Is there any better fall smell than that of apples and spices cooking away in your kitchen? Chef Eric Garcia recently pulled out his crockpot (yes, even the “master” uses a crockpot!) to stir up some homemade apple butter with fruit he picked from his very own trees. The fragrance of  “Fall” made his home smell absolutely delicious, and now he’s sharing his recipe so your home can smell wonderful too. Enjoy!

Chef Eric Garcia’s Apple Butter

What you’ll need:

1. Lots of apples…enough to fill to the top of a crockpot.
2. Apple cider
3. Sugar in the raw
4. Cinnamon
5. Clove
6. Nutmeg

What you’ll do:

1.  Wash apples, quarter, and remove seeds.

2.  Place in crockpot. Fill to the tip top.

3.  Add enough apple cider to fill about 2 to 3 inches in the crockpot.

4.  Cook on low for roughly 20 hours.

CHEF’S NOTE: Watch your time in the crockpot. Some of the crockpots cook hotter than others. Just be careful not to burn the apple mixture.

5.  Remove the apple mixture from the crockpot and puree.

6.  Measure the pureed apple mixture.

7.  For every 2 cups of pureed apple mixture add the following spices: ½ cup sugar in the raw, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon clove, ½ teaspoon nutmeg.

CHEF’S NOTE: Grind your spices as you use them for a better flavor. Coffee grinders, blender or micro planes work well.

8.  Return the pureed and fully spiced apple mixture to the crockpot.

9.  Cook on low for another 8 hours.

10.  It should be thick, dark and have a good flavor.

CHEF’S NOTE: Doesn’t look thick enough? Don’t forget the apple butter will contoinue to thicken in the refrigerator.

11.  Remove the finished apple butter and can, freeze or refrigerate!

12.  Enjoy!