Apple butter

Foraging diaries # 12 / Jam diaries # 9: Crab apples.

Fruit butters are intensely flavoured fruit purees cooked until they are very concentrated. (The Preserving Book, Lynda Brown)

Fruit butters are soft, spreadable and delicious on bread or toast. (Forgotten skills of cooking, Darina Allen)

Last year I made Darina Allen's apple butter. I initially turned my nose at it's unusual ingredients of cloves and coriander seeds but then decided to try anyway and I was very pleasantly surprised with the delicious outcome.

This year I also decided to make Lynda Brown's apple butter, which has allspice and cinnamon instead.

I'll leave below both recipes because I think both are good. However, I must admit that Darina's is my favourite.

APPLE BUTTER (DARINA ALLEN)

Serves: 630g.

Ingredients:

• 500g apples, cored and peeled
• juice of ½ lemon
• juice of ½ orange
• ½ tsp ground cloves
• ¼ tsp ground coriander seeds
• 250g granulated sugar

Method:

1. Roughly chop the apples and simmer them in the lemon and orange juices and spices in a stainless-steel pan on a gentle heat until very soft.
   

   

   

   
   
2. Mash the apples. I usually blitz the fruit but my partner prefers jam 'with bits' so I have compromised in mashing a couple of jams. It's all about compromise in relationships!
3. Add the sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved. I almost forgot to add the sugar, which I should have done before mashing! It would have been an apple puree, not a jam!!
   
   
4. Continue to cook over a low heat, stirring very often to prevent sticking, until the mixture is thick.
5. Fill into sterilised jars, and cover with tightly fitting lids. I do not use silicone or paper discs so I fill the jars all the way to the top. The less air inside, the less chances of mold developing. 
6. Store in a cool, dark place.
   

APPLE BUTTER (LYNDA BROWN)

Serves: 2650g.

Ingredients:

• 2kg apples, cored and peeled
• juice of 2 oranges
• ½ tsp ground allspice
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1kg granulated sugar

Method:

1. Chop the apples and put them in a stainless-steel pan with the orange juice. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 10 min or until they are soft.
   
2. Add the spices and sugar and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
   

   
   
   
3. Mash the apples.
4. Simmer the mixture for about 2 hours, or longer if needed, until the mixture thickens. Stir every so often so that it doesn't catch on the bottom of the pan. It took me 1 hour, not 2 hours.
   
5. The butter is ready when it is thick enough to rest on the back of a spoon without running off, or a wooden spoon drawn across the bottom of the pan leaves a clear trail. It should now be a soft, moist, spreadable paste.
6. Fill into sterilised jars, and cover with tightly fitting lids. I do not use silicone or paper discs so I fill the jars all the way to the top. The less air inside, the less chances of mold developing. 
7. Store in a cool, dark place.
   
   
   

How to sterilise jars and lids?

Jars: heat them in a 180°C oven for 10 min. Let them cool.

Lids: boil them in water for 10 min. Let them air dry upside down. If you are tight for time, let them dry on the door of the open oven once you've sterilised the jars and the oven if off.

How long will the jam last for?

Literature tells you jams will last for 6 months and the more sugar you add to them the longer they will last as sugar is a preservative. Jams usually have a 1:1 fruit to sugar ratio to make them last longer.

Personally, that is not my experience. I usually use half the amount of sugar so a 1:½ fruit to sugar ratio. Some years we are eating jams 1 year later and they are still absolutely fine.

Perhaps the jam has developed a bit of mold on the top when you open it. Do not throw it away!!! Just scoop the mold out and continue eating. If you are a fast eater like my partner, you can store the jam in the cupboard. If you are not, store it in the fridge.