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 Apple Butterby Shauna Sever — January 28, 2008Thick, spicy-sweet apple butter is the perfect accompaniment to a generous slice of buttered, toasted country bread, crispy roast pork, nutty, whole-grain pancakes, and more. The amount of sugar in this recipe is negotiable and its low fat to boot. And if you decide to preserve the apple butter, the jars make adorable gifts for spreading mid-winter cheer. What's not to love? Apple Butter 4 pounds apples (any mixture of varieties you like) Peel, core, and cut the apples into large chunks. Put the fruit into a wide, deep, heavy-bottomed pot and add the cider to cover the apples, about ½ gallon. Bring to a boil over high heat, then cover the pot and reduce to a simmer, cooking for 20 to 30 minutes until the apples are tender. In small batches in a blender, puree the hot apples and cider to make a thin applesauce. Pour the puree back into the pot and bring it to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally and increasing the heat if necessary, until it reaches 220 degrees F. Stir in the sugar, spices, and lemon juice. Cook the apple butter for 1 to 2 hours, until it has thickened significantly and turned dark in color. Keep the temperature at or close to 220 degrees during cooking, and stir often to prevent a crust forming on the bottom of the pot. Test the apple butter on a cold plate and let it cool for a moment. It should set up thick and smooth when it's ready. Ladle the hot apple butter into hot, sterilized jars (with lids and rings if you are preserving it), and screw on the lids. Store in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 weeks, or for preserves, process the jars for 10 minutes in boiling water.
What people are saying...
Since when did apple butter contain sugar? One the most disappointing moments of my early life was when my mother finally gave in and bought me the jar of apple butter I had been begging for after telling me several times that I would not like it because it was just cooked down apple sauce and had no sugar in it. Of course, she was right and I didn't like it and it was probably thrown out at some point. For Christmas this year a friend from Virginia sent me a jar of it and I was as surprised then as I am now to see sugar listed in the ingredients.
Like any good jam or preserves recipe, you can absolutely adjust the amount of sugar in the recipe to suit your tastes. The amount of sugar you use can also depends on how the sweet the apples you choose are, and whether you plan to use the butter in a sweet or savory way. I personally love my apple butter on the sweet side. Maybe try this recipe and see if you change your mind about apple butter? :) I was just commenting on the fact that sugar has been mysteriously added to the recipe for apple butter sometime over the past 20 years. If you look at traditional recipes (you know, something from the last century) you will not find sugar in any apple butter recipe. Sugar was, plain and simple, too expensive an ingredient and too precious to be used willy-nilly and in as great an amount as is suggested in your MODERN recipe. Which, imho, would be JAM not apple butter. It is well documented that we are adding more and more sugar to things that have not, in the past, required the addition of sugar. Yes, this is PLENTY sweet without refined sugar--that is the point, apples are plenty sweet just as nature graciously presents them to us. And, btw, that is a greener way to be--don't add refined products if you want to be truly "green."
Also, it is not a matter of choice as far as the addition of sugar goes. Whether or not your jam or jelly "jells" depends upon the amount of acid, sugar and pectin in your mixture and they all must be present in the correct proportions. Since we cannot control the acid, sugar and pectin in the fruits we use we must adjust by adding more or less acid (usually) and it is always a good idea when preserving to follow the recipe if you want to get acceptable results. Comment on this Post
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