Making apple butter is very easy, but you have to keep an eye on it – so weekends are a good time to do it.

Apple butter is essentially apple sauce that is cooked over low heat for 8-10 hours or until it becomes nice and thick.

Directions are simple: Make a batch of apple sauce in large saucepan, strain if required, transfer to a slow cooker and let it cook away!  Keep the lid off the slow cooker so the water vapour escapes.  Add the spices of your choices – such as : 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar (to give it a tart flavour), cinamon, cloves (clous de giraffe in French – giraffe’s feet!), a dash of lemon juice.  It’s done when it is nice and thick – about half the original volume.  It also turns brown as the sugars from the apples caramelize.

The finished product is fantastic on toast, and as a garnish on all sorts of things. It keeps well in the fridge or frozen.

Making apple butter is a great way to use up that box of apples. Historically, making apple butter was a common way to preserve the crop in the days before freezers and refrigerators.