Last night, I had an amazing dinner. I'd ask you to guess what I had, but the odds are stacked unfairly against you. My dinner consisted of perfectly toasted sourdough bread, smeared with butter, and topped with Cardamom Apple Pie Preserves.
Apple Pie Preserves...Say What?
I'll never forget the first time my mom made some apple pie preserves. She had some old apples that she didn't want to toss out.
Being the resourceful woman that she was, she chopped them up, added some sugar, lemon juice, and cinnamon. Boom, just like that, a great recipe was born!
I named this recipe Apple Pie Preserves because it tasted just like apple pie, minus the pie crust. Of course, I had to add some cardamom to the recipe, it is my favorite spice after all.
Notice I don't add pectin to the preserves. Apples are naturally high in pectin, making the addition of pectin unnecessary.
How to Make This Recipe
1. Peel, core, and dice the apples. Add to a 6-quart Dutch oven.
2. Pour sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom over the apples. Stir lightly and allow to rest for 30 minutes until the apples release their juices.
3. Add lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla, stirring to combine. Bring mixture to a boil, then cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for approximately 20 minutes, or until the syrup thickens. Remember that it will thicken further as it cools!
4. While the preserves is cooking, sterile the jars and lids by boiling them in a large pot of water.
5. Use an immersion blender to emulsify to the desired consistency. Fill sterilized jars with the preserves, leaving a half-inch headspace.
6. Place jars in a water bath for 15 minutes. Remove the jars, and allow to cool on the counter. Store in a dark, cool place, or share them with your family and friends!
Using this Apple Preserves as a Pie Filling
Another use for this preserves is as a pie filling or as a filling for Apple Strudel.
If you use it in the strudel, I would leave out the raisins, unless you like your strudel extra sweet. The ground walnuts will go perfectly with this preserves, so I wouldn't leave them out.
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Cardamom Apple Pie Preserves
Ingredients
- 3 lbs. Anna apples (or your favorite variety)
- 3 cups sugar
- ¼ tsp. cinnamon
- ¼ tsp. cardamom
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- zest from one lemon
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
- Peel, core, and dice the apples. Add to a 6-quart Dutch oven.
- Pour sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom over the apples. Stir lightly and allow to rest for 30 minutes until the apples release their juices.
- Add lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla, stirring to combine. Bring mixture to a boil, then cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for approximately 20 minutes, or until the syrup thickens. Remember that it will thicken further as it cools!
- While the preserves is cooking, sterile the jars and lids by boiling them in a large pot of water.
- Use an immersion blender to emulsify to the desired consistency. Fill sterilized jars with the preserves, leaving a half-inch headspace.
- Place jars in a water bath for 15 minutes. Remove the jars, and allow to cool on the counter. Store in a dark, cool place, or share them with your family and friends!
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