Apple Butter Recipe

From apple sauce

to apple butter.

After making tons of apple sauce, apple juice and apple deserts, I thought it was time to try something new - Apple Butter.  I found an easy, fool proof crock pot recipe for Apple Butter.

Turns out I am a fool and messed up this great recipe.  My first mistake was using cider vinegar instead of apple cider (oops!).  After the first 15 hours the acidity wasn't fully cooked off.  At that point I hadn't realize my cider/vinegar mix-up yet, so I figured it just need a little more time.  My second mistake was leaving the mixture to cook for an extra night (oops!).  The next morning the apple butter was no longer acidic but it was too burnt to eat.  What a waste.
Later that week, after finally realizing what I had done, I decided to try it one more time with another batch of homemade applesauce.  This time it worked - even after I reduced the amount of honey and omitted the cloves!

We use our apple butter on toast, pancakes and waffles.  It's a thick, fruity alternative to syrup.

Apple Sauce and Apple Juice

Peeling and coring apples, whether they're crabapples or the larger applecrabs, is tedious and time consuming.   Luckily, making apple sauce and apple juice don't require those steps.

Basic Apple Sauce Recipe

Start with this basic recipe.  After you have the basic sauce, you can add whatever flavours (sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, honey, etc.) that you prefer.  You can also use it in other recipes or freeze it for future use.

Ingredients

Apples

Water

This recipe works for whatever quantity of apples you have.

Preparation

Wash apples and remove any leaves.

Quarter apples.

Place 1 inch of water in a large pot.

Add apples to the pot. Cover.

Bring to boil.

Turn heat to low and let apples simmer until they are soft and mushy (30 - 60 minutes).

Stir every 10 minutes and add more water if mixture is too thick or dry (consistency will vary depending on type of apple).

Take off heat.

Separate cores, peels, and stems from the sauce with a food mill or by squishing the mix through a strainer.

Enjoy your applesauce!

Basic Apple Juice Recipe

The juice from this recipe is cooked and ends up thick and opaque.  We like to dillute it with sparkling water or club soda for a refreshing drink on a hot summer day.  The kids prefer mixing it with Sprite for added sweetness.  

Ingredients

Apples

Water

This recipe works for whatever quantity of apples you have.

Preparation (similar to apple sauce recipe above)

Wash apples and remove any leaves.

Quarter apples.

Place 1 inch of water in a large pot.

Add apples to the pot. Cover.

Bring to boil.

Turn heat to low and let apples simmer until they are soft and mushy (30 - 60 minutes).

Stir every 10 minutes and add more water if mixture is too thick or dry (consistency will vary depending on type of apple).

Take off heat.

Separate all the pulp from the juice by placing the whole mixture into a cheesecloth or super fine strainer like the one pictured (Lee Valle fruit strainer).  

Allow to drip for 4 hours.  

Enjoy your juice!

This juice can also be used for making apple jelly. 

Manitoba AppleCrabs

On July 29, we had our first apple harvest thanks to Lynda and Darrell.

These delicious 4-6 cm applecrabs (cross between an apple and a crabapple) are a light green with a red blush.  They're crispy with just the right amount of sweetness, great for eating just as they are or for any number of recipes. My kids declared that they are picture perfect apples.

Now, what to do with 200 lbs of picture perfect apples?!

Today, we'll see which community organization would like 66 lbs of applecrabs.  And then, we'll be busy making apple juice, apple sauce, apple butter, apple crisp, apple kuchen, apple cobbler, apple pie, apple muffins, or whatever else suits our fancy.

Nanking Cherries

The Nankings are ready.  Just like a lot of plants this year, they're about 2 or 3 weeks early.

Unfortunately, we haven't had any come through Fruit Share.  Hopefully that means everyone has found wonderful ways to use them themselves.

We greedily harvested the ones in our own back yard and made juice, syrup and jelly with them.

If you're wondering what to do with your nankings, here are some ideas.

To get the juice...

To get the pulp...

Of course you don't need to separate the pulp and the juice.  Usually, I don't, but this year I was experimenting with my new toy from Lee Valley - the jelly strainer. 

If you don't separate the pulp from the juice, your jams, jellies and syrups will be thicker and not transparent.  Despite what the jelly judges at a country fair might say, I actually prefer having a little more texture in my spreads.

Before I even got to make any preserves, we found a lot of ways to eat our nankings:

• raw, right off the bush
• juice - unsweetened mixed 1/2 and 1/2 with club soda (adults' preference)
• juice - unsweetened mixed with apple juice (kids' preference)
• pulp - over ice cream
• pulp - over pancakes and waffles
• pulp - in muffin recipes instead of applesauce (Note: this will turn muffins an interesting colour!)

When I finally did make preserves, I made syrup and a preserve (cross between jam and jelly).  I love the tart flavour of nankings so I always end up modifying recipes to reduce the sugar content.  By doing so, my syrup and my preserves end up being less stiff than what they're "suppose" to be, but they are delicious!  

