Homemade Apple Butter

Ahh, the apple tree did it again.  Not a mast year like the last one, but I got some nice eating apples and enough to make an apple cake and something new this year:  apple butter.

This recipe came from Allrecipes.com, and it's a good one.  I scaled it for 15 half pints with enough left over to put in the fridge and have some this week.

Ingredients: 

2 cans frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed

3 cups apple cider

8 lbs of apples, cored and chopped

1.5 cups dark brown sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cloves

Directions:

Bring apple juice, apple cider and apples to a boil.  When soft, mash through a sieve, a chinois, or use a food processor or hand blender.   Return to heat and add sugar and spices.  Simmer on low for up to 2 hours. (I actually had to cook mine longer.)  You want to cook it until when you put a heaping teaspoon of the butter on a plate, no water separates from the pulp.  Another test is if you have a heaping teaspoon and let it cool for 2 minutes, it is still mounded on the spoon.

Put in sterilized half-pint jars with 1/4" head space and process for 10 minutes.

Allow to cool for several hours until you hear that magical "pop".

Great on everything from ice cream to cornbread.