Brandy Apple Butter

Filling jars of apple butter

 My husband loves apple butter. I think it is one of his favorite foods. This last weekend we went to Weston (I love Weston) and went to the Red Barn Farm (I love Red Barn Farm). We wandered the corn maze, talked to the animals (thankfully, they did not talk back), and we bought apples. We bought 1/2 bushel of apples. That is a lot of apples. Of course, the first thing I made was apple butter, but not just any apple butter. I made apple butter with brandy and Vietnamese cinnamon which is like cinnamon on steroids. The result was the best apple butter yet.

Five pounds (2.3 kg) of apples

Brandy Apple Butter

5 Lbs (2.3 kg) of Apples, Peeled, Cored, and Cut into Pieces
1 Cup (240 ml) of Brandy
2 Cups (480 ml) of Cider
2 Cups (480 ml) of Water
3 Cups (600 g) of Sugar
3 Cups (684 g) of Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp of Cinnamon
1/4 Tsp of Ground Nutmeg
1/4 Tsp of Ground Allspice
1.75 oz. (49.6 g) Package of Pectin

Combine apples, brandy, cider, and water in a large saucepan and heat on low.

Dumping apples and brandy, cider, and water in a large saucepan

Cook until tender, about an hour. Process the apples in a food processor or run through a food mill until smooth like applesauce.

I used a food processor

Pour back into the large saucepan and add the remaining ingredients.

Combining the remaining ingredients

Bring to a boil and boil for two minutes while stirring constantly.

Protecting my arms from the splashing apple butter

Pour into sterilized jars leaving 1/4 inch (1 cm) headroom. Process in a water bath for 5 minutes.

The bottom line: Will I make this again? Yes, but probably not until next year. It makes a lot of apple butter. But then again, Katie and Steven really like this apple butter. I was never a huge fan of apple butter but I really like this. I still like tomato jam more but it is hard to beat tomato jam.