How to Can Brandied Apples
Looking for that perfect homemade Christmas present? Try canning some brandied apples, they are a simply divine dessert and an easy recipe to can yourself at home. Add a red bow to the top and it makes a great Christmas present (that is, if you don’t eat them all yourself, because they are that good) or add a jar to a gift basket full of homemade goods for an even better and frugal Christmas present!
Brandied apples are fantastic in dumplings, strudels, pies and served warm, over the top of angel food cake – topped with a dab of homemade whipped cream. For an unique gift, try using the new blue “Ball Heritage” pint jars and the end result should be a pretty purple looking jar.
Here is what you will need for Brandied Apples:
(recipe from the Ball Blue Book)
- 4 cups granulated sugar
- 3 cups water
- 1 Tbsp red food coloring, optional
- 4 1/2 lbs firm red apples, cored, cut into 1/4 inch rings, treated to prevent browning and drained (about 14 medium sized apples)
- 1 cup of nice brandy
- 6 (16 oz) pint glass preserving jars with lids and bands
- Boiling Water Bath Canner
The recipe calls for red apples so you get that nice red color when you get it all canned. This is why the recipe does not call for peeling the apples. When I made this batch of brandied apples I was using apples from our trees that we had left over from doing a giant batch of applesauce so they were already peeled, so I used a touch of food coloring to get the color. What you choose to do is up to you, as it turns out I like peeled brandied apples better.
TIP: My aunt always used to tell me never to cook with alcohol that you wouldn’t drink. What she meant by this was not to go cheap on that particular ingredient as it will effect the end product.
Slice, core and ready your apple rings (I use an apple peeler whenever I am doing more than a couple of apples, it speeds up the process considerably). Treat them with lemon juice to prevent browning.
Here is the process: (source)
- Get the boiling water canner heating up, jars cleaned and sterile and lids in hot water ready for use.
- Combine the sugar and water in a large stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes until sugar is dissolved.
- Add food coloring, if using it, and apple rings – return to a boil. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring occasionally, until apples are slightly tender and, if using food coloring, the desired shade of red, about 5-10 minutes depending on the thickness of your apple slices or rings. Remove from heat.
- Remove apple rings from syrup using a slotted spoon, and sit aside in a large glass or stainless steel bowl. Keeping the mixture hot for canning stir in brandy. The reason why do you this at the end is because to do so earlier would cook off all the alcohol.
- Pack hot apple rings loosely into sterile jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Ladle hot syrup into jars to cover apple rings leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Apply band until fit is fingertip tight.
- Process jars in a boiling water canner for 15 minutes (adjust time for altitude). Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. If anything didn’t seal, check jar rims for chips, replace with a new lid and ring the re-process the jar.
Enjoy your home canned brandied apples!
Please note: As the title suggests, the finished product will contain alcohol! Also note – there are many recipes on the internet for home-canned brandied apples, any similarities are merely a coincidence.
sdf
Click here to follow me on facebook for more prepping tips
Click here to visit my personal site, The Home Front
sdSDas
This article first appeared on American Preppers Network and may be copied under the following creative commons license. ALL links, author attribution, and images including the CC logo must remain intact.
asd
Comments
Tweet
About the Author: Stephanie Dayle
Stephanie is a writer for the American Preppers Network, a small local paper and for her blog, The Home Front and was featured in Marie Claire UK in the October 2012 issue that featured women preppers. She is also the credited writer of "Emergency Bag Essentials (Swatchbook): Everything You Need to Bug Out" released in August 2014 and available on amazon.com. "I write articles based on my own experience with emergency preparedness, self-sufficiency, homesteading, food preservation and life around the farmstead. I grew up in a very rural area where I learned to garden, the art of canning, to hunt and fish, and to raise my own animals for food. I also spent 6 years volunteering for the local county Search and Rescue group where I learned a variety of survival skills and a little bit about law enforcement protocol. " "As a general rule of principle I do not write articles about information that I have only read - if I am writing about something it's because I have done it myself and gone to great lengths to provide you with the facts meshed with personal experience. My alter egos are as an full time mom, amateur photographer, and backpacker." Stephanie's past APN articles are featured below on several pages. To connect with her --> click on one of the many little square social media buttons below!Subscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
I agree with your aunt. Being cheap with the ingredients will only ruin the quality and taste of the product. Awesome tutorial and very nice pictures!
Wow this is a great recipe! I am going to try this. Wonder if it would work using green apples? Green apples are typically used in pies.
Have you ever used a pressure cooker or a seal a meal for sealing the jars closed?
I absolutely pressure can any food that requires it. On apples – any type should be fine, as stated in the article, the only reason why they call for red apple is for the color, which will leech out of the peels when they are cooked eliminating the need for food coloring. If you use green apples you can just peel them and use food coloring – if the color is important to you.
I have also used vacuum sealers to to seal jars shut – but only with dried goods. It is not safe to seal jars that contain non-dehydrated food without canning them first.