mmm im craving apple butter

[samariah]

oh i love apple butter, so perfect for fall. anyone have a good raw recipe? this would be good to make desserts with too.

[aililiu]

oh, im going to be hanging on this thread. i LOVE apple butter. im sure theres a way to make it raw.... i guess it just wouldnt last as long. but thatd be nice to know because its definitely apple season, lol.

[GlimR]

You could make a highly spiced applesauce and dehydrate it till thickened up and "cooked".

[exurb]

or you could start with an apple that is not super sweet, like a macintosh, and use dates to darken and to sweeten, to give that taste of the apple's sugars caramelizing. I looked up a SAD recipe for you and the spices were cinnamon and nutmeg. You could try a hint of cloves and or allspice but DON"T OVERDO those.

I might even be tempted to put a little fresh ginger in it.

[samariah]

thanks for the good ideas guys. i want to start experimenting with fall recipes more once october comes along.

[aililiu]

mm, with dates, yes! OR.... dried black mission figs? thatd be good. ill have to experiment. thanks

[samariah]

ooh yes i'm going to try this with figs bc dates are too high glycemic for me. i don't feel good after i eat them and i break out.

[Miss Marie]

Dark Aguave syrup has a caramel/brown sugar taste - maybe that would work


- is it sad that I've never tasted Apple butter? :(

[Lady Green Jeans]

What a great idea. My opinion only, but the raw version has to be far superior to the cooked. Agree with GlimR that dehydrating would be great for the texture you would want. Seasoning would need to be sweetener of some kind--like others, I prefer the agave now. Minimal amt. of dates would def. add flavor,though. Cinnamon and other fall warming spices in lesser amts. should get you there.

Please keep us posted when you give this a go. Interested in how it comes out. Was always something I bought a jar of at the cider mill when I lived back east.

Kathy

[samariah]

how, specifically, is conventional apple butter made anyway?

[catdeveer]

samariah - sad apple butter could be made one of two ways:

1. cooking down homemade applesauce with spices and a ton of sugar to remove a lot of the water content and make the texture, well, buttery

2. same as above, except use chopped apples instead of applesauce

how about puree however many apples you want, squeeze/filter the pulp to remove as much moisture as you can, stir in some agave, cinnamon, cloves and dehydrate in a dish to remove more moisture?

or, instead of the agave, puree in dates or figs when you puree the apples.

dunno, but it might work?

cat