Finally! I waited and waited for my clear jel to arrive to make homemade apple pie filling. I even ventured out to the store and invested in an apple peeler (the hand crank, corer, peeler, slicer) which was SO worth it - I highly recommend one as they make peeling a snap (cost approx. $16-19) This recipe is a bit more involved as far as ingredients but, I had apple cider from making apple butter. I read a bunch of different recipes and did not like that many of them didn't narrow down how many apples you are to use. I took the time here to cut and measure how many apples I used and size I used so that maybe it will save you a small hassle... this recipe is a snap to make. I suggest that you bring all the filling ingredients (minus the apples) to a medium simmer and mix your clear jel and some of the cold water called for in the recipe together in a separate cup, then add to filling and bring to a boil (you don't want any clumps of clear jel in your filling/syrup) *If you DO get clear jel clumps, you can use an immersion blender to blend them away. Enjoy ~ Diane. Homemade Apple Pie Filling Yield: approx.4 quarts (or 8 pints) Ingredients: 12 cups apples, peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch pieces (I used 5 large jonagold & fuji apples and 6 small jonathan & gala apples) 3 cups sugar 1 cup Clear Jel starch**(see note below) 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon Rodelle Vanilla Bean Paste 2 1/2 cups cold water 2 cups apple cider or apple juice 1/2 cup bottled *lemon juice (plus additional if adding to water after slicing apples, see note below) *Fruit Fresh (optional to lemon juice, see note below) Instructions: Peel apple slices and place slices in a pot of cold water with *fruit fresh or lemon juice. Drain the apples and boil the apple slices in smaller batches for 1 minute in boiling water. Place warmed apples slices in a large bowl and cover with a towel while you prepare the sauce below. Combine sugar, clear jel, cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg in a large pot with the cold water and apple cider or juice. Stir and cook over medium high heat until mixture thickens and begins to boil. Add the bottled lemon juice and cook for 1 minute. Add in the warm sliced apples to the mixture, stir to combine and immediately ladle into hot jars, leaving 1 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles with a long plastic knife or thin spatula. Wipe rims and cover with lids and ring bands. Process (Quarts and Pints) in a water bath for 25 minutes (see notes for high altitude processing time). Let cool 24 hours and ensure lids have sealed. Store any unsealed jars in the fridge and use within a few weeks. To bake a pie, simply pour it into a prepared pie shell. Bake at 425 degrees until filling is bubbling or follow your own pie recipe for two crust fruit pies. *Notes: Store sliced apples in a solution of water and *lemon juice (2 tablespoons lemon juice per large bowl of water) to prevent browning until ready to proceed with recipe OR add *fruit fresh to the water. **Clear Jel - is a thickener/starch that is used in high heat canning - do not use any other thickening agent (such as flour, cornstarch or tapioca) Only use 'Cook Type' Clear Jel for this recipe. Increase processing time for high altitude as needed: 1,001-3,000 ft 5 minutes, 3,001-6,000 ft 10 minutes, 6,001+ ft 15 minutes. Recipe Adapted from USDA Home Canning Guide. Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home Rustic Apple Galette Ingredients: 1 Package of Frozen Phyllo Dough *or make your own from scratch see below. 1 1/2 pounds apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1/8-inch-thick slices 2 Tbs White Sugar 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel 1 Tbs Maple Syrup 2 Tbs Brown Sugar 1/4 cup apricot preserves Whole milk From Scratch Dough: 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes 2 tablespoons (or more) ice water Dough: Blend flour and salt in processor. Add butter and blend, using on/off turns, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 2 tablespoons ice water and blend just until dough begins to clump together, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic and chill 1 hour. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep dough chilled. Soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out. Roll out dough between sheets of parchment paper to 1/8-inch-thick round, 14 inches in diameter. Remove top sheet of parchment. Using bottom sheet as aid, transfer dough on parchment to large unrimmed baking sheet. Chill 15 minutes. Galette: Preheat oven to 450°F. Combine apple slices, maple syrup, 2 Tbs brown sugar, and lemon peel in medium bowl; toss to blend. Spread preserves over crust, leaving 1 1/2-inch plain border. Arrange apple slices in concentric circles atop preserves, overlapping slightly. Using parchment as aid, fold plain crust border up over apples, pinching any cracks in crust. Brush crust with milk. Sprinkle crust edges and apples with remaining 2 tablespoons white sugar. Bake galette 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F and continue baking until crust is golden, about 30 minutes longer. Remove from oven. Slide long thin knife between parchment and galette. Let stand at least 10 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature. Adapted from: Bon Appetit/Hill Photo by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home What a better way to start off the day then making something with apples. I like the idea of this recipe because it has many uses! You can thicken more and use as a pie filling with pecans, warm and pour over french toast or pancakes, drizzle onto or into your Fall or Holiday desserts and even top onto baked brie as a wonderful warm appetizer. I likes that this "jam" wasn't SUPER gelled and had just the right amount of "give" - just thick enough to consider it 'jam' and thin enough to scoop and use in so many other dishes! As a bonus, your house smells wonderful when making this! Enjoy - Diane. **updated New & Improved! 9/2017
