Apple butter is a preserve made with apples, scented with cinnamon and lemon, which we can use for both sweet and savory recipes to create that delicious sweet-and-sour contrast that is delightful!

It’s very simple, and the long cooking creates a rather thick apple sauce perfect for spreading on toast and cookies, but it also goes great on a crostini with slices of camembert or brie (and I already have some ideas in mind, hehe).

I didn’t want to blend the mixture with an immersion blender because it was already soft and creamy, but if you prefer, 10 seconds with a blender and voilà!

The prolonged cooking of the apple butter creates a caramel-like effect, and indeed the color is dark, caramelized because the water contained in the fruit evaporates slowly while cooking the apple slices cream resulting in a dense and delicious preserve.

The spice I used to flavor the homemade apple butter is cinnamon powder, but we can also use a pinch of nutmeg (you know it’s poisonous in large quantities?) or cloves or vanilla bean.

The apple butter recipe originates from Central European countries like Germany and the Netherlands, which in the Middle Ages were countries with high apple production and this is an excellent method for preserving fruit for a long time.

The apple butter is also perfect for filling a pie, and we can pour it into sterilized jars, keeping it in the refrigerator for a week.

If we prefer, we can freeze the creamy apple butter preserve in the freezer, but personally, I prefer to make it again since it’s economical and doesn’t require much work.

I’ll leave you more apple-based recipes like: