If there is one scent I associate with Indiana more than anything else, it would be the smell of fresh apple butter simmering over a fire. Even today, one can still smell the spicy cinnamon scent of apple butter in the air during the autumn months. My mother made apple butter all the time when I was a kid. She would start it in the morning and allow it to slowly simmer all day on her stove. My grandmother sometimes cooked hers in a big kettle outside over an open fire.
I'm not that patient. Here's an easy apple butter recipe for the 21st century, and you don't even need an open fire or a big stove; just a microwave oven!
Apple ButterYou will need:
6 apples; cored and finely chopped
1/2 cup of apple cider
2 cups of brown sugar; firmly packed
One and a half teaspoons of ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves
Place apples and apple cider in a one and a half quart microwave proof bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Microwave on high for 15 minutes. Carefully remove plastic wrap and stir in the remaining ingredients. Return to microwave and cook, uncovered, 10 minutes more, stirring every 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer mixture to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
Serving suggestion: serve warm and pour over hot homemade biscuits.
Store unused apple butter in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
This recipe makes about 2 pints of apple butter.