Apple butter is a project, not a quick recipe. It takes most of a day — but I promise you, the house will smell so extraordinary that you won't mind a single minute of it. The apples, the cinnamon, the brown sugar, the cloves — it all just slowly fills every room with the smell of October.
The apples
Use a mix. I like a combination of Honeycrisp for sweetness, Granny Smith for tartness, and whatever heritage variety I can find at the farmers market. Peel and core about five pounds. Don't be too precise — this is a slow, forgiving recipe.
The long cook
Start your apples in a large heavy pot with half a cup of apple cider and cook them down until soft, about thirty minutes. Then blend them smooth. Return to the pot, add one cup of brown sugar (taste and adjust), two teaspoons of cinnamon, half a teaspoon each of allspice and cloves, and a good pinch of salt. Stir and cook on the very lowest heat, uncovered, stirring every twenty minutes or so, for three to four hours.
You'll know it's done when a spoonful holds its shape on a cold plate and the colour has deepened to a rich mahogany. It should taste like autumn in a jar — complex, spiced, a little sweet, a little tart.
Ladle into sterilised jars while hot. It keeps in the refrigerator for three weeks, or processed in a water bath for shelf-stable storage. Spread it on everything. I mean everything.