One of recipes I would see over and over that looked amazing in photographs is Apple Pie filling. This recipe is everything inside the pie crust ready to be poured in and tucked away in my canning closet till the holidays call for the traditional apple pie. The recipe is easy, but the apple preparation can be time consuming. Now some of you may have the old fashion apple peeling device which after this I may have to hunt down, but I really have been working on my knife skills and want to get better at the art of paring. Well after 10 lbs of apples I think that I could say that practice makes perfect! Here is the fantastic recipe:
Apple Pie Filling
Use cooking or baking type apples to make homemade, canned apple pie filling.
10 pounds tart apples - peeled, cored and sliced (~20 cups sliced)
5 1/2 cups sugar
5 1/2 cups sugar
1 T. cinnamon
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2-1/2 cups cold water (2 1/2 qts water if you omit apple juice)
5 cups apple juice
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5 cups apple juice
1 tsp. nutmeg
3/4 cup bottled lemon juice
Preparation -
For fresh apples, place 6 cups at a time into 1 gallon of boiling water and boil one minute when it comes back to a boil. Drain but keep fruit covered in a bowl.
In a stockpot, mix the sugar, Clearjel, cinnamon, nutmeg together. Add the water and apple juice, stir to mix well. Bring to a boil and cook until thick and bubbly, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Add the lemon juice. Fold apples into mixture.
Pack the apples into hot, sterilized quart size canning jars. Best way to fill is in layers. Using the funnel ladle one large scoop and using the spatula press the apples down in the jar to remove the bubbles. Continue filling using this technique so that you work your way up the jar with as little air bubbles as possible. Fill the jars to 1" headspace.
Wipe the rims and place the hot lid/rings on the jars. Process in a water bath canner for 25 minutes at a full rolling boil. Wait 5 minutes, remove and place on dishtowel overnight undisturbed. The next day remove rings and clean jars and label with recipe name and date. Store in a cool, dry, and dark place. This recipe will make 6 - 7 quarts.
Pack the apples into hot, sterilized quart size canning jars. Best way to fill is in layers. Using the funnel ladle one large scoop and using the spatula press the apples down in the jar to remove the bubbles. Continue filling using this technique so that you work your way up the jar with as little air bubbles as possible. Fill the jars to 1" headspace.
Wipe the rims and place the hot lid/rings on the jars. Process in a water bath canner for 25 minutes at a full rolling boil. Wait 5 minutes, remove and place on dishtowel overnight undisturbed. The next day remove rings and clean jars and label with recipe name and date. Store in a cool, dry, and dark place. This recipe will make 6 - 7 quarts.
Note: For a great variation substitute brown sugar for the regular sugar and apple cider for the apple juice. This will make an amazing Caramel Apple Pie filling!
18 comments:
What sized jars did you use? Would you use quart sized jars for enough filling for one pie? Thanks!
This recipe is amazing - so yummy and beautiful in the jars! I think I'll need to make more if I want to give any as gifts - my family won't let me give any away!
I would love to make this, but can't find ClearJel in my store, is there a substitute?
There is no substitute. You can order it online from myspicesage.com and they have free shipping and a great turn around time. You can also just can the apples in a light syrup and make the thickener when you are ready to make the pie. It's more work and it might be better to order the Clear Jel online. You want the heat activated not the instant.
With this much clearjel my liquid was too thick (I had a bit that wouldn't unclump, so I scooped it out with a slotted spoon and tossed it). Is there a trick to getting that much clearjel to mix in smoothly and not get too thick, or should I have simply reduced my measure since it was much thicker than I wanted? It tasted delicious, by the way.
I know the feeling. I taught 7 people how to make pie filling at my last class with clear jel. The key is to use a whisk and to add the Clear Jel and continue to whisk from beginning to end. As it thickens, you should turn down the flame while you work out the clumps. I will be making some pie filling this week and I have one additional trick by adding the clear jel to 1 cup of the apple juice using a fork to incorporate then adding it to the sugar, spice and juice mixture. For thickness you could use 1/4 cup less.
Our local bulk foods store carries ClearGel (both the heat activated and the instant). You might have a similar resource in your community.
This recipe is very close to the fresh filling my grandma makes and my family adores so much. But her's have a split of brown sugar and granulated sugar. Do you think this substiution would be alright to make?
Is there any reason you couldn't use Splenda in place of the regular sugar? I have people in my family that can't have lots of sugar.
Renee - You can absolutely substitute all the white sugar with brown and have a caramel apple pie filling. If you also want you can use apple cider for a richer flavor.
Stephanie - Yes you can use Splenda or Stevia for this recipe.
I love apple pie and always make my crust and filling from scratch... I am willing to give this one a shot. There is quite a bit of lemon juice, which is necessary... but is there a strong flavor of it in this filling? When you bake your pie, do you just put this filling in your unbaked pie shell and bake until the crust is finished? Thanks for posting! Looks FANTASTIC!
I left 1 inch of head space... some of the apple slices are sticking up above the level of the syrup... hope it works...
I also had WAY more than 20 cups of slices... a whole peck of apples... and still only got 6 quarts.
The house sure smells good!
Sounds wonderful - I noticed that there's no vanilla extract in this recipe - would adding in vanilla (or caramel) extract ruin the recipe or destabilize it in any way? Thanks so much for sharing this - I love the idea of having homemade apple pie filling ready to go! :)
How long is this recipe's shelf life?
Jars will last one year! Thanks for the comment!
Pinnng this one!! always looking for new filling recepies. this looks good and the apple juice should make it even more flavorful, might even try the cider instead. Thank you Melinda
Is there a reason that all pie filling recipes call for Clearjel now?? What was used before Clearjel was available (ie. what did our Grandmothers use?)? Where can I find one of those recipes?
gfleck
They used to use cornstarch but found somewhere in the last two decades that there is an instability to cornstarch during processing that over two or three months breaks down the gel that the apples sit in. Please see this post that shows what happens: http://www.sbcanning.com/2011/08/canning-pie-filling-education-in-clear.html
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