Apple Butter for the Home Table

Set out lbs apples cored, apple cider, and granulated sugar before you start Apple Butter for the Home Table. The batch is written for 16 Servings.

Count on 20 minutes of prep, 1 hour of cooking, about 1 hour from the first measurement to the plate.

Ingredients Method

What goes in the bowl

• 4 lbs apples cored, cubed, use at least 5 varieties
• 2 cups apple cider
• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves

How the cooking goes

1. In a large, high sided pot, add all the sugar and cook over medium high heat to make a dry caramel. You can stir a dry caramel. As soon as all the sugar melts, you usually stop stirring. You can break up any clumps of sugar with your spoon.
2. When the caramel turns dark amber and begins to smoke add the apple cider, apples and all the spices. Don't worry about it seizing; it will have plenty of time to cook and loosen.
3. Cook 1 hour, remove cinnamon stick.
4. Immersion blend with a hand blender in the pot or carefully use a standard blender, working in batches. Pass through a fine sieve.
5. Put it back in a high-sided pot and reduce over a gentle flame, stirring often, until it runs off a spoon like cold honey.
6. Cool to ambient temperature before putting into jars or can using the appropriate safety precautions.

After it comes off the heat

Give the plate the rest the method asks for. Cover leftovers and refrigerate them when the dish includes meat, eggs, or dairy.

If you want another plate from Apples, open Apple Dessert with a Clear Method and Apple Hand Pies in a Pastry Shell.