apple butter sub
Posted by faunablues on Dec 28, 2010 · Member since Aug 2003 · 9655 posts
Sooo I want to make this recipe http://bittersweetblog.wordpress.com/2010/11/26/friday-black-friday/ (just the black gingerbread, not the whole ice cream thing), but I don't have apple butter. Nor do any stores near me, apparently. Has anyone substituted for apple butter before?
The closest things I have are blackberry jam and applesauce... aaaand I was hoping to not make apple butter from scratch
how 'bout it, vegweb?
I would probably try applesauce...apple butter just seems to taste like a thick-ish applesauce to me. Maybe try to make half a batch that way and see what happens...
you could also sub with earth balance!
Apple butter usually has cinnamon and sometimes clove, and it's sweeter because it's cooked down. So add a little spice and maybe a touch more sweetening, and try that.
:-D And if you feel adventurous, making apple butter from scratch is super easy if you have a crockpot. I dump home made applesauce in, with some cinnamon and cloves, and a little brown sugar, and cook it on low for 24 hrs with the lid OFF! IT condenses itself, and when it gets nice and thick I adjust the seasonings and whirl it in the food processor to make it super smooth. I can it like jam, but it freezes good too! Oh, and your house smells super yummy!
how much does it cook down? and how much do you make at once? i don't want buckets of apple butter =/
Add a jar of applesauce to a pot and simmer for a few hours with apple butter spices (cinnamon, cloves, allspice), stirring occasionally. It's done when it kind of looks like chutney. What you don't use you can freeze for later use.
how much does it cook down? and how much do you make at once? i don't want buckets of apple butter =/
I use my 6 qt crock and cook the sauce down to about 60% of its original volume. But you can do just a couple of cups of apple sauce if you wanted less, in a little crock or on the stove like HH recomended. For my time, I like the hands off design of the crock pot, but the stove or oven work too.