Food: Apples + Squeezo + Slow Cooker + Immersion Blender = Apple Butter Yum

Two years ago, I took up water-bath canning. Since then, I’ve filled many, many jars with various types of tomato-based sauces, chutneys, and ketchups.

My go-to resource for recipes and techniques is Liana Krissoff’s excellent book, Canning for a New Generation. My favourite recipe from the book (so far) is for apple butter - which I’ve spent much of this weekend making.

Here’s a condensed and slightly modified version of Krissoff’s recipe, which I’ve now used to make about two dozen pints of apple butter.

Gadgets: Squeezo, slow cooker, immersion blender

Ingredients: 6 pounds apples; 2 cups apple cider; 1.5 cups cane sugar; 1.5 tsps ground cinnamon; 0.5 tsps ground cloves; 0.5 tsps ground allspice; 0.5 tsps ground nutmeg (this makes about 3 pints worth of apple butter)

Technique: Put apples in a large (6 to 8 quart) pot or pan. Add cider + 4 cups water and bring to boil over high heat. Boil, stirring occasionally, until the apples break down and the peels separate from the pulp. This usually takes 30-45 minutes.

Once the apples have mostly disintegrated, pass the (hot!) mixture through the Squeezo to remove the peels and cores. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and purée with an immersion blender until smooth.

Pour the purée into a large slow cooker and stir in the sugar and spices. Keep the slow cooker lid slightly askew to allow liquid to evaporate. Cook on low heat for 9-12 hours, stirring occasionally, until the apple butter is thick and dark.

Enjoy the fruits of your labour with oatmeal, yoghurt, waffles, pancakes, toast and for baking.

Krissoff provides some neat suggestions for additional uses in her book - and, of course, what you’d need to do if you want to can the apple butter for long-term storage.