Rich, dark, spicy, and with just a hint of sumpin’ sumpin’ a little bit unexpected, this apple butter is more than good enough for your morning toast or waffle… like mebbe spiced up a bit more and tossed over chicken wings? Oh, but that’s a post for another day, today, we’re talkin’ apple butter.
Rich had been traveling on bidness, and the apples I keep for him in the fruit bowl were not getting any younger; time to make some apple butter, mebbe without adding any refined/manufactured/made up sweeteners.
INGREDIENTS
•3 cups apple cider
•2 lbs (~4 cups) apples
•1/3 cup honey
•1 tsp ground cinnamon
•1/2 tsp ground cloves
•1/2 tsp ground ginger
•1/2 tsp black pepper*
*Black pepper? Heck YEAH! Try it and see if you don’t agree. Just do yourself a favor and pick up some Tellicherry from your friendly local spice merchant, you’ll never go back to that gray, ashy powder from the supermarket again.
Peel, core, and chop the apples, then add to a large pot with the apple cider.
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the flame, cover the pot, and simmer for one hour, until the apples are tender.
Mash the apples into a pulp, then add the honey and the seasonings.
Cook over low heat, stirring often, until the mixture is rich and thick and oh! so fine.
Transfer to prepared canning jars and process in a boiling water bath for ten minutes – this batch yielded a bit more than one pint of apple butter.
Good for breakfast, certes, but then I’ve been thinking about those candy apple chicken wings I’ve been making…