Amazing grape apple butter you should definitely make this fall. Isabella grapes are one of the grape varieties that you want to love. Closely related to the Concord grapes, they are sweet and oh so fragrant, with a deep aromatic flavor and a long sweet aftertaste. However, the skin is somewhat chewy, and the seeds are the size of an elephant. But disregarding these two minor issues, the grapes do make wonderful fruit butter.
It is genuinely marvelous and totally worth the effort and time.
Out of all the jams and jars of fruit butter we made this year, and we made quite a lot, this one is the most popular by far.
the grapes
In this recipe, I used Isabella grapes, but you can easily use Concord grapes.
There is one huge positive aspect of the Isabella grapes: they are just so easy to grow. I have a couple of vines which just kind of chill and enjoy their time growing like crazy from year to year, producing luscious green leaves and nice plump, healthy grapes in the fall. They grow right next to our compost bins, so I guess they love it.
Honestly, I don’t even remember anyone planting these grapes, they just popped up one season, and we let them be. We don’t treat them with anything, only prune them in the spring and late autumn to ensure proper growth of the vines. Nature is just wonderfully beautiful.
how to make the grape apple butter
As with any preserves, it is always great to prepare the jars ahead. So, wash the jars, place them upside down on a cooling rack in the oven and turn the oven on to 100C. Leave them in the oven until they are completely dry.
Now, on to the labor work. As I mentioned above, these grapes have chewy skin and large seeds, which should be removed. The skin is full of flavor so we will include it in the butter. The easiest way to remove the skin is to pinch each grape so that the skin slips off.
Place the skins in one cooking pot and the pulp in another. To keep the sanity and still finish this job, it is best to put some audiobook or a podcast on and do the work. It will go much smoother, plus you will have your reading done for a day. Win-win. Or, if you are lucky, find someone else who is willing to do the work. My dad even volunteered, yay!!! Lucky me.
Once you get all the grapes cleaned up, place it on the stove and cook on the medium heat until the seeds start to separate, and the pulp is soft.
Add cored and diced apples along with the lemon zest and juice to the pot with the skins and cook until the apples are soft.
Pass the cooked plump through a sieve, discard the seeds and add the cleaned plump to the cooking pot.
Blend the cooked apples and grape skins in a blender until it has creamy, buttery consistency. Add the blended apples to the pot with the cleaned grape plump and add the sugar and the vanilla paste.
Cook on low to medium heat until the grape apple butter thickens but is still a bit runny. Be careful not to burn it at this stage. Note that it will further set once it cools down.
storing the grape apple butter
The way you store the grape apple butter depends on the quantity you made and the time period in which you want to use it. If you made a smaller batch, you should keep it in the fridge. It should be good for two weeks.
However, if you are like me and would love to enjoy this super fragrant butter for longer periods, you will need to preserve the butter by slowly simmering the jars. See the details of the process in the recipe.
ways of serving the grape apple butter
This amazing grape apple butter goes so well with so many goodies, like oatmeal, chia pudding, crepes, pancakes, biscuits, salad dressing, grilled wild meat, etc. Too many options to count.
Whichever option you choose I am sure you will love it.
Enjoy!
Isabella grape apple butter
Equipment & Tools
- 8 x 290ml jars
- Vitamix blender
- Kitchen sieve
INGREDIENTS
- 2.6 kg grapes (Isabella or Concord)
- 500 g apples (Jonagold)
- 1 tbsp vanilla paste (Nielsen-Massey)
- 1 lemon zest
- 1 lemon juice
- 265 g sugar (unrefined)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Gather all the ingredients and equipment.
- Wash the jars, place them upside down in the oven, and turn the oven on to 100°C (212°F) (Note 1)The jars will warm up and dry. Once they are completely dry turn the oven off but leave the jars in the oven until it is time to use them.
Prepare the fruit
- Remove the skins from the grapes by pinching each grape between the fingers.Place the plump in one cooking pot and the skins in another.
- Wash, core, and dice the apples. Add the apples to the cooking pot with the grape skins.Add the lemon zest and lemon juice.
Cook the fruit
- Cook the grape plump on medium heat for 30 minutes or until the seeds start to separate and the plump is soft.
- Cook the apples and the skins for 15 minutes or until the apples are soft and start to get mushy.
Process the cooked fruit
- Place the kitchen sieve over a clean bowl.Ladle two scoops of cooked grape plump into the kitchen sieve. Using a large spoon push and scrape the plump through the sieve until you are left with only the seeds.Repeat for the remaining grape plump.
- Process cooked apple and grape skins in the blender until creamy.
Cook the grape apple butter
- Add processed grape plump and blended apples and skins to a clean cooking pot.Add sugar and vanilla paste and cook on low heat for 20 minutes or until the butter has a creamy and not runny consistency. Stir after every 2 minutes or so. While stirring there should not be any mixture stuck on the bottom of the pan.
Fill the sterilized jars
- Fill the jars one by one.Using a jar lifter or baking gloves carefully remove a jar from the oven. They will be quite hot, so be careful not to burn yourself.
- Using a larger spoon carefully ladle some butter into the jar. Use jar funnel if you have one. If not try not to drop any butter on the jar rim. Fill the jar by leaving about 1 cm space from the top.Check that the rim of the jar is clean (no butter on it) and if not take a clean kitchen towel and wipe it clean and dry. (Note 2)
- Place the lid on top, close tightly. When you put the lid on, it should not touch the butter inside. Set aside.
- Repeat with other jars and the remaining butter.
Preserving the jam
- Using a large stainless steel pot place a canning rack on the bottom. See note if you don't have a canning rack. (Note 4)
- Carefully place the filled jars on the canning rack.Add hot boiling water to the pot so that a minimum ½ of the jar's height is covered.
- Turn the heat on medium to achieve a very slow simmer. Simmer for at least 10 minutes.Turn the heat off and let the jars cool a bit before taking them out. Approximately 15 minutes.After 15 minutes take the jars out on a cooling rack using the jar lifter and let cool completely (Note 3)
- With a cloth wipe the water marks from the jar (don't turn the jar upside down) and store in a cool place.
NOTES
- If the jar lids have a rubber band which is separate from the lid, don’t put them in the oven along with the jars and lids.
- Before closing the lids fully, always check that you placed the lid correctly as any air circulation will not allow for the jam to be preserved correctly. This is especially important with the jar that has a rubber band separately from the lid (e.g. Weck jars).
- The butter is properly preserved if the top of the lid is convex or indented inward and pressing on it does nothing. If it is concave and when you press it, it indents inwards then you should reseal the jar and repeat the preserving process since the jar did not seal airtight. Or just consume this jar first.
- If you don’t have a canning rack for the pot, use kitchen cloth. It is important for the jars not to be directly on the heat source. Just fold the kitchen cloth so that it covers the bottom of the pot and it is folded at least 4 times. If it is too small for 4 folds then use two cloths. Make sure that when you place the jars they are leveled and not tilted to the side.
