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Apple butter is a highly concentrated form of apple sauce produced by long, slow cooking of apples with cider or water to a point where the sugar in the apples caramelizes, turning the apple butter a deep brown. Sometimes seasoned with cinnamon, clove, and other spices, apple butter is usually spread on bread, used as a side dish, an ingredient in baked goods, or as a condiment. Vinegar or lemon juice is sometimes mixed in while cooking to provide a small amount of tartness to the usually sweet apple butter. In areas of the American South, the production of apple butter is a family event, due to the large amount of labor necessary to produce apple butter in large quantities.
Traditionally, apple butter was prepared in large copper kettles outside. Large paddles were used to stir the apples, and family members would take turns stirring. In Jersey, in the Channel Islands, apple butter is known as black butter or lé nièr beurre and includes liquorice as an ingredient. In Northern Ireland it is now produced under the name “Irish Black Butter” in Co. In Japan, apple butter often contains actual butter and is considerably lighter in color, typically a shade of yellow. It is used as a spread on toast or as a filling in baked buns, and may have a mashed texture with small apple chunks, similar to the red bean paste filling used in anpan.
