Apple Butter with Rum Burnt Sugar Sauce and Vanilla
Burnt Sugar Sauce was inspired by this recipe but I changed the proportions and swapped in rum for bourbon

I’ve been meaning to make this for two years now. I made it once while I lived in Chelsea and borrowed my food mill from a generous neighbor. But I didn’t use the Rum Burnt Sugar Sauce and I didn’t can it. It sat in my fridge and I slathered it on toast every morning with my tea. It made for a glorious breakfast all through the fall.

I’ve been canning for awhile now, and I have to say that it is pretty scary getting into it because there’s all this equipment and moving pieces and before you know it, you just say, “Forget it!” But I promise you if you give canning a go, you’ll pick it up in no time, and it is strangely meditative and relaxing, not to mention canning your own food makes for some great gifts.

A lot of the tips I include with the canning came to me at a very opportune time with this video of Melissa Clark and Cathy Barrow canning in Melissa’s kitchen. Cathy is a smart, experienced canner, full of friendly, unintimidating advice. For example, if you lack canning tongs, don’t run out to buy them. Just slip a few rubberbands over the grippy part of the tongs and voila – you get some slip-proof tongs which you can use to transport your jars to and from the water bath. Another great tip: use the water from the saucepot where you sterilize the lids and rings to add to the hot water bath if you happen to come up a bit short. And my favorite tip of all, when the jars emerse from the hot water bath, do not tip them over to get rid of the water that has pooled on top of the lid. The jar first has to seal (you’ll hear a pop) before you can do that, otherwise you risk getting food stuck between the lid and the lip of the jar – and there goes all your hard work!

3 pounds mixed apples (such as Mackintosh, Cortland, Macoun)
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
1/4 cup (59 ml) hot water
1/4 cup (59 ml) rum
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise with the seeds scraped out
1 tablespoon (15 ml) fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch freshly ground nutmeg
Pinch freshly ground cloves
Pinch kosher salt

Start Cooking the Apples:
1. In a large pot, combine the apples with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil and cook over high heat until the have collapsed and are falling apart, about 30 minutes.[While the apples cook, you will make the Burnt Sugar Rum Syrup and add it to the apples.]

Make the Rum Burnt Sugar Syrup:
2. As soon as you place your apples and water on the stovetop, make the Rum Burnt Sugar Syrup. In a large skillet set over medium high heat, melt the sugar until it is the color of an Irish setter (thanks, Melissa, for such a great descriptor). Remove the skillet from the heat, and carefully add the hot water (stand back as the caramel may sizzle and spit), stirring until the water and caramel are dissolved. Return the skillet to the stovetop and set over medium-high heat. Add the rum and let the syrup simmer for 2 minutes. Transfer the syrup to the pot with the apples and the water and stir to combine. Add the vanilla bean seeds and the bean itself and continue to cook until the 30 minutes are up and the apples have collapsed and are falling apart.

Return to the Apples:
3. Run the soft apples through a food mill fitted with the finest mesh. The food mill will remove the skin and the seeds. You should get about 5 cups of apple puree.
4. Return the puree to the pot and add the lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Simmer over very low heat, stirring oven to prevent scorching on the bottom. The puree will make quiet gurgling noises from time to time as it comes to a lazy simmer. Cook the apples until the apple butter is thick and jammy and is a color of milk chocolate or a tad lighter.

Prepare Your Jars:
5. While your apple butter is cooking, set a large pot (an 8-quart stockpot is ideal) filled 2/3 of the way with water over high heat and bring it to a boil. Sterilize your canning jars (you can do this on a quick wash cycle in your dish washer or you can boil your jars for 10 minutes.) Fill a medium saucepot with water and bring to a lazy simmer. When ready to can, drop the lids and the rings into the simmering water in the saucepan for about 10 minutes. This allows the rubber part of the lid to become soft, so it better adheres to the lip of the jar.

Canning and Hot Water Bath:
6. Fill the jars with the apple butter (I like to use a canning funnel) and leave 1/2-inch of headspace above. Headspace is the space between the canning lid and the contents of the jar. Thoroughly wipe the lip of the jar so absolutely no food remains on it. Place a lid on top of the jar and screw the canning ring over the jar. Do not screw the ring on too tightly; just make it taught. Repeat with the remaining jars until no more apple butter remains. Place a canning rack at the bottom of the stockpot, or if you’re me, use a silicone trivet. Using either canning tongs, or regular tongs that have a rubber band wrapped around each tip of the tong arms (prevents slipping), transfer the jars to your stockpot with simmering water and bring the water to a boil. If there’s not enough water in the stockpot, use the remaining water from the saucepan to fill the rest of the pot up. Let the jars boil in the water for 10 minutes; then remove and set aside. Important: while you wait for your jars to seal (i.e. you will hear a pop), do not tip the jars to pour off the whatever water remains on top of the lid. Wait for the jar to seal (pop) before doing that otherwise you risk getting the food between the lid and the lip of the jar which undermines your whole canning effort.

9. Once the jars have sealed, label them with the contents and the date and store for up to 1 year.

Makes 4 cups of apple butter. If you get 1/2-cup canning jars, you can get 8 cans of apple butter, which make for excellent gifts come the holiday season!