Preserve cranberries and apples in the freezer.
You can combine apples and cranberries into a tangy sweet butter to serve as a condiment with pork roast, or as a spread for turkey sandwiches. The cranberries give the butter a rich and rosy pink tint, and the apples provide sweetness and smoothness to the butter. Make enough for several meals and sandwiches, or use as a spread for biscuits and toast -- then freeze extra amounts for future use.
Instructions
Glass Jars
1. Wash the jars with hot soapy water and rinse well.
2. Place a round cake rack in the bottom of a pot large and deep enough to cover the tops of the jars with one inch of water. Place the jars on the rack and fill the pot with water. The rack keeps the glass jars from directly contacting the hot pan, which may cause the glass to crack. Bring to a boil for 10 minutes. Place the lids of the jars in a bowl and fill the bowl with boiling water. The boiling water sanitizes the jars and lids.
3. Fill the jars while the cranberry apple butter is still hot. Place an empty sterilized jar in a bowl and ladle the butter into the jar, leaving an inch of head space. The water in the apple butter will expand when frozen and the jar may break without space.
4. Screw the lids on the jars and let cool for an hour. Place in the refrigerator until cold and then move into the freezer.
Plastic Containers Or Bags
5. Let the cranberry apple butter cool. If it's boiling or near boiling, the butter may cause plastic containers to warp. Take some butter out of the pot with a metal spoon. Feel the bottom of the spoon with your finger. If it's hot to the touch wait longer for the butter to cool. When you can leave comfortably leave your finger on the bottom of the spoon the apple butter is ready to package.
6. Ladle the cranberry apple butter into the containers. Leave 1/2 inch of head space. If using bags, fill them with roughly one cup -- a reasonable serving size. Squeeze out excess air and seal the bag. When the butter freezes it will expand and fill out the bag a bit. Squeezing out the air gives it room.
7. Place containers or bags in the refrigerator overnight, then move them into the freezer.
Tags: apple butter, apple butter, boiling water, bottom spoon, butter cool