Making apple butter from lemons
Posted on October 1st, 2007 – 9:33 AMBy Robyn Dochterman
How’d you survive the soggy weekend? Did you have to be out in the downpours and drizzle, or did you get to curl up with a nice catalog of seeds and bulbs and dream about the bee garden you’re going to plant next spring?
I’d intended to pull out the jungle of tomato vines in the garden and get some of my 200 daffodil bulbs planted. Oh yeah, and put the cider press together. The “mostly assembled” press arrived in 8 cartons and about 105 pieces. This could take some time…
Fortunately, I had a couple of buckets of apples that I’d intended to press for cider sitting around, so we spent the rainy days making 20 jars (two kinds) of apple butter. In one recipe, we used our own honey. I know they are both good, but taste is a bonus at this point. Cooking the apples filled the house with the most fabulous, fall aroma for hours. It was olfactory heaven!
It’s been a growing season a lot like that. I didn’t always do or get what I expected, but there’s been some wonderful discoveries along the way. Maybe that’s the point — to keep discovering things about plants, food and myself.
I’m grateful to have been able to share some of my adventures with you all, and I appreciate your ideas, advice and enthusiasm. Thank you for coming along and sometimes leading the way. Thanks to Jaime, too, for letting me earn my GreenGirl badge this season. It’s been a blast!
8 Responses to "Making apple butter from lemons"
What no apple butter reicpes 
So sorry, Trudy. Here’s our favorite from yesterday…
Honey-Spice Apple Butter (from Fine Cooking, with my small changes)
2 lbs. McIntosh apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1-inch chunks (I used a mixture of apples)
2 cups apple cider
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
pinch ground allspice
pinch kosher salt
Combine the apples and cider in a heavy saucepan and cook until apples have mostly broken down. Run mixture through a medium sieve.
Either rinse pan and return mixture to pan, or put mixture in slow cooker. Whisk in all other ingredients.
Simmer for at least 75 minutes or until mixture reduces and thickens to a spreadable consistency.
Scrape apple butter into a storage container and press a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface for prevent a skin from forming as it cools. Once cool, remove plastic, cover with a lid and refrigerate up to two weeks (or can, as I did, using a regular water bath method). Enjoy!
This is a little off topic…
Thought it would be really nice to have some recommendations for good gardening books. This is my second year gardening, I’m totally winging it and I’d like to get a book so I’m ready for next year. And ideas?
Also, could you give any advice on planting garlic?
Hi Sarah — Tell us some more about what you’re most interested in. Flowers, veggies, small space, design, etc?
Hi Liz,
Have you already bought garlic to plant? If not, most people find that hardneck garlic grows here better than softneck.
Find a location in the sun with good drainage and spade up or rototill the top 6 to 12 inches of soil. Mix in compost and manure if you have access to them.
A day or two before planting, split the wrapper of the head of garlic and separate the cloves. You don’t need to remove all the wrapper, just split it enough to separate the cloves. Use the biggest bulbs possible to get the biggest heads (1 clove today = 1 head next summer).
Make sure you plant the pointed side up and the basal plate down. The tip should be 2-3″ below the surface, and cloves 5-6″ apart.
Plant your garlic 4-6 weeks before the ground freezes — which is around the first week of December here, so anytime this month will probably be good. Don’t worry if you see green sprouts. That’s supposed to happen.
When the ground freezes, mulch like mad. Really, I use about 6″ of mulch. In the spring, remove some of the mulch, and make sure to water early in the spring if rain is not abundant.
Holler if you have additional questions. Good luck!
Hi Robyn,
About the book recommendation–
I have vegetable garden (tomatoes, squash, herbs, green peppers, onions, beans, snowpeas) plus a small strawberry patch that didn’t do very well this summer. I’m also interested in learning about native minnesota plant gardening.
Thanks!
Hi Sarah,
In case you’re still reading this, I think you might enjoy “Grow it, eat it” by Linda Larson, if you haven’t already read it. It’s specific to Minnesota with suggestions of varieties and recipes for how to prepare the harvest. Have a great off-season!
Greengirls Jaime Chismar, Connie Nelson, and Robyn Dochterman are dishin' the dirt from the backyard garden and beyond. Whether you're a greenthumb or greenhorn, they're eager to learn from your misshaps, mistakes -- and most importantly, your sweet successes -- all growing season long.
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