What exactly is Apple Butter? People have only heard of apple jams, jellies, and preserves. Apple butter is just one of the fruit butter people make to preserve apples and enjoy their most concentrated flavors.
There’s no actual butter used in Apple Butter. It’s not apple-flavored butter either. You can think of apple butter as highly-concentrated applesauce cooked for longer until it becomes thicker and richer, having a caramelized apple color.
Apple Butter Trivia
- You should differentiate applesauce, apple jam, and apple butter. If you’re starting to cook, bake, or preserve fruits and vegetables, knowing the basics is essential. Let’s start with all things apple.
- Applesauce has a lighter appearance and smoother flow because it has higher water content. Apple Jam has a thicker texture and can contain bits of sliced fruit. Finally, apple butter has a different consistency compared to applesauce and apple jam. Apple butter has a nice thick consistency and it firmly spreads like butter, almost like very thick custard. So, it has a different texture, unlike the jelly-like consistency of jams.
Apple Butter Buying Guide
Apple butter is commonly produced by artisan producers in small batches. While there is commercially produced apple butter, the flavor, consistency, and texture are very different from their artisan counterparts. Commercially produced apple butter is too light and smooth while artisan-made apple butter has a thicker consistency and richer flavor.
Artisan-made apple butter needs more care during the storage process as the absence of chemical preservatives gives it a shorter shelf-life. However, the more natural taste and buttery consistency would make anyone fall in love with artisan-made apple butter.
Apple Butter Production & Farming in Texas
There are a lot of apple varieties grown in different parts of Texas, even though not all apple varieties can b grown in the Lone Star State. The High Plains region in Lubbock and the Davis Mountains in Texas are just two of the areas where apples grow and thrive.
Apple varieties such as Pink Lady, Gala, Royal Gala, Imperial Gala, and Fuji can be grown in the medium and high chill areas of Texas. Meanwhile, Dorsett Golden and Anna are grown in the lower chill areas.
Preservatives and Chemicals
Apple juice concentrate is a common ingredient for commercially produced apple butter. It is usually made from the purest juices mixed with artificial sugars such as glucose or sucrose to sweeten it. Citric acid is also added to preserve its shelf life. Apple juice concentrate is great only when it’s naturally derived. Aside from the chemical additives of the commercially produced ones, a chemical aftertaste is also common and can interfere with the overall flavor of the apple butter.
Packaging
Apple butter is one of the perfect edible gifts during the apple season. It’s best to package apple butter in sterilized glass jars. Not only are they easy to store, but they are also reusable and environmentally friendly.
There is some apple butter stored in plastic packaging. However, it’s not a visually pleasing packaging for apple butter. It dulls the appearance of the apple butter, making it look like it’s commercially made instead of a homemade product. There are also times when the plastic packaging for the apple butter interferes with the taste and aroma of the apples infusing it with a plastic or chemical taste and aroma. That would be a very unpleasant fate for such a beautiful and natural treat.
Enjoying Apple Butter
Apple Butter can be used in sweet and savory recipes. You can mix apple butter with mustard and baste in on your chicken wings while they’re roasting in the oven. You can also baste it to your burger patty to get that sweet caramel flavor from the apple and the tang from the mustard. Use apple butter to sauté onions, add some bacon, and diced butternut squash or some shredded meat, then add some chipotle and your choice of spices to make your signature apple butter-chipotle carnitas.
For desserts, apple butter can be added to your pies, cakes, ice cream, yogurt, cookies, cupcakes, and muffins.
Storage
When making apple butter, decide if you want to give it away as edible gifts or if you only want some for your family’s consumptions. This is essential because cooking in bigger and smaller batches needs preparation and some storage space in the fridge.
It’s best to store Apple Butter in a sterilized glass container and refrigerate it to avoid spoilage. Once opened, consume it within one or two weeks. It can last longer if you don’t take it away from the fridge. Always refrigerate the apple butter. Never let it sit at room temperature for a couple of hours as it will oxidize and be spoiled.
If you’re cooking in big batches, you can also freeze apple butter to even lengthen its shelf life. When you’re giving away some homemade apple butter as a present, don’t forget to put the date of production so the consumers will know when to eat it before it gets spoiled.
Cooking
APPLE BUTTER
Ingredients
6 1/2 pounds apples peeled, cored, and sliced
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Preparation
- Place the apples in a slow cooker.
- Add the sugars, cinnamon, salt and vanilla to the crockpot. Mix well.
- Cook in slow cooker on low for about 10 hours, stirring every couple hours. The apple butter should be thick and dark brown.
- If desired, use a blender to puree the apple butter until smooth.
- Cover and refrigerate for up to two weeks or freeze in small containers.
