Melrose Apple Butter
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Peel, quarter, and core 7 lbs of apples.
If molasses sugar is obtainable, use 3 lbs; otherwise use 3 lbs of dark brown sugar.
Layer apples and sugar in a kettle.
Macerate and cook
Cover tightly and let stand 12 hours or overnight.
Bring to a boil and simmer without stirring, or uncovering, for 5–12 hours.
Make apple juice
Boil apple skins in 1/3 their bulk of water, as for jelly, adding lemon juice to taste, to make apple juice.
Finish
Optionally add finely-ground coriander seed.
Optionally add a little date or prune marmalade.
Combine plums and apples to make a delightful butter.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Apples (in the method)
- Supply the bulk and natural pectin that thicken the butter as it cooks down.
- Brown sugar (in the method)
- Sweetens the butter and helps it darken and thicken during the long cook.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and helps pectin set.
The step that matters
Long simmer without stirring or uncovering. Sugar sitting on the bottom of a kettle can scorch if heat is uneven or the mixture is disturbed. Keeping the lid on and leaving it unstirred holds moisture steady and lets the sugars caramelise slowly, while the uncovered-at-the-end cooking concentrates the mixture into a thick butter.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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