La Niere Beurre (Jersey Black Butter) is a traditional Channel Islands recipe (from the Island of Jersey) for a classic fruit preserve of apples and cider cooked to a puree that's finished with treacle (molasses) and spices before being cooked down to an almost solid fruit butter. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Channel Islands version of: Jersey Black Butter (La Niere Beurre).
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The name of this recipe hearkens back to the 14th century, where anything that was spreadable was called a butter. Often fruit were boiled down (typically with honey) until dark and solid in texture. These butters were the fore-runners of modern fruit preserves and lasted for a long time. The fruit butters are also the fore-runners of marmalades (which originally meant a fruit preserve cooked down until the sugar caramelized and they were of a dark colour).
Fruit butters were commonly made into Victorian and Edwardian times, and there has been something of a renaissance in making them of late. Jersey apple butters are unusual in that they are traditionally made with cider apples and treacle (molasses) with liquorice, allspice, cloves and cinnamon as flavourings.
Originally they were made in large communal vats, with the women taking turns to stir the mixture as it cooked for up to 36 hours.
Ingredients:
2kg apples (traditionally hard cider apples, but any good cooking apple will do)
1.2l sweet cider
500g black treacle (molasses)
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground liquorice (or to taste)
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice
clarified butter for sealing
Method:
Peel and core the apples then set aside.
Add the cider to your pan, bring to a boil and cook until the volume has reduced by half. Add the apple pieces into the reduced cider and cook, stirring frequently, until the fruit is soft enough to be crushed beneath your spoon (40 minutes for cooking apples, up to 2 hours for cider apples).
When the fruit is tender, take off the heat and puree by pressing through a fine-meshed sieve with the back of a spoon. Turn the apple puree back into your pan then stir in the treacle and the spices.
Bring to a simmer and reduce the heat to its low setting. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the apple mixture reduces down to a thick rich brown consistency (about 3 hours on a modern stove).
Take off the heat, and spoon the mixture into small, sterilized jars. Cover with a loose-fitting lid (do not seal) and set aside to cool. Seal the top with clarified butter to exclude the air then seal the lids on the jars securely.
Set aside in a cool, dark, place to mature for at least 3 months before use.
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