This is a compound of apples and cider boiled together till of the consistence of soft butter. It is a very good article on the tea-table, or at luncheon. It can only be made of sweet new cider fresh from the press, and not yet fermented.
If you make a large quantity, (and it is not worth while to prepare the apple butter on a small scale,) it will take a day to stew the apples. At night leave them to cool in the tubs, (which must be covered with cloths,) and finish next day by boiling the apple and cider again till the consistence is that of soft marmalade, and the colour a very dark brown,
Ingredients
apple cider
apples
powdered cinnamon
cloves
nutmeg
Directions
Fill a very large kettle with cider, and boil it till reduced to one half the original quantity
Have ready some fine juicy apples, pared, cored, and quartered
Put as many into the kettle as can be kept moist by the cider
Stir it frequently, and when the apples are stewed quite soft, take them out with a skimmer that has holes in it, and put them into tub
Add more apples to the cider, and stew them soft in the same manner, stirring them nearly all the time with a stick
Have at hand some more cider ready bolled, to thin the apple butter in case you should find it too thick in the kettle.
Twenty minutes or half an hour before you finally take it from the fire, add powdered cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg to your taste. If the spice is boiled too long, it will lose its flavour
When it is cold, put it into stone jars, and cover it closely
If it has been well made, and sufficiently boiled, it will keep a year or more.
It must not be boiled in a brass or bell-metal kettle, on account of the verdigris which the acid will collect in it, and which will render the apple butter extremely unwholesome, not to say poisonous. Source: Eliza Leslie (circa 1840)
Apple Butter I
