Misleading memories aside, since we all have them, so many things can affect the taste of Apple Butter that it may be difficult to duplicate without specific details. The type/variety of apples used makes a world of difference, so great-Grandma's local-grown apples may have been the key.

You can always add more brown sugar to just about any of the recipes but "richness" is such a subjective term, so vague and inconsistent, that duplicating it is just a matter of experimentation. To some it would mean thicker so cook it down more. To some higher butter fat content but that can't be added before canning. You can however stir some in after opening the jars. To others spicy with more cloves and/or cinnamon and they can be increased 'to taste' with no issues.

Otherwise all I can suggest is to explore Smokey Mountain Living magazine' website and hundreds of recipes.

My husband is from Appalachia, specifically Middlesboro, Kentucky. They moved there from Tennessee.

Anyway, he says my apple butter is closest to the one his mother made of any he has had. I cook it until it's very thick, I use half brown sugar and half white and add it to taste, starting with a cup of each for a big roaster full of apple puree. I like to use Cortlands or Empire, but MacIntosh also works well, although they are juicier and take longer cooking. I put mine in the oven at 350F for however many hours it takes to be as thick as I want it. I add cinnamon, cloves and allspice, again to taste, but nothing else. I have also taken to just slicing and coring the apples, adding a couple of cups of apple cider or juice, cooking until soft and then mash with a potato masher. If I want it smoother (which I usually do), I use my stick blender to work it up then bake it.

Good luck, I hope you can recreate his memory. Since apples vary, I always start with a minimum of sugar and spices and add after tasting. Maybe your husband would be a volunteer taster, that would help get it closer to the way he wants it.

Annie

Homemade never tastes like that made commercially, which is true for most things. I use a mix of 5 or so varieties of 40-50 total apples, peeled, cored, chunked, cooked with a small amount of water to mush (applesauce), then into the crock pot for several hours (about 6 or more to reduction of 2/3 the volume), adding sweet spices (cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg) and small amount of sugar in the last 1/2 hour to taste, whizzed in the blender in batches to smooth, heated back up to lava eruption in my largest pot (Maslin), put in sterile 1/2 pint jars, de-bubbled, wiping the rims well, adding lids and bands, BWB 5 min after bubbles of boiling start up again, cooling O/N on a rack.

Depending on the varieties of apples (from the orchardist in the Blue Ridge mountains of NC - part of the Appalachian Range) the flavor is slightly different every year, but always wonderful. I don't like the bite of brown sugar (has molasses) since it dulls the tartness of the 2 tart apples in the mix so I use use plain white sugar, and I even make a batch unsweetened that my diabetic and dieting customers love. Because there are 3 of the 5 that are sweet apples, you really don't miss the added sugar.I think cooking them down and adding the spices makes them brown, not brown sugar.

I think that "richness" comes from the mixture of sweet and tart apples and long cooking to release the water in the fruit and thus concentrates the apple flavor. Butter is never needed or used in canned apple butter, nor is it necessary after opening. "Butter" describes the smooth consistency not dairy.

Use apples that are not meant for eating fresh (like Gala, Macintosh, Honey Crisp, Red Delicious - they lose their flavor quickly when cooked) but choose those suited for baking (Mutsu/Crispin, Cortland, Jonagold, Rome Beauty, Stayman, Empire, Fuji, Yellow Delicious), and not Granny Smith, Arkansas Black, or Winesap - they don't work well with other apples. When in doubt, buy one or two of several varieties and make small
batches of applesauce, add spices/sugar and see what mix you like best. Keep notes because you may forget from year to year.

If you are near Elk Park NC on the TN line off 19E (then Buck Mountain Road) visit Johnson's Small Fruits. They have been apple orchardists for 45 years. Mrs Johnson can tell you which apples to mix and prices are very very low. Best time to go is late September through October. We've been buying there for 8 years. If you are in another part of the mountains, search out the local orchardists and visit them directly if you can. Ask the farm stand dealers if they grow what they sell, many do not.

Thank you all for your extremely helpful advice! I'll be sure to follow it. While I do live in the southwest, so no access to the appropriate orchards, luckily I know where to buy the appropriate apple varieties so I should be good there. I was planning on doing it when he was out of town so he comes home to Apple butter. I'll let you know how it turns out!

I agree that a mix of apples makes the best apple butter, apple cider, apple cinnamon syrup, etc. We just pressed another couple of gallons of cider in the hand cranked press, with apples we grow here on the farm. That means that part of the apple were Red Delicious, since Dad planted 3 trees a long time ago. We added Wolf River to the mix, the tree is older than I am, some apples that I've never identified, but seem to be a Gala type, and some MacIntosh and Empire from a neighbor's place. The Red Delicious and Gala types add a nice sweet flavor to the mix, thus it required less sugar.

I used the apple mix for cider in the apple butter, and I just made 12 jars of apple jelly from the crushed remains of today's cider pressing. The mix varies from year to year, depending on how each variety did on my farm and how many the neighbors want to get rid of, LOL.

The thing that makes it most like commercial sauce, though, I think is using a stick blender or like Nancy, putting it in the blender. It makes a big difference in texture. I don't add nutmeg because I don't like it as well, but I did add cardamom to a batch and it was very nice. I'm adding vanilla to the next batch, I think.

Annie