Apple Pie Filling

Yesterday I made some Apple Pie Filling and canned it. I've made it before, but it was thick and clumpy in the jars. It turned out fine in pies but I couldn't use it for toppings for pancakes, etc. I had read last year about something called Clear Jel. My sister ordered us some and I gave it a whirl. It turned out FANTASTIC!

First, you need some apples. I used Granny Smith, which are great for pies.

Next, you need a child slave...er...helper :)

Then you need a mom with a double chin to cook. Really, its just the angle of the picture. The photographer is precisely 45 inches tall.

This is another fun gadget that is great for apple recipes. Mine is from Pampered Chef, but you can get the anywhere. It's an Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer. You screw it on the table...

Spear on the apple...

Turn the handle and it will start peeling the apple. See the neat little strip of peel! So cool!

When it hits the end, it starts coring and slicing the apple.

After its done and you remove the apple, this is what is left.

A nice little pile of peel...

And here is your apple! Its basically a big spiral. And it does this in about 15 seconds. I don't know about you, but I can't peel/core/slice an apple in that time frame!

If you get tired, that is what your helper is for! Oh, PSA, don't forget to put the peeling bar back up...as you can see in the picture, I forgot on this one and it was coring and slicing but not peeling. Oops!

I take a knife and cut the apple lengthwise into 4 for smaller slices. You want to put the waiting apples into a solution of lemon juice and water. I use about 1/4c in a bowl. They might get a teensy bit brown but that will disappear in a bit.

Now you want to get a pot of water boiling to blanche the apples. I started it before I was done with the apples so it was ready. I add a cup of sugar for a very, very light syrup. You will put about 6 cups of apples in at a time. Bring back to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Put the warm apples into a different covered pot to keep warm. Repeat till apples are all blanched.

Here are the apples in the boiling water right after I added them. See they are slightly brown?

After blanching, much better!

Here is the Clear Jel. Its basically like cornstarch but it keeps the sauce clear instead of cloudy.
This mixture is sugar, Clear Jel, Pumpkin Pie spice with some extra cinnamon. This is now added to the apple cider and water.

Cook this mixture until it gets thick and starts to bubble. I stirred it pretty constantly with a wire whisk.When it starts to bubble, add the lemon juice.

Here it is all thick and bubbly. Boil it for 1 minute.

Take it off the heat, or turn off the burner if you have a gas stove like I do. Dump in the blanched apples. Fold them in gently.

Here is the pie filling, all ooey, gooey and yummy!

Use your canning funnel and a ladle to fill the jars with pie filling.

And the finished product! Jars should process in a boiling water bath for 30 minutes.

Now, for the fun part:

Now for the recipe:

6 quarts apples, sliced and blanched
5.5 cups Sugar
1.5 cups Clear Jel
1 TB Cinnamon
1 tsp Numeg
2.5 cups Water
5 cups Apple Cider or Apple Juice
3/4 cup Bottled Lemon Juice

I modified it slightly. I used different spices and decreased the amount of Clear Jel. The consistency in cutting back the Clear Jel made it similar to store bought pie filling. The recipe said it would make 7 quarts but I only got about 5.5 quarts. So, I'm thinking I needed 6 quarts of apples after they are blanched instead of before.

So, here's my recipe:

8 quarts raw apples (about 32 cups)
5.5 cups Sugar
1 cup Clear Jel
1 TB Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 tsp Cinnamon
2.5 cups Water
5 cups Apple Cider
3/4 cup Bottled Lemon Juice

I'm going to make more this week using that amount of apples. I'll let you know how it goes!