HERB - apple butter no sugar

[Gaylin Walli]

Lady Katerine, the more I think about it, the more I believe I can just
recreate the recipe off the top of my head. Here's a stab at it. The
process of buttering a fruit is pretty easy, when it comes right down
to it. You are, in essence, removing moisture to make the fruit thickened.
You add water at the start of the recipe to keep the apples from sticking,
but that simmers off by the end of the cooking time.

The recipe I made last year involved about 10-12 apples per batch. Each
batch took roughly 4 hours to make.  I am of the opinion that the skins
stay on the apples unless the skin tastes tannic (like wild ones). The apples
on our old  family farm get peeled. The peel adds color, but I've not been
able to get it to  change the procedure any, so use your judgement.

Take 10-12 medium apples, peel them if you wish, but be sure to core them
and cut them small, either in cubes or thin slices. In a large pot, add the
apples,
2 tbsp cider vinegar, 1 tsp lemon juice, ~1 tsp spices (I used a tsp cinnamon
the last batch I made), and 1 cup water.

Using medium heat, bring all the ingredients to a boil and simmer until apples
are soft and crushable. Remove this from the stove briefly and ladel it into a
blender, pureeing the whole batch until well processed, like applesauce. Put
the mixture back in the pan and onto the stove.

Reduce the heat of your pan to a very slow simmer (this is between low and
medium on my stove). Simmer the apple mixture uncovered for about 4 hours,
stirring every half hour or so for roughly the first 3 1/2 hours. Toward the
end, stir the whole mixture regularly to avoid burning or sticking. The mix
should be fairly thick at this point. You'll know it's done when it mounds up
on the back of a soup spoon or when you have to start stirring constantly
to keep the mix from sticking or burning.

If you're going to can it, ladle it into sterlized jars and process for the
time
recommended by your manufacturer (I think for jars in a bath water method
this is 10 minutes, but don't quote me). If no canning is involved, try to last
long enough for the mix to cool so you don't burn your mouth.

Jasmine
jasmine at infoengine.com
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