A sweet friend of mine (who is expecting twins!) gave me two bags full of apples from another friend's tree. Understandably, she didn't have the time or energy to do anything with them so I gladly accepted!
These apples obviously aren't shiny and polished from the grocery store, but they smelled and tasted delicious (a little tart). They did have some bad spots that had to be cut out - no big deal.
I used my trusty peeler-corer-slicer that my grandmother gave to me. This thing is a lifesaver when working with apples!
Apple slices waiting in a big bowl...
I've only canned applesauce in the past and I don't add sugar. The reason I can get away with that is because I use a variety of apples - some tart and some sweet. This gives it a great taste with no need for added sugars. Well, this batch was tart and I only had these apples, so I had to think of something different to do. I looked at my Ball Blue Book of Preserving and decided to try my hand at Apple Butter and just canned apples in a light syrup (can be used later for baking or pureed into applesauce if I find some other apples to mix in).
It tastes great, but I'm not sure I got the consistency right (I'd never actually eaten Apple Butter before). I was afraid of pureeing the apples too much because the recipe warned against liquefying the apples. I have no idea if the apple butter turned out like it was supposed to. Nevertheless, I'll take taste over texture any day!
We're having a family adventure to go apple picking at a local orchard in October. I'm so excited and can't wait to can lots more!
Hey Becky! I was checking out your blog (I'm a fellow NC bumpie), and saw this about the apples/apple butter. I just put up some jars of apples in light syrup a few weeks back, and made apple sauce and apple butter. I LOVE LOVE LOVE apple butter. As far as consistency goes, most that I've had has been very similar in consistency to apple sauce. Just thought I'd let you know for future batches!! Enjoy!
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