This week's Weekend Project comes from our Founder & President Brad Barnes, CMC, CCA, AAC. Brad emphasizes that these are projects that "highlight the basic properties and deliciousness of apples that are harvested and sold fresh" and that this apple butter and apple honey "will not work if the apples are not truly seasonal."
Apple butter is just three ingredients -- fresh ripe apples, sugar, and cider or champagne vinegar.
Place the apples in a baking dish or rimmed baking sheet. Bake them low and slow in a 225 f oven for four hours or until they begin to burst. Once the apples have burst, drain them off and save the clear liquid for the honey.
Sugar, your choice at 25% of the weight of the Apple pulp.
Cider or champagne vinegar at equal volume of the sugar.
The process is:
Once the apples have burst
Drain off and reserve the clear liquid for the honey.
Mash the apples through a colander or sieve with ⅛" holes.
Allow this pulp to drain in a fine sieve for a few hours depending on volume. It will render more of the clear liquid for the honey.
Once the pulp is drained, mix it with the sugar of your choice at 25% of the weight of the Apple pulp, and
cider or champagne vinegar at equal volume of the sugar, put it to cook gently. Depending on the remaining liquid this should cook until reduced by about 35-40%
Put in jars and can or refrigerate. This keeps for months in the fridge.
As for the honey, simply reduce the liquid to about 35%, depending on desired use.