Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Easy-ass apple butter

I made an apple butter thing and it's pretty nice, so I'm feeling very pleased with myself. It goes like this:

  1. Apples: peeled (if the skin tastes bad*), cored, and quartered.
  2. Enough water to just cover them after you've placed them in a pot.
  3. Bring the apples to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer until they're soft enough to mash.**
  4. Return to a simmer, add cinnamon, cloves, and/or nutmeg, if using (to taste).
  5. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until most, if not all, of the liquid has evaporated.***
  6. Add a sweetener**** if needed (to taste).
  7. Place in sterilised glass containers and cool before storing in the fridge.

Notes:
*The Red Delicious apples we'd bought were anything but, hence this attempt.
**You can use a food processor for a smoother result, but I just used a fork because I used only 2 apples.
***For me, it took about 45 minutes.
****I used a half teaspoon of honey, although the recipes I found called for brown sugar or maple syrup.

Usage:
Spread on buttered toast.
Drizzled on oatmeal, yogurt, ice cream, what-have-you.
Condiment for savoury items.
Whatever tastes good to you.
Eat it neat by the spoonful (easiest).

The apple butter I made is a light gold-brown, like solid cider, I suppose. The pictures in the recipes are all dark brown, which could either be due to the longer-ass cooking time (up to overnight if you use a slow cooker!), or the use of the abovementioned spices. It tastes like concentrated apples and is unbelievably sweet, but not cloyingly so. Also, it's a dream on buttered toast or with (cream) cheese spread. Alas, I am out of bread (although I have a quick recipe for that...).

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