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Apple Mold
4 pounds of apples 1 pound lump sugar Wipe the apples quite clean, core, and cut them up, and put in a stew jar in the oven with a little sugar sprinkled over, and stew till quite soft, and allow to cool. When cold, rub through a sieve. Rinse a preserving pan with cold water and put in the pulp, together with the sugar, and boil about half an hour, stirring all the time. It requires great care to prevent burning, and must be boiled quickly, or it will not set firmly in the mold, which must be rinsed with cold water before putting in the jelly.
This is a stiff apple cheese — fine-grained fruit paste set in a mold rather than a soft jelly, and the whole thing depends on getting enough water out of the pulp. A few notes before starting.
- Leave the skins onThe recipe says core and cut but never says peel, so the skins can stay on. Cores and skins are pectin-rich, and sieving after stewing removes them once they have done their work. Use tart cooking apples such as Bramley or Granny Smith rather than sweet eating varieties.
- Stew jar and ovenA stew jar is a deep lidded earthenware crock. A covered Dutch oven or a heavy casserole with a lid does the same job. The recipe specifies no temperature or time: a slow oven, until the fruit collapses.
- Lump sugarRefined sugar in cubes or broken lumps, the successor to the loaf that had to be nipped from a cone. Ordinary granulated sugar, weighed out at 1 lb, will do the same work. Note the ratio: one part sugar to four of fruit by weight, which is low for a preserve.
- The preserving panWide, shallow and unlidded — the shape matters more than the metal, because evaporation is the whole point. A large sauté pan or a wide stockpot beats a tall narrow one. Avoid unlined aluminum with this much fruit acid.
- Boil hard, stir constantlyThe instruction to boil quickly is the hinge of the recipe; long slow boiling breaks the pectin down and the mold slumps. The pulp is thick and will catch the moment you stop moving the spoon; use a wooden spatula that reaches the corners.
- Judging the setHalf an hour is a guide, not a rule, and depends on how juicy the apples were. The paste is ready when a spoon drawn across the bottom of the pan leaves a clean track that closes only slowly; a sugar thermometer will read around 220F or somewhat above.
- Wetting the moldRinsing with cold water and not drying it leaves a film that stops the paste gripping the sides. Do not oil or grease it he finish should be glossy. A 1-quart mold or basin suits this quantity.
- Yield and servingAbout 1 to 1 1/2 pints of set paste, serving six to eight. Chill several hours before turning out; serve in slices with cream or custard, or alongside cheese.
Apple cheese and apple butter belong to the same family of thrift preserves that turned a heavy autumn crop into something that would sit in the larder, and cheese here means only that the finished paste is firm enough to slice, as with quince cheese or membrillo. The absence of gelatine is worth noticing too: the recipe sets on apple pectin and sugar alone.