apple Butter Magic

I am still loving the apples. I have made my second batch of applesauce already. The apple turnovers lasted about a day. But there is so much more magic to be made with these delicious humble apples, the jewel of the season.

Lately, when I mention making applesauce, everyone asks, “What about Apple Butter?” Well, honestly, I have never made apple butter. I love it, and there is something ultimately comforting about it, but I guess I assumed it was really complicated. I imagined it being a complex recipe requiring canning, which still scares me too much to try.

But I began to research apple butter and it turns out it is no more complicated than my Slow Cooker Applesauce. It can be canned, if you wish, or frozen. But the general method is almost exactly the same as making applesauce.

So, off I went to our fantastic farmers market, to my trusted apple people. I told them I was making apple butter for the first time and they said many people wait for Arkansas Black apples to make their butter.

These particular apples are crisp, juicy and tart; characteristics that make them great for apple butter.

If you have not made apple butter before, you may wonder if it has actual butter in it. It does not. Why is it called “butter” then? I have no idea, other than you can spread it on all kinds of breads and baked goods, just like butter.

Essentially, apple butter is a concentrated applesauce. It is cooked longer than applesauce, thereby caramelizing the sugars in the apples, turning it a rich brown color. The other difference is the texture. Once the apples are cooked down for apple butter, you then purée the sauce to make a jam-like spread.

Because I had never made apple butter before, I found a recipe that sounded easy and delicious and pretty much stuck to it entirely. I varied my apple choice, and then followed the rest of the recipe to the letter.

There are a variety of spices that give the apple butter it’s complex flavor – cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice & cloves. I was a little surprised to find molasses in it, but it adds just a bit more depth. There is also a bit of lemon juice and a splash of vanilla extract.

As with applesauce, the most labor-intensive part of the recipe is preparing the apples – lots of apples. Once again, my KitchenAid mixer came to the rescue, with the use of the peeler/slicer/corer attachment. It is officially my new favorite kitchen gadget.

Once all the apples are prepped, you simply add them to your slow cooker with the other ingredients, and set it to cook low and slow – about 6 hours. You can go about doing other things while your house begins to fill with the enticing aroma of Autumn.

Once the apples are all nicely cooked down, you can purée the apple butter to the desired texture by using an emulsion blender, another handy kitchen gadget.

If you do not have one, you can pour the apples into a blender to achieve the same effect, but be very careful with the apples as they are hotter than blazes.

Once you have puréed the apple butter, it is ready to be spooned into storage containers. From here, you can indeed preserve it by hot-water canning your apple butter, or you can freeze it in freezer-safe containers.

4 to 4 1/2 pounds of apples yields about 7 cups of apple butter. It is always amazing how much the apples cook away. But 7 cups is plenty to share or store for future use.

Apple butter is amazing served on toast or biscuits, but it can also be used in baked goods to add a more intense apple flavor without all of the liquid that comes with raw apples.

I used my freshly-made apple butter as an excuse to buy some local artisan bread to enjoy. I bought some delectable CranApple Pumpkin Seed bread from our local bakery, Stick Boy Bread Co. in Fuquay Varina. Amazing!

There is something about apple butter that is incredibly nostalgic for many people. My dad told my that my grandma used to serve it on freshly-baked bread with fresh cream on top. I wish I had tasted that with her on the farm before she passed away. But now I will think of her each time I eat it.

Even if apple butter is not part of your history, you can make it part of your family story today. I am already dreaming of spreading it on some buttermilk pancakes this weekend.

*Recipe adapted from www.adventuresofmel.com