A while back, I made some pumpkin butter. One downfall there was that I didn't yet have a blender, so it didn't have quite the smooth texture I'd imagined, and I tend to be a little overly-sensitive to texture. Another downfall is that pumpkin is not naturally sweet, so a fair amount of added sugar is required, rather than the sweet, natural goodness of this batch of apple butter I whipped up.
During my first year of teaching, a year so close to my heart, I remember the teachers at Wilmore Elementary talking about their crock pots. Conversation clips went something like this:
"Crock pot. The best wedding gift I received."
"I found this great new crock pot recipe..."
"Oh! I put all the meat and vegetables in the crock pot and I forgot to turn it on... I need to go call my husband and see if he can do it."
"Crock pot Wednesdays, they're the way to go. We just get home from work, grab our dinner, and run out the door again."
Sure enough, the crock pot is great. I just filled my crock pot with apple slices. This took 11 apples for me. (I have no idea what kind of apples, just whatever was in the market.)
During my first year of teaching, a year so close to my heart, I remember the teachers at Wilmore Elementary talking about their crock pots. Conversation clips went something like this:
"Crock pot. The best wedding gift I received."
"I found this great new crock pot recipe..."
"Oh! I put all the meat and vegetables in the crock pot and I forgot to turn it on... I need to go call my husband and see if he can do it."
"Crock pot Wednesdays, they're the way to go. We just get home from work, grab our dinner, and run out the door again."
Sure enough, the crock pot is great. I just filled my crock pot with apple slices. This took 11 apples for me. (I have no idea what kind of apples, just whatever was in the market.)
Then I added about 1 3/4 cups of 100% apple juice. I covered it and cooked it on high for 5 hours, then turned it onto low and cooked it overnight. In the morning, I removed the lid and cooked it about 6 more hours on high until enough of the liquid had evaporated. Here is a picture of what it looked like in the morning, and another of what it looked like in the blender once "enough of the liquid had evaporated."
I waited until it was cool before putting it into my blender to smooth it out. It's amazing how much this batch reduced from the original, heaping-full pot of apples! Anyway, I added about 1 Tablespoon of cinnamon to the mixture and blended it together for just a few seconds. And that was that.
Naturally, the taste of the finished product will vary greatly depending on the variety of apples used. Our apple butter ended up being just a bit tart, but very tasty, especially with the addition of the cinnamon.
Naturally, the taste of the finished product will vary greatly depending on the variety of apples used. Our apple butter ended up being just a bit tart, but very tasty, especially with the addition of the cinnamon.
