Homemade Apple Butter (vegan)

As I read that Apple Butter is healthy  to eat, I searched for it in different kind of super markets but unfortunately I didn’t find one, that´s why  I decided to make some from scratch. I found this recipe on ‘Simply Recipes’. It seemed to be not very difficult, so I only changed some little details… This recipe is also suitable for vegan and tastes deliciously on pumpernickel, topped with banana. (:

Ingredients:

• 1,8kg of good cooking apples
• 240ml apple cider vinegar
• 480ml water
• sugar
• salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

Preparation:

1. Cut the apples into quarters (without peeling), cut out damaged parts.
2. Put them into large pot, add the vinegar and water, cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and cook until apples are soft, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Ladle apple mixture into a sieve and using a spoon, put pulp from the sieve into a large bowl. Measure resulting puree. Add 115g of sugar for each 240ml of apple pulp. Stir to dissolve sugar. Add a dash of salt, and the cinnamon, ground cloves, allspice, lemon rind and juice.
   
4. Cook uncovered in a large, wide, thick-bottomed pot on medium low heat, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Scrape the bottom of the pot while you stir to make sure a crust is not forming at the bottom. Cook until thick and smooth (about 1  hour). A small bit spooned onto a chilled (in the freezer) plate will be thick, not runny. You can also cook the purée on low heat, stirring only occasionally, but this will take much longer as stirring encourages evaporation. (Note the wider the pan the better, as there is more surface for evaporation.)
5. There are several ways to sterilize your jars for canning. You can run them through a short cycle on your dishwasher. You can place them in a large pot (12 quart) of water on top of a steaming rack (so they don’t touch the bottom of the pan), and bring the water to a boil for 10 minutes. Or you can rinse out the jars, dry them, and place them, without lids, in a 90°C oven for 10 minutes.
6. Pour into hot, sterilized jars and seal. If you plan to store the apple butter un-refrigerated, make sure to follow proper canning procedures. Before applying the lids, sterilize the lids by placing them in a bowl and pouring boiling water over them. Wipe the rims of the jars clean before applying the lids. I use a hot water bath for 10 minutes to ensure a good seal.

   As an alternative to stove cooking the puree you can cook uncovered in a microwave, on medium heat to simmer, for around 30 minutes.

Enjoy, 

N&N (: