Apple Butter

Well, not really a butter, more like a baby food ;-), but absolutely yummy for the young and the young at heart :-P

Source 

The Daring Cooks September 2010 Challenge by by John of Eat4Fun with small adjustments

Taste 5 (out of 5)

Difficulty 2 (out of 5)

Ingredients

- 1.2 kg apples makes about 1 kg after peeling and coring (480 cal)

- 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed (205 cal)

- 1 tsp ground orange peel

- 1 tsp lemon concentrate

Total 685 cal, 400 g apple butter, 25 cal / tablespoon

Instructions

1. Wash apples well and remove stems. Cut apples into quarters or eighths and remove cores and peel.

2. Cook the peeled apples slowly in a large saucepan. Use enough water to cover the apples and stir occasionally to prevent sticking. Cook until apples are very soft (falling apart).
3. Drain water from the pot, add the sugar, the orange peel and the lemon concentrate to the saucepan. and mash the apples. It is very easily done using an immersion blender. 

4. Simmer over low heat, stirring frequently. This process can take about 2 hours. When cooking down the apples, you want to leave the lid ajar or use a splatter screen. This will allow for evaporation. Another trick is to support the lid by laying two wooden spoons across the top of the pot.
5. To test for doneness, spoon a small quantity onto a clean plate; when the butter mounds on the plate without liquid separating around the edge of the butter, it is ready. Another way to test for doneness is to remove a spoonful of the cooked butter on a spoon and hold it away from steam for 2 minutes. It is done if the butter remains mounded on the spoon.

6. Pour contents into desired storage container or multiple containers. 

Afterthoughts

- Loved the butter - it’s perfect as a spread, especially on my beloved apple bread. 

- When I drained the water from cooked apples I saved it, and used for chili :-). It could also be great for the dough of the apple bread.

Blog-checking lines: The September 2010 Daring Cooks’ challenge was hosted by John of Eat4Fun. John chose to challenge The Daring Cooks to learn about food preservation, mainly in the form of canning and freezing. He challenged everyone to make a recipe and preserve it. John’s source for food preservation information was from The National Center for Home Food Preservation.