There's no such thing as Pumpkin Spice
Kait once got a surprise gift in her Misfits Box of several ‘pumpkin spice’ bottles. She gave Jessie one with the false advertising concealed knowing that Jessie would never allow such a thing in her kitchen.
There is no such thing as Pumpkin Spice. Don’t hate me. Jessie believes it too. No. Such. Thing. Last time I roasted a pumpkin (and the first time, and second, and every time, for that matter), a pumpkin tasted like, well, a pumpkin. It wasn't cinnamony. It didn't have any ginger notes. And definitely no clove finish. We do not carry “pumpkin spice” lattes, or make “pumpkin spice” anything for that matter. Its a trickery. Its marketing. And we will not fall for it (get it? Fall for it?!).
However, it has cooled off to a comfortable 90 degrees and we still like to celebrate! So what are we doing? Coconut curry pumpkin soup, s’mores, and one of my all time favorite things to make: apple butter. It makes the whole house smell sweet and tart. It somehow makes the light glow a little softer, evenings get darker earlier, makes you want to build bonfires. But we all know the truth. Down here on the coastal south, where we get the warm breeze off the water and the sweet smell of bayou mud, we dodge hurricanes until November, wear shorts through thanksgiving and battle gnats through the warm mugginess of Christmas. THEN and only THEN, does the temperature get low enough to call it cold. By then it's too late though. We no longer pine for that real bonfire weather and the fresh idea of cool fall weather is long gone. We start pining for summer and that warm breeze again. So before we get ahead of ourselves and miss what isn't even here yet, lets talk about apple butter. Did you know there are apple orchards in the south? Weird, huh? We get ours from Scott’s orchard in Hazel Green Alabama. It's Far north for us, but in the heart of the deep south, just below the Tennessee line. My favorite apple they grow is the Johnagold. I think if you made it into a candied apple, it would taste just like one of these caramel apple lollipops we ate by the dozens in middle school. It's crisp but soft, the perfect shade of bright yellow green at the beginning of the season then slowly grows reddish with a few specs, and it cooks down beautifully.
Apple butter is magic. It takes FOREVER, but not hands on FOREVER. You may burn the bottom of your crock pot a little, but in the end its totally totally worth it, and I have a trick I'll share later to easily clean your crockpot if it does get a little out of hand. The only weird piece of kitchen equipment you need is a food mill. I bought one a long time ago. Its huge. Its awkward, and for some strange attached reason, I covet this hunk of metal. Jessie has rolled her eyes at me many many times and reminded me they make a “Kitchen Aid mixer attachment for that ridiculous amount of work, but I just can’t. I love the grunt work of it. IF you do not enjoy the grunt work, or don’t have a food mill, that's okay too, you’ll have to take the extra steps to core and peel your apples. So here goes: The amazing apple butter, the forever way!
Apple Butter
Ingredients:
10 lbs apples
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 tsp. Ground Ginger
½ tsp. Ground clove
Pinch of salt
Equipment:
Large pot
Food mill or Blender
Crockpot
Slotted spoon, small strainer
Large bowl (if using a food mill)
Method:
IF you are using a food mill: cut your apples into chunks (slice in half and cut each half into a tic tac toe board. If you are using a blender, core peel and cut your apples into chunks.
Fill a large pot (4 quart or bigger) with water and bring to a gentle boil. Working in batches if needed, carefully add the apples and simmer until they are mushy and falling apart. If you are working in batches, no need to get fresh water each time, just carefully fish the apples out using a slotted spoon or small strainer and carefully add more to the simmering water.
After the apples are mush and the water is turning cloudy and thick, fish your apples out and add them to your food mill. Working in batches, process them into the bowl then carefully dump them in the crockpot. You should end up with approximately 16 cups of applesauce. Add approximately 2 cups of the leftover apple water, spices, sugar and molasses.
If you are using a blender, fish your apples out, add to the blender along with ½ cup of water and process until a fine puree. Carefully pour your hot apple puree into the crockpot, along with 1.5 cups of the remaining apple water, the spices, sugar and molasses.
Give it a good stir and turn the crock pot to medium. Cover but leave the lid askew so the water can evaporate slowly. Let cook for 12- 18 hours until dark and thick, stirring occasionally. If your apple butter gets too thick without getting to your desired darkness, add more water, half a cup at a time, and continue to cook.
Let cool a few hours.
Pour into glass jars, add their lids and let them cool all the way to room temperature. The apple butter will keep up to 2 weeks in the fridge. If you have more than you can use in two weeks, pop the extra in the freezer or run it over to your neighbor (they will love you forever)
NOTE NUMBER 1: These are not shelf stable, as we did not seal them with a water bath. There internet has a lot of great instructions for properly sealing your jars
NOTE NUMBER 2: That left over apple water is full of pectin and apple’s sugar. Its delicious. When my kids were young I poured it straight into popsicle molds and popped them in the freezer.
NOW, the fun part. What to DO with all this apple butter?!
Put it on pancakes instead of syrup.
Smear it on a warm chunk of Brie and serve it with Triscuits or Wheat Thins (nothing fancy here) to show off at your next gathering or for a casual lunch for one when no one’s looking.
It's amazing on a sweet potato biscuit with ham and a fried egg. In fact, it's SO amazing, it's our best selling biscuit sammich at the shop right now.
Stir it into your next apple coffee cake
Make Almond butter and apple butter sandwiches
Thumbprint cookies.
You could even get crazy and add it to your cinnamon rolls before you roll them up for their final proof.