Spiced Apples

This is a sweet pickle rather than a dessert: apples poached in a vinegar-sugar syrup and stored under the reduced liquid. The whole thing depends on pulling the fruit out while it still holds its shape.

• YieldEight pounds of pared apples will fill somewhere in the region of six to eight pints once packed and shrunk, depending on how the fruit is cut. Scale to a quarter of the recipe (2 lb apples, 1 lb sugar, 1 cup vinegar) if you have never made spiced fruit before.
• Weights and the vinegarFour pounds of sugar is about 9 cups; a quart of vinegar is 4 cups. Nineteenth-century household vinegar was variable in strength, so use a standard 5% cider vinegar, which suits the fruit better than distilled white.
• Which applesA firm, tart cooking apple that does not break down is essential; Winesap, Northern Spy, Granny Smith or a russet all work. Softer modern eating apples such as McIntosh or Gala will collapse into sauce in the syrup.
• Pared, and then whatThe original says only "pared." You can leave small apples whole and core them, or quarter larger ones; the recipe does not say which was intended. Uniform pieces matter more than the shape, since they must all reach tender at the same moment.
• Add the fruit in batches"Put in the apples when boiling" assumes a large preserving kettle. Cooking all eight pounds at once drops the syrup temperature and stews the bottom layer; work in batches of two pounds and lift each out with a slotted spoon as it turns translucent and just yields to a skewer, usually 5 to 10 minutes.
• The spicesAn ounce of stick cinnamon is roughly eight to ten 3-inch sticks, depending on thickness; half an ounce of whole cloves is about 2 tablespoons. Tie them in a cloth or put them in a large tea ball, otherwise you will be picking cloves out of the jars for the rest of the winter.
• Boiling the syrup downReduce the drained syrup by about a third, until it coats a spoon and looks glossy; a candy thermometer will read somewhere near 220F. Pour it over the fruit while both are still hot so the apples do not float in a thin liquid.
• StorageThe original says only to put the fruit in a jar and pour the syrup over, with no processing. Treat these as refrigerator pickles, keeping them covered by syrup in the cold and eating them within a couple of months. For shelf-stable jars, follow a current tested water-bath processing schedule for spiced or pickled fruit rather than the open-kettle method given here.
• ServingThese belong beside meat, not with cream. A few apples and a spoonful of syrup cut the fat of baked ham, roast pork or cold cuts.