Apple Butter: a sweet treat with no allergens—just apples, sugar and spices

     One problem with commercial jams and jellies is that the fruit that they were made from may have had time to sit around growing mold or yeast. If you're allergic to mold or yeast, you can take care of this problem by making your own jam or jelly from fruit that you have inspected.  Note that thin-skinned sweet fruit (such as cherries and grapes) is normally coated with a layer of yeast: use fruit you can peel, such as apples or peaches).

     Another problem with most jams and jellies is that they contain quite a lot of corn. Indeed, the first ingredient in most of them is corn syrup. The pectin in most jams and jellies contains corn, too. 

     The simplest way to completely avoid corn in your fruit spread is to make apple butter using cane or beet sugar and peeled apples: peeling removes any waxy coating containing soy, corn or dairy that was put on the apples, and a good long simmer reduces the water content of the apples, concentrating their pectin (apples contain more pectin than most fruit).

     2 qt. apple sauce (See Apple Sauce in the Glossary)

     5-6 c. sugar, depending on your taste and the sweetness of your apples 

          (See Sugar in the Glossary)

     3/4 tsp. cinnamon (See Spices in the Glossary)

     1/4 tsp. ground cloves (See Spices in the Glossary)

     Combine all ingredients in a pot. Bring to a boil, and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until about half of the applesauce has boiled off. This will take 3 hours or so.  To tell whether your apple butter has reached the right consistency yet, put a dab of it on a plate and leave the plate in the fridge for a couple of minutes.  If it is solid enough, it's done. 

     This recipe makes 9 or so cups of apple butter. Can it following the instructions at a reputable site such as this one.