Nanking Syrup

4 cups of nanking juice 

1 1/2 cups of sugar (recipes often call for 4-6 cups of sugar)

1 package of light pectin (if using full sugar amount, pectin is not needed)

3 Tbsp lemon juice

Boil for 2 minutes.  Pour into sterilized jars, seal and heat process for 5 minutes.

Nanking Preserve

4 cups of nanking pulp 

2 cups of sugar (recipes often call for 4 cups of sugar)

1 package of light pectin

Boil for 2 minutes.  Pour into sterilized jars, seal and heat process for 5 minutes.

Note: There is some debate as to whether or not fruit preserves need to be heat processed.  Some (Kraft, the makers of Certo) argue that because of the high acidity and high sugar you do not need the final heat process  as long as you are using properly sterilized canning equipment.  Others (Depts. of Agriculture) still recommend heat processing fruit preserves for 5 minutes even if using sterilized equipment.   I choose to err on the side of caution and use sterilized equipment and heat processing.

Manitoba Strawberries

Manitoba strawberries are ready for picking.  Going to a U-pick strawberry farm and making strawberry freezer jam made it on to my kids' list of things they want to do this summer.  

The kids say you just gotta...

Pick 'em.

Admire 'em.

Clean 'em.

Squish 'em.

Mix 'em with sugar and pectin.  Then put 'em in a jar.

Enjoy all year long!

The Cherries are Almost Ready

Nanking Cherries are almost ready for picking.  These delicious little flavour bombs are very juicy and can get quite sweet if left long enough.  We use them for juice, pancake syrup and jelly.  We also like eating them right off the bush, although that does get messy when dealing with all those pits - after all "pits" is just a clever an anagram for "spit"!

Time to dig out our favourite cherry recipes.

Rhubarb In the News

An announcement in the Reflector (our community newspaper) is resulting in a bit of interest in Fruit Share.  We have new volunteers and more rhubarb registered.  How exciting!

Also, the Free Press is looking at running a story sometime next week.  Watch for it and tell your neighbours.

We're also getting some other fruit registered. Apples, grapes, nanking cherries and even pears are on our list for the summer.

My mouth is watering!

Rhubarb Parfait Recipe

We had these rhubarb parfaits for breakfast this morning.  Once the kids saw the fancy glasses, they couldn't wait to dig in.  And even once they discovered it was plain yogurt with lightly sweetened stewed rhubarb, they finished the whole thing (we did add more granola to take away some of the tartness).

Thanks to Kelly for the great idea!  It really is quite simple.  A layer of stewed rhubarb, yogurt, stewed rhubarb and granola. The sugar content is completely up to you.  I like to get away with as little sugar as possible, but if you prefer, you can add more sugar to the stewed rhubarb and use sweetened yogurt.  In fact, you could even use ice cream or sweetened whip cream to turn this into a delicious dessert.

Simple Stewed Rhubarb Recipe

6 cups of diced rhubarb

1/4 cup of water (just to cover the bottom of the pot)

1/4 cup of sugar (adjust to suit your preference)

Toss all ingredients into a pot and cook until soft and tender.

Of course there are a lot of variations to the simple stewed rhubarb.  You could...

• add spices like ginger, cinnamon or nutmeg
• add other fruit like strawberries, raspberries or apples
• add flavouring like vanilla, Drambuie, orange or lemon zest
• add thickeners like cornstarch, gelatin or tapioca for a thick sauce

But sometimes, simple is best.

Rhubarb Sour Cream Coffee Cake Recipe

Rhubarb Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Thanks to Sherilyn for sharing one of her favourite rhubarb recipes.


1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups rhubarb (cut into 1/2 inch pieces)
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans (optional)


Topping:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light cream (whipping cream makes it better...seriously, this is already not a healthy choice, so go for it!)
1 tsp vanilla


Cream together butter, brown sugar and egg until light and fluffy. Combine flours, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream, mixing well after each addition. Stir in rhubarb and nuts. Spoon into a well greased 9" x 13" pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 - 40 minutes.


To make topping, combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and heat until butter melts...and it's a nice creamy texture. Pour warm sauce over slightly cooled cake.

Rhubarb Slush Recipe

Here's a rhubarb slush from a Professional Home Economist, so you know it's going to be good!

Rhubarb Slush

8 cups diced rhubarb
2 1/2 - 3 cups sugar
8 cups water
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 4oz package of strawberry jello
7-Up

Place first four ingredients in a large saucepan.  
Boil for 10-15 minutes. 
Strain and discard pulp. 
Add 1 ( 4oz ) strawberry jello. 
Freeze in an ice cream pail, or margarine containers.
Remove from freezer one hour before serving. 
Add 7-Up (approx equal parts slush and 7 Up).

Enjoy on a hot sunny day.

Thanks Karla for sharing this recipe.

