The cool fall air has moved in, the Jewish New Year is in full swing, I have a Monday off, and I have a bag of mixed apples from Honey Pot Hill Orchards sitting in my fridge. It is the perfect storm!
Every once in a while a get a wild hair to take on a new cooking challenge. Lately, the hairs of note include pickles, my famous chocolate beer chili (not yet blogged about), and newly added to my future hairs list is homemade ricotta cheese. So yesterday, with a day off and FINALLY feeling 100% better again, it was time to tackle the bag of apples we brought home from the orchard. But what to make?
I consulted my go-to favorite recipe site AllRecipes, and perused their extensive lists of fall and apple recipes. But nothing got me to start heading into the kitchen. I needed something special, something people don’t make every day….something like…Homemade Apple Cider!!
Armed with some general guidelines from a few different recipes on the site, I headed to the kitchen and began the fairly long process. Long is fine though, if you will be home anyway, and if you take into account the UNBELIEVABLE aroma that fills the entire house! Ryan said it best when he said “it’s too bad you can’t take a picture of the way it smells”. If anyone has tips on how to do that, I am all ears!
Apple Cider Recipe
Ingredients:
- 10 Medium apples, cored and quartered
- Water
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp allspice
Directions:
1. Place apples in a large stock pot
2. Pour water over apples filling to 2 inches above the apples
3. Turn heat onto medium high
4. Add the sugar, cinnamon & allspice to the pot
5. Bring to a slow boil for 1 hour, uncovered (reduce heat if needed to not over boil, but keep it at a slow boil)
6. Cover and simmer on low to medium-low heat for 2 hours
7. In a clean sink, place a metal strainer over a bowl
8. Slowly pour mixture through the strainer
9. Once the immediate liquid has drained, take a wooden spoon and press the pulp against the side of the strainer to extract any remaining liquid
10. You can retain the pulp as applesauce, to make apple butter, or for use in another recipe
11. Now run the liquid through a cheese cloth or coffee filters in order to clarify the cider. This may actually be the slowest part of the entire process. (I hung coffee filters at the top of my jars and secured them with just the jar ring, so I was only able to pour small amounts at a time)
12. Again, gently press the pulp against the side of the filter, with a spoon, to extract excess liquid. Take extreme care to NOT puncture the filter and have to start that part of the process again!
13. Refrigerate your cider and enjoy!
My batch made 2 quarts and a pint of cider, but it will all depend on the apples that you use!
Delicious!!
I thought homemade cider was a much more involved process, involving special equipment, etc– although it doesn’t seem like a quick task, definitely easier than I thought! I’ll have to hit up our local orchard! Thanks!
I thought the same thing! I was shocked at how “easy” it was! And the flavor was actually better than any cider I have bought before, although I suspect that has a lot to do with which apples you use.
mmmmmm!!! love that you can use the pulp as applesauce! going to have to do this after applepicking next week!