Apple Butter

Apple butter may be the highest use of the apple, especially some kinds of apples! This recipe works well with mealy, not-too-sweet "cooking apples," such as White Winter Pearmain, which we used. You may want to back off on the sugar, especially if boiling in apple juice. My mom and I started with a standard recipe and adjusted to taste. Note: Requires a food mill and a blender. Terrific on vanilla ice cream.

• Ready In: 2 hrs 15 mins
• Yields: 8 pints

Ingredients

• 8  lbs apples
• 2  quarts water (or apple juice)
• 1  lb brown sugar (1 package)
• 1  cup white sugar
• 2 1⁄2 teaspoons salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 4  teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1⁄2  lemon, juice of

Directions

1. Quarter apples, trimming out bad spots and stems. Do not peel or core -- that's for the food mill. Cover with water or apple juice and boil until tender. Do not drain. Run the apples through the food mill. Blend applesauce (in batches) in the blender for three minutes, on the setting below liquefy. This is a good time to add the ground cloves and cinnamon (they tend to clump in the pot). Return the blended apple sauce to the pan and gently boil until thick. When it seems thick enough, boil it down some more. Drizzle on an ice cube to see the ultimate consistency. Boil just a little more. Then pressure can in pint jars for 10 minutes. Makes about 8 pints.