Apple Butter
Ingredients
- 4 pounds apples (we use Nordland apples from our tree, but others will work)
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 cups water
- 4 cups sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 lemon
Instructions
Prepare Apples
- Quarter the apples. There is no need to peel or core them because peels and seeds will be separated in a later stage.
- Discard any bad bits.
Cook the apples
- Put a plate into the freezer.
- Using a large pot or dutch oven, add the apples, vinegar and water.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer about 20 minutes. The apples should be soft.
Purée the apples with a food mill
- Transfer the mixture to a food mill a ladle or two at a time.
- Use the food mill to push the pulp into a large bowl. Repeat until the mixture is used up.
Cook for a second time
- Transfer the resulting apple purée to the large pot or dutch oven, measure the purée as you transfer it.
- Add ½ cup of sugar for each cup of apple purée.
- Add the cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, and salt.
- Add the zest and juice of one lemon.
- Cook the mixture on low heat and stir often.
- After an hour or two, the mixture should be thick and smooth. It is a bit of a judgement call about when to stop, but one test is to spoon a little onto the plate you put in the freezer. The mixture should be thick and not look runny when you tilt the plate.
- Transfer the mixture into hot, sterilized jars. Seal and process using a hot water bath. If you plan on using the apple butter in a few weeks and don't process them then seal the jars, cool, and refrigerate.