Betty's Rhubarb Muffins

Betty made a dozen jumbo muffins to take camping this weekend.  But apparently they're so good, they won't last until then.  Looks like she'll be baking some more.

Here's the recipe from Canadian Living that she used http://www.canadianliving.com/food/rhubarb_muffins_or_loaves.php.

Our Second Rhubarb Harvest

We just finished our second harvest of rhubarb.  Thank you Betty and Emilia for a great job.  We collected about 5.5kg or 12.5lbs of rhubarb.   Betty's thinking rhubarb muffins, I'm thinking stewed rhubarb and ice cream.  There's so many delicious options.

Our bounty is split three ways between the home owner, the volunteers, and a community group.  In this case, Elli (the home owner) graciously declined her third, knowing there's still plenty of rhubarb left for her.  That left even more for the rest of us.   We'll deliver a couple of bundles to Fred Tipping Place later this evening.

Thanks Elli for sharing your rhubarb!

Top 5 Questions about Rhubarb

Here are the top 5 questions we hear about rhubarb and some links to all things rhubarb.

1. Are rhubarb leaves really poisonous?
Yes, rhubarb leaves are really poisonous.  High levels of oxalates and anthraquinone glycosides that are present in rhubarb leaves are believed to be the culprits.  Check out  The Rhubarb Compendium for more information.

Having confirmed that the leaves are poisonous, let's keep things in perspective.  You would need to eat about 5 kg or 11 lbs of rhubarb leaves to cause death.  That's a lot of rhubarb leaves!  Of course, you'd need much less to get a tummy ache. 

In other words, don't make rhubarb leaf salad for dinner tonight!

2.  Can I put rhubarb leaves in my compost?

Yes, you can compost rhubarb leaves.  Since we don't eat our compost pile, there is no danger to us.  And, because the components break down so quickly, there's no danger to the microbes in your compost bin either.  Even when you finally use your compost, the acids will have been decomposed and won't affect the acidity of your compost.

3.  How do I know when rhubarb is ready to harvest?

Despite what someone may have told you, do not wait until the stalks turn red!  You might be waiting for a long time since not all rhubarb varieties will ever turn completely red.  Instead, rely on the size of your rhubarb.  Start harvesting when stems are about 25 to 40 cm or 10 to 15 inches long.  Check out Purdue University for some more information on rhubarb harvesting.

4.  What's the proper way to harvest rhubarb?

Our best advice is to pull out the large stalks on the outside of the plant.  Run your hand down the stem until you're close to the ground then gently pull with a little twist.  The stem should come right out.  Leave at least four or more stems in the middle to ensure further growth.

5.  How much rhubarb in a...?

Here's our rhubarb conversion chart.  It comes in handy when making all those delicious recipes!

In Metric Measurement

1 bunch = 5-8 stems

5-8 stems = 2.2kg

2.2 kg diced into 1 cm pieces = 875 ml 

In Imperial Measurement

1 bunch = 5-8 stems

5-8 stems = 1 lb

1lb diced into 1/2" pieces = 3 1/2 cups 

We also like the information provided by Canadian Gardening and the University of Illinois on growing, harvesting and cooking rhubarb.

Our First Fruit Sharing

And so it begins.

On a cloudy May long weekend, a desperate plea from a friend and neighbour about rhubarb launched Fruit Share into action.

It was a small harvest of 1.5kg or 3lbs of rhubarb.  It required only one volunteer travelling by bicycle to harvest, but it was and always will be our first harvest!

True to form, Fruit Share split the fruit three ways.  The  homeowner asked for her 1/3 to be left standing in the rhubarb patch.  The remainder was split 50/50 between the volunteer and an unknown senior living at Fred Tipping Place (a senior's apartment building on South Osborne).  

Yes, it was a small bundle that we shared.  But it was just the right size to get a huge grin and a big thank you from a lovely gentleman who enjoys making rhubarb crisp.  That little batch was all he needed.

Thanks to Julie for sharing her bounty and making three families very happy on a cloudy May long weekend.  

The Neighbourhood is Blooming

Nanking Cherry Bush

Spring blossoms are such a beautiful and promising sight.  I can't help but imagine the wonderful fresh fruit, juice, jellies, syrups, pies and sauces that will await us this summer and fall.

It took us a while to pinpoint exactly what kind of cherry we had growing in our back yard.  All we knew was that they were delectable little cherries that the birds love as much as we do.  Finally, after a little online research we confirmed we have two nanking cherry bushes.  

After giving our bushes a little more space and some thorough pruning, we now get a lot of little cherries.  Last year, we had enough to make jelly to last two families all winter long.  That's not considering all the ones we ate right off the bush and the ones we used for making sauce for our special Nanking Sundaes.

Mmm!  I can't wait for this year's harvest.  If the blossoms and the buzzing of bees are any indication, it'll be a good year for nankings.

What's blooming in your back yard?

By Getty Stewart