I've had these apples sitting on the shelf calling to me for weeks now and finally found some time to make them into apple butter. It's really not that hard, just time consuming.
First, wash the apples and quarter them, don't bother with the peels or the seeds.
Put the quarters in a big pot, add just a little bit of apple juice. I probably used a cup. Heat and keep tossing the apples until they are all soft.
Mash them through a sieve or a food mill. This is probably the first time I used just enough liquid to cook the apples and not so much that my puree was too liquid.
The recipes say to add 1/2 cup of sugar for each cup of puree. I had 20 cups of puree but only used 7 cups of sugar, plus some cinnamon, ground cloves, some lemon juice, juice of 1/2 a very juicy orange and the orange zest. I prefer to simmer the butter long and slow, stirring every 15 minutes or so until the butter is much reduced and mounds up on a cold plate.
Put it in clean jars and process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.
Ta da! Lots of very yummy apple butter.
Peace and sweet dreams to you.
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