Grandma June's Apple Butter

My sister has been romanticizing the idea of selling apple butter at our home town's founding festival, Old Iron Works Days. Her husband's grandma, Grandma June still has her cast iron kettle that she used to make apple butter "back in the day." This year the dream will become reality because my sister and I (plus some saintly friends of mine) will be putting on pioneer garb and demonstrating the finer art of apple butter making circa 1800.

This past weekend I visited Grandma June in Hermann and learned her family recipe, which for convenience sake she now makes in a crock pot. To help me and those making apple butter with us for the festival, here is Grandma June's recipe.

First you'll need anywhere from 12-15lbs of Jonathan apples for one regular size crock pot. Peel, slice, and core your apples the night before. This allows you to start cooking the apple butter first thing in the morning. My sister and I got one of these fancy tools and were able to peel, slice, and core a bushel of apples in less than 2 hours.

In the morning wash the apples in cold water and then place in a large pot over medium-high heat. A dutch oven would work beautifully for this part. You need just enough water in the pot to keep the apples from burning but too much water will increase the overall cooking time. I found that after rinsing the apples, there was enough water on them that I didn't need to add any to the pot. While they are cooking you'll need to stir every so often and if you notice them sticking, just add a little water. They are finished when soft and cooked down.

With a cup or ladle, scoop out the softened apples and puree in a blender or food processor. You want the mixture to be a little chunky, slightly more so than apple sauce. Put the puree in the crock pot and repeat in batches until the crock pot is three-fourths full.

Now for the seasoning! Grandma June uses only cinnamon, sugar, and star anise to season her apple butter. In a separate bowl mix together 7 cups of sugar and 4 teaspoons of cinnamon. Its important to use a higher quality cinnamon because it is a key ingredient. Add the sugar mixture to the crock pot and stir until incorporated.

The star anise is a very powerful spice that tastes like black licorice with a mild pepper under tone. If not treated with respect, it can ruin a batch of apple butter, but used carefully it creates a warm, spicy background to a very sweet condiment. Grandma June sews a sachet out of an old cotton t-shirt and puts in 2-3 teaspoons of star anise. The sachet allows the flavor to seep into the apple butter but never get to intense. Plus you can easily remove the star anise if you think the flavor it getting too strong.

I just love this picture of Grandma June holding one of her sachets! Toss the sachet into the crock pot and give it a little stir. Turn the crock pot on the high setting. Rather than using the lid, you'll need to cover the crock pot with tin foil with a vent cut in to release the steam. Glass lids keep moisture in and in this case, moisture increases the cooking time.

Over the span of 6-8 hours, depending on the crock pot, the apple butter will thicken and turn dark brown. You'll to stir it well every so often because with all of that sugar combined with high heat, there is a tendency to burn. Let me be clear, burned apple butter = blech! If the bottom or sides of your apple butter start burning, immediately pour the apple butter into a pot and wash your crock pot. Once its clean, return the apple butter and keep on cookin'.

You'll know the apple butter is finished cooking when it no longer weeps moisture and stands up. Basically this means when you put a spoonful in a bowl and let it rest for a few minutes, water doesn't start seeping out around the edge. Pictures do help to understand what I'm talking about. It should also be a dark brown color, think apple tree bark.

Now you're ready to start canning! Sterilize your jars (meaning that you have washed them in the dish washer) and put a small pot of water on high heat. Toss the lids in the water, keeping the rims separate, and have a clean, damp wash rag at the ready. Ladle the apple butter in a jar and wipe the rim clean. Its important that there be no dirt or bits of apple between the glass jar and the rubber rim.

Fish out a lid from the pot of hot water and quickly, dry it and place it on top of the jar. Screw the rim on until it is tight. Place the full jars in the canner (large pot full of hot water) and add hot water until the water level is up to the neck of the jar. If you use cold water, the jars will crack and you will be very angry. Let the jars cook in the boiling water for 5-10 minutes. Using a canning tool, or tongs, remove the jars and let sit until they come to room temperature.

What this amounts to is setting the hot jars on a bath towel and leaving them alone all night. If you hear metallic popping sounds jump for joy because that means you have successfully created an airtight seal and preserved your apple butter.