Maple Apple Butter

The Ungourmet made the comment that she wondered what it would be like to add maple syrup to apple butter. This idea certainly sounded good enough to make me curious. I was pondering how well apple butter would cook down if you used syrup, when it occurred to me that I probably wouldn't pay for real maple syrup any way: I would use maple flavored syrup. Then I decided the thing to do was flavor apple butter with maple flavoring rather than cinnamon.

It was too tempting of an idea to pass up. I had to try it and I am glad I did, because it is delicous.



(Printable Recipe)

Use one of the following methods to prepare the pulp. As always, I recommend using Fruit Fresh when cutting up the fruit.

Method 1: To prepare the pulp, first quarter the apples. Cook apples until they are soft (about 20 minutes) using just enough water to prevent sticking (enough to cover bottom of pan). Run the apples through a food mill.

Method 2: Peel, quarter and core apples. Cook apples until they are soft (about 20 minutes) using just enough water to prevent sticking (enough to cover bottom of pan). Process in a blender or food processor.

Measure pulp. For each quart of pulp, add 2 cups sugar, 2 tsp maple flavoring, and 2 tsp vanilla extract. Cook slowly until thick. At first you only have to stir occasionally, but as it thickens you will have to stir more often. The apple butter is ready when it will mound up on a spoon.

Fill hot canning jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Add lids and process in a water bath for 10 minutes.

High altitude instructions
1,001 - 3,000 feet : increase processing time by 5 minutes
3,001 - 6,000 feet : increase processing time by 10 minutes
6,001 - 8,000 feet : increase processing time by 15 minutes
8,001 - 10,000 feet : increase processing time by 20 minutes

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Honey, I’m home

The new hive supers and brood boxes arrived this week, sent in a backbreaking UPS shipment from Brushy Mountain Bee. Along with a smoker, protective clothing, and a Spring order for sixty thousand Italian bees, we’re getting serious about honey.

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Come Hail and High water

These past few weeks, as temperatures swayed madly back and forth, any syncopation between plant and planet seemed momentarily lost. The mercury rocketed to record heights, then fell just as hard. Ninety-six degrees segued into frigid slurries of rain and surreal ice storms.

Hens panted in the heat, their beaks slung open like secateurs; bees splashed themselves across hives in cooling desperation; greens secretly conspired to bolt.

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Agri-Ficionados

The long, slow fruition of all the heat longing solonacea, who sulked through June’s cool nights, has finally begun to show promise, as clusters of Sun Gold, Lemon Drop, and Black Cherry tomatoes have emerged jewel-like on sprawling indeterminate vines, and peppers and eggplant are standing tall above inter-planted lettuce.

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Secrets to Canning Plum Butter

Biscuits and Plum Butter (Photo credit: Vegan Feast Catering)

Canning Plum Butter is a delicious lost art. Plum butter goes well with all types of bread and is a great addition to breakfast or lunch. If you haven't yet canned plum butter or tried this recipe, then I can vouch that brown sugar in plum butter is a great variation of a classic...

I had some brown sugar that I wanted to use up. At my house it tends to dry up before it gets used. I also had some plums that I wanted to can so I came up with the idea of using brown sugar in plum butter. The amount of brown sugar that I had was about 1/2 of what I needed so a also used white sugar.

It turns out that I can't really taste the brown sugar in the finished product. However the whole experiment made me curious about what it would taste like to make apple butter with brown sugar instead of white sugar. I just used up my brown sugar, and now I feel half tempted to buy some more just for another experiment.

I feel like I am being pretty redundant, in writing a recipe for plum butter, since I usually make all of my fruit butters pretty much the same. It is fun some times though to experiment with changing the spices. I think using lemon peel in plum butter rather than cinnamon is a nice change of pace.

Plum Butter

Use one of the following methods to prepare the pulp. As always, I recommend using Fruit Fresh when cutting up the fruit.

Method 1: Quarter pitted plums. Cook plums until they are soft (about 20 minutes) using just enough water to prevent sticking (enough to cover bottom of pan). Run the plums through a food mill.

Method 2: Peel, quarter and pit plums. Cook plums until they are soft (about 20 minutes) using just enough water to prevent sticking (enough to cover bottom of pan). Process in a blender or food processor.

Measure pulp. For each quart of pulp, add 2 1/2 cups sugar and 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Cook slowly until thick. At first you only have to stir occasionally, but as it thickens you will have to stir more often. The plum butter is ready when it will mound up on a spoon.

Fill hot canning jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Add lids and process in a water bath for 10 minutes.

High altitude instructions
1,001 - 3,000 feet : increase processing time by 5 minutes
3,001 - 6,000 feet : increase processing time by 10 minutes
6,001 - 8,000 feet : increase processing time by 15 minutes
8,001 - 10,000 feet : increase processing time by 20 minutes

View the Original article

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