flipPennsylvania Apple Butter
Pennsylvania Apple Butter
Why this dish? Nellie Bly grew up in Pennsylvania, in the land of farms and orchards. There, in autumn, families spent the day stirring a cauldron of cider and apples to make apple butter for winter — a pantry sweet that smelled of childhood and home.
A compote slowly reduced until it becomes a dark, smooth, shiny paste, perfumed with cinnamon. Spread on bread, it preserved the taste of autumn orchards throughout the New York winter.
Back home in Pennsylvania, apple butter was a whole autumn affair: we'd light the big copper kettle at dawn and had to stir, stir, never letting it stick to the bottom, or else burnt taste would ruin it! We'd pour in the cider, then apples by the basketful, and cinnamon when the paste darkened. At night, we'd put it into jars for the whole winter. Believe me, a slice of bread with that butter, and suddenly I was back home, even in the middle of Manhattan.
- •Mixed sweet and tart apples — a large basket (flesh of the apple butter)
- •Sweet cider — several pints (cooking liquid, concentrates flavor)
- •Sugar — to taste and depending on apple acidity (sweetness and preservation)
- •Cinnamon, ground cloves — a pinch of each (autumn fragrance)
Pennsylvania Apple Butter
A compote slowly reduced until it becomes a dark, smooth, shiny paste, perfumed with cinnamon. Spread on bread, it preserved the taste of autumn orchards throughout the New York winter.
Why this dish? Nellie Bly grew up in Pennsylvania, in the land of farms and orchards. There, in autumn, families spent the day stirring a cauldron of cider and apples to make apple butter for winter — a pantry sweet that smelled of childhood and home.
Back home in Pennsylvania, apple butter was a whole autumn affair: we'd light the big copper kettle at dawn and had to stir, stir, never letting it stick to the bottom, or else burnt taste would ruin it! We'd pour in the cider, then apples by the basketful, and cinnamon when the paste darkened. At night, we'd put it into jars for the whole winter. Believe me, a slice of bread with that butter, and suddenly I was back home, even in the middle of Manhattan.
Ingredients (period version)
- Mixed sweet and tart apples — a large basket (flesh of the apple butter)
- Sweet cider — several pints (cooking liquid, concentrates flavor)
- Sugar — to taste and depending on apple acidity (sweetness and preservation)
- Cinnamon, ground cloves — a pinch of each (autumn fragrance)
Ingredients
- Apples (half sweet, half tart) — 2 kg (main flesh)
- Apple juice or sweet cider — 500 ml (cooking liquid)
- Brown sugar — 150 to 250 g (adjust) (sweetness and preservation)
- Ground cinnamon — 1 tsp (dominant spice)
- Ground cloves + a grating of nutmeg — 1 pinch (spiced depth)
- Juice of half a lemon — 1/2 lemon (brightens acidity, balances sugar)
Method
- Peel and chop the apples; cook with apple juice until soft enough to mash (20 min).
- Blend or pass through a food mill to obtain a smooth purée.
- Return to low heat with sugar, spices, and lemon juice.
- Let reduce for 1 to 2 hours, stirring often, until a dark, shiny paste that holds its shape on a spoon.
- Pour into clean, warm jars, seal, and let cool. Keeps for several weeks in a cool place.
How it was made : Pennsylvania apple butter was made outdoors, in a copper kettle stirred nonstop with a long wooden pole for hours — a village event ('apple butter boiling') as much as a winter provision. No thermometer: you knew it was ready when a drop placed on a plate no longer released liquid.
The contemporary twist : In a jar labeled '72 Days': a spoonful each morning on toast, like a travel diary you taste.
Sources : Estelle Woods Wilcox, Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping (1877) · Pennsylvania Dutch culinary tradition
Nellie Bly · Charactorium
