Apple Blackberry Butter

I have been working in the yards and gardens lately and have not posted a canning recipe this week. So I am going to share a great recipe today of my own. That is the great thing about growing your own fruit is that you have plenty to experiment with come canning time and can adjust those recipes to your individual and family taste buds.  But with this recipe you know you have hit on something when you have to run the kids away from the kitchen because every time you turn around they have a finger in the roaster or they are licking the stirring spoon. For my family this is definitely a keeper.

Now my bunch all love apples, apple pie, apple jelly, applesauce and apple butter. But with two full grown apple trees and another half grown we usually get really tired of picking, peeling, canning and yes even eating apples, long before they are gone. On this day we filled up the roaster with peeled and sliced apples then added about half an inch of water to the bottom of the roaster to keep the apples from scorching until they start to cook down and make their own juices. I added about 3 Tablespoons of lemon juice to the apples to keep them from browning and 2 quart bags of frozen blackberries from the freezer. Then I put the lid on the roaster and let it simmer.

The apples and berries cooked low and slow for several hours. Meanwhile I ran a broom over the floors, mopped, did several loads of laundry and got my jars ready for my butter. I did stir it every hour or so. 

You want to cook it until the berries have cooked to pieces and the apples are soft enough to puree. 

Then I took my hand mixer with the puree tip and simply ran it through the hot apples and berries until they are smooth. 

Now add sugar. I added a cup and a half to this roaster, so not much or it will overpower the taste of the apples and berries. How much sugar you add will depend on what variety of apples you use and how sweet the apples and berries are. Mine were pretty sweet already. 

Now continue to cook down and concentrate until it is the consistency of apple butter or simply can as is as apple blackberry applesauce.  Once at the consistency you want add to hot jars leaving 1 inch headspace. 

Remove bubbles and wipe rims with a clean wet cloth. 

Apply warm lids and rings to hot jars and finger tighten only.

Put in hot water bath canner with water one inch over top of jars and bring to boil. Boil hard for 20 minutes. Remove from canner and allow to sit overnight and cool. Any jars not sealed should be refrigerated.

And another 15 jars for the pantry. A nice spread on buttered toast or hot biscuits. The sweet tangy bite of the blackberry a nice compliment to the tartness of the baking apples. And a break from the traditional apple and cinnamon combo. 

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter