16 cup apple puree
1 cup apple cider
4 cup sugar, granulated
4 cup brown sugar
4 tsp cinnamon
Directions
This same recipe can be used to make apple, grape, peach, pear or
plum butters. In general use 1 cup fruit pulp to 1/2 cup sugar.
Spice to taste and cook slowly. To make apple butter, use tart
cooking apples, not the sweet eating varieties. If sweet apples are
all you have to use, reduce the sugar by 1/3 to 1/2.
Wash, quarter and core the unpeeled fruit. Place in a heavy
kettle with just enough water to prevent scorching. Cook until soft,
stirring frequently, and press through a food mill. Mix ingredients
in a heavy kettle and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until
thick. When ready, a spoonful put on a plate should hold its shape
and not 'weep' liquid around the edges of the mound after sitting for
five minutes. This usually takes about two hours of cooking but can
take as long as four, so plan this project for a day when you have
other things to do in the kitchen. Don't try and hurry the process as
the mixture can easily burn and burned apple butter is only good for
the compost pile. Stir frequently, and if possible use a 'heat
difuser' between the burner and the kettle.
Oven Method: Cook the fruit butter in a roasting pan in a 250 -
300 F. oven until thick; may take 6 to 8 hours. Stir occasionally.
It needs less stirring this way but uses take much more energy and
can be awkward to stir.
Crockpot Method: Put ingredients in crockpot and cook, uncovered,
for about 12 hours, stirring occasionally, until it passes the test
given above.
When finished, pack into jars per standard canning methods and
process pints 5 minutes or quarts 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.
Adapted from 12 Months Harvest, Ortho Books, by Linda Shogren
Servings: 10 servings
Apple Butter/3 Methods Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Apple; Crock Pot; Crockpot; Fruit
The History of Recipes
It is possible to trace the history of written recipes back into history, in truth as far back into history as the Egyptians, and maybe further still. In practice though, these, ancient records were just very simple hieroglyphic instructions for preparing meals.
Interestingly, the most ancient recipe in existence, according to Professor Solomon Katz, are some stone tablets in ancient Sumerian which show the preparation of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made people feel exhilarated. During Roman times 25BC a roman called Apicius compiled a collection of documents showing how to cook the recipes enjoyed by wealthy roman citizens. In his scrolls, he tells us how the roman meals were divided into hors d`oeuvres, main course and afters, a very modern way of dining. Additionally, he tells us how the ancient cooks used a good variety of spices, including some familiar names like basil, mint and asafoetida. Closer to modern times, there were some books which date from the 14th Century - a recipe book titled `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary called `Curye on Inglish`. Amusingly, these books have no connection with the spicy food that appears on menues today, but rather accounts of the types of meals on the menues of the wealthy. Later, in the fifteenth century, people returning from the crusades brought us a variety of foods and spices from Arab cuisine, including spices such as coriander, parsley, and basil. These new spices and herbs caused an outbreak in books on cooking, some of which still exist in private libraries. By the advent of the 20th century, cookery books are greatly in demand as a result of higher levels of literacy, increased leisure time and having more disposable income. The revolution that is television gave us TV chefs and the demand for the accompanying recipe books. Which brings us neatly up to date and the invention of computers and the internet, allowing everybody to access thousands of recipes like those on the site you are now reading. |
We hope you enjoy this Apple Butter_3 Methods recipe.