The Best Caramel Apple Jammy Stuff Ingredients: 6 cups diced peeled apples (1/8-inch cubes) 1 cup apple juice, preferred (or water) 1 Tablespoon lemon juice 1 package powdered fruit pectin ** 2 cups white granulated sugar 2 cups packed brown sugar 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 dash of vanilla bean paste *optional Directions: Combine apples, apple juice *or water and lemon juice in a large sauce-pot or dutch oven. Simmer, covered for 10 minutes. Stir in all but, 1/4 cup of sugar and bring to a full rolling boil, stirring frequently. Add in pectin mixed with remaining sugar. Return to a full rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring frequently. Once thickened, remove from heat; stir in cinnamon, nutmeg & vanilla. Taste to see if jam needs any more cinnamon or nutmeg. Pour hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch head-space. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened clean paper towel; adjust two-piece metal canning lids. Process in a Boiling Waterbath Canner 5 minutes, adjusting for your altitude. (add one minute for every 1,000 foot rise in elevation) Yield: 6 half-pints. Recipe Note: ** I like using (Pink Box) Sure Jell Premium Fruit Pectin in this recipe. You can add 1/2 teaspoon of butter to reduce foaming. TRY DIFFERENT FLAVOR PROFILES: Apple Pie Jam I - use all white sugar: Cinnamon, Nutmeg & Allspice (or Mace) Apple Pie Jam II - use all white sugar: Ginger & Cardamom Salted Caramel Jam: Kosher Salt, to taste & Vanilla Bean Paste Recipe adapted from: NCHFP Apple Preserves Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home Slow Cooker Spiced Apple Butter - for Canning I love making this in the slow-cooker!!! and if you don't want to water-bath can, you can refrigerate the butter for 2-3 months, or freeze for up to a year. One of my most popular recipes and people love it. I use this fruit butter to top warm oatmeal and homemade ice cream, top off cakes and cobblers, blend into baked goods - like my Apple Galette dessert. A lot of folks comment that they love this so much, they eat it directly from the jar with a spoon. Any way you spoon it - this stuff is GOOD! ~Enjoy! Diane Yield: About 6 half-pints or 3 pint jars. Ingredients: 6 pounds apples, cored and peeled, cut into quarters ** 2 cups apple cider 4 cups water 1 cup sugar (you can use 1/2 white 1/2 brown sugar if preferred) 1/2 cup honey 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract, optional 2 star anise 2 cinnamon sticks **A word about Apples: keep in mind - the sweetness or tartness of the apples you choose, will flavor the finished product significantly. (see below) Spiced "Sweet" Apple Butter I prefer using "sweeter" apples such as Braeburn, Red Delicious, and Honeycrisp with Gala and Fuji. being the sweetest apples and my most requested combination. Spiced "Tart" Apple Butter. Use Granny Smiths and Cripps Pinks for a tart finish to your product. Directions: Start on the stove top: Put the peeled, cored apples in a 6- or 8-quart heavy-bottomed pan. Add the cider and 4 cups of water and bring to a boil over high heat (Add in the cinnamon sticks and star anise, these will be removed after boiling) Keep mixture at a medium-high boil, stirring occasionally, until the apples are completely broken down and the apples are soft, 30 to 40 minutes. Into the slow cooker: Carefully remove the cinnamon sticks and star anise with a slotted spoon. Pour the softened apple mixture from your pot into a 6-quart slow cooker, and stir in the sugar and spices. Puree with immersion blender. Cook on the "Low" setting with the lid propped up or set askew to allow the liquid to evaporate for 9 to 12 hours, stirring occasionally, until mixture is thick and dark.(Keep in mind different slow cookers cook at different temperatures.) My motto is - "You know your apple butter is ready when you can stand a large spoon up in it without the spoon falling over - otherwise, you just have applesauce." Onto canning: Place the slow cooker on high for 10-15 minutes, ladle hot apple butter into sterilized, hot canning jars, leaving 1/2-inch head-space. Apply a new lid and tighten down with band, process for 10 minutes in a boiling water-bath canner (or according to your altitude) Carefully remove the jars from the canner to a draft free spot (I place mine on a towel lined cookie sheet on my counter top) and do not disturb for 12 hours. After 2-3 hours, check to see that the lids have sealed, and immediately refrigerate any jars that haven’t sealed. After 24 hours, remove bands, wash jars, label and store in pantry for up to 1 year. Recipe & Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home Apple Cinnamon Cake Loaf Ingredients: 1/3 Cup Brown Sugar 1 tsp ground cinnamon 2/3 Cup White Sugar 1/2 Cup butter, softened 2 eggs 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour 1 3/4 tsp baking powder 1/2 Cup Milk 1 apple, peeled and chopped Directions: Makes one 9x5 loaf. Preheat Oven to 350. Grease and flour loaf pan. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl. set aside. Beat white sugar, and butter together in a bowl using mixer until smooth and creamy. Beat in the eggs - one at a time until incorporated, add vanilla extract. Combine flour and baking powder together in a bowl; stir into creamed butter mixture. Mix milk into batter until smooth. Pour half the batter into loaf pan and top with half the apples and half the cinnamon/brown sugar mixture. Pour remaining batter into pan and top with remaining apples and brown sugar minture. Lightly pat apples in & swirl brown sugar through apples using a finger or spoon. Bake 30-40 mins until toothpick comes out clean in center. Recipe Adapted from: KeyIngredient Photo by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home |