Apple Pie Filling In Slow Cooker

Ingredient, Paste, Condiment, Sauces, Dish, Marinara sauce, Lekvar, Chutney, Fruit preserve, Tomato purée,

The apple tree in our backyard spent the last couple of weeks dropping all of its apples. There may be a stray apple or two left, but that's it. I picked what I could and every morning went out to salvage the ones that fell on the ground during the night. Late last week I filled my 4-quart slow cooker with chopped apples and made 4 cups of sweet and spicy apple butter. I'm ready for fall!

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The recipe, from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker, says that it's important to leave the peels on the apples because that's where most of the pectin is, and you need lots of pectin to thicken the apple butter. I filled a 1 cup measuring cup with sugar and then began coring and chopping. I cut each apple in quarters, then cut out the core and any bruised spots. Once I had a layer of apples in my 4-quart cooker crock, I sprinkled them with a layer of sugar. (By the time I had filled the crock I had used about 1 1/4 cup sugar.) I kept layering apples and sugar until the crock was filled then let it sit all day, about 8 to 12 hours, without cooking. This allows the apples to release some juice.

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After the apples had macerated all day, I added the spices: 1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon, a pinch of salt and 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, nutmeg and allspice. Mixed it all together, then cooked, covered, on low overnight.

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In the morning I pureed the mixer with my immersion blender (you could use a regular blender, too, but wait until the mixture is cool to blend). Then I left the lid off the slow cooker and cooked on low for another 4 to 6 hours, until the butter was nice and thick. I transferred the butter to 1 cup containers and froze most of them. It made 4 cups.

Am I rushing fall? Why yes, I am. (Blame it on the apple tree.) Below, more fall fruit:

10 Fantastic Fall Desserts

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