Stop and Smell the Apple Butter

About author / Pamela Chester

Mom of two; graduate French Culinary Institute; kids cooking program instructor; Master's degree in food studies. Creates kid friendly foods and loves her slow cooker.

Last weekend my older son and I were out for the morning doing weekend errands and just happened to stumble upon a neat little festival. As we zoomed up the road on our way to the closest kiddie shoe store, we passed a local church and just then a lovely sweet odor permeated the car. I looked over and saw a couple of people stirring a big cauldron that was placed over a wood burning fire and many little tables set up with various crafts and assorted goodies. As I drove past the sign announcing an Apple Butter Festival, I screeched the car to a halt and backed up so we could go check it out (Really, I just turned in the next side road and turned around but the former description makes for a much more exciting visual!).

This festival was a fundraiser for the church and featured the fall delicacy, apple butter. This delicious potion was being cooked all day long and was going to be offered for sale at the end of the festival. The people who made the apple butter were experts who had been doing it for years and travel around to various autumn festivals to show how it is cooked in the kettle in an all day process.

Apple butter is made from cut up apples and cider cooked over low heat for a looong time until it slowly caramelizes and turns into a rich, dark spread. There are many variations to the recipe, some use water instead of the cider, or add sugar to the mix. You can really make butter out of any fruit, from peach to pumpkin to apple. The mixture is constantly stirred and turned as it caramelizes into a deep brown nectar that is a delicious (and shhh, it’s healthy too!) spread on toast, muffins, and pancakes.

My son enjoyed watching this old fashioned process and so did I. These folks had been up since the crack of dawn, making the fire, mixing the ingredients, and chopping wood to add to the fire. Church members had spent the prior week washing, peeling, coring, and quartering twelve bushels of apples. That’s a big mountain of apples!

It was fascinating to see how they would take turns stirring with a seven-foot wooden pole with a paddle that had corncobs attached on the end. They moved it methodically through gallons of boiling apples, and while we were there, the mixture was just starting to brown. They told us to come back by about three o’clock so we could enjoy apple butter, hot out of the kettle.

We also enjoyed some really yummy goodies at the church bake sale and took a look at the various wares for sale by local craftspeople. This little detour prevented us from getting my son a new pair of shoes but was well worth it. Fall is full of really fun festivals, and we were lucky to find this one right around the corner from us. This little pause reminded me of an important life lesson - to stop and smell the apple butter - our errands could wait!

Serves/Makes: 4 pints

• 16 cups apples, washed, cored, unpeeled, and chopped
• 2 cups apple cider
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1 dash salt