Chilling Out with Slow-Cooker Apple Butter

Eat it direct from the jar like a rich apple sauce or spread it on a flaky biscuit, however you please, this apple butter is smooth, flavourful and makes it oh so easy for you ignore reality for just a few moments of tasty bliss.

I find myself having the same conversation each time I hand out a hotpinkapron.com business card:

Them: Hot.. Pink.. Apron. So, this is your business?

Me: Well, business implies I’m making money from it {with a smile}.  This is more what I’m very passionate about: promoting local, sustainable foods and practices with family-friendly, delicious recipes.

Them: Oh, so can I order food from you?

Me: No. I just write about it.

Them: Do you have cookbooks for sale?

Me: No, not yet.

Them: Oh… Well I like the name.  Hot.. Pink.. Apron. That’s cool.

What I want to say is: Listen, I know it may seem crazy today but I honestly believe that if I continue to do the things I love, no matter the hardships now,  someone will take notice and help me form a career with it.  I write about food because I love it; I photograph every meal because it makes me happy; I obsess over caramel sauce and I collect change from couch cushions to afford weirdly shaped gourds because I want to learn it all.  I love food, I love supporting local food and I want to talk/write/photograph it for a living.  So, if you, or anyone you know, can help me to do that then you call me – Dana at Hot Pink Apron, it’s right there on the damn card.”

{deep breath}

That’s what I want to say but I don’t.  Instead I politely smile and head home to prepare a delicious apple butter and vent my frustrations to you, the few that may actually understand what I’m talking about.  Thanks for listening.  I mean it.

Alright, enough about me, let’s get to the good stuff.  At the beginning of apple season, an apple butter recipe caught my eye: simple harvest flavours, cooked down on a low heat and then pureed into a spread.  Brilliant idea only perfected by tossing it all in your slow cooker and ignoring for a solid day while it pumps the scent of apples, cinnamon and vanilla through your house.  It’s an amazing aroma.  You’ll be whistling show tunes, the husband won’t stop making out with you, the kids will play together peacefully, neighbours will be “just stopping by”.  It’s a powerfully pleasant scent, this Slow Cooker Apple Butter creates.

This is a great recipe to use up the last of your orchard pickings. I used a mix of Spartan and Golden Delicious for this batch but this is a recipe that would work well with most types of apple.

Slow Cooker Apple Butter
Makes about 4 pints
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 12 hours

Ingredients:

• 6 1/2 pounds apples (about 15 large apples) – peeled, cored and sliced
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Pods of 2 vanilla beans (or 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract)

Place the apples in the slow cooker. In a medium bowl, combine sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, vanilla pods and salt. Pour the mixture over the apples and mix well.  Toss your empty vanilla beans on top for that added layer of cool. (* If using vanilla extract instead, hold off and wait until the apples have cooked down before adding).

Cook in slow cooker on low for about 10 hours, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thickened and dark brown.  Of course, you have the option of cooking on high for about 6 hours but what’s your rush, man, chill out.
Uncover (stir in vanilla extract, if using) and continue cooking uncovered on low for about 2 hours.

Use an immersion blender to puree the apple butter until smooth.

Spoon the mixture into sterile containers, cover and refrigerate for up to two weeks or freeze.

Sorry for the rant above.  It’s been a tough month of job hunting with very little to show for it.  I can’t seem to give this passion away right now.  Thank goodness for Slow Cooker Apple Butter to remind me to stop over-thinking and just chill out every now and again.  Enjoy! xo

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