Lazy slow-cooker autumn harvest fruit butter

Increased porridge consumption is a sign the weather is definitely getting colder, and a spoonful of this unctuous spiced fruit puree will add a welcome touch of autumnal cheer to your breakfast. At its heart it is basically a stewed apple recipe, but cooked over a period of long hours so the fruit caramelises and turns a gorgeous dark brown. While it can be made on the stove top, there is a definite appeal to just chucking everything in the slow cooker first thing in the morning, and leaving it to its own devices, rather than having to constantly stir for two hours. The other brilliant thing is that the fruit does not need to be peeled laboriously, you can just roughly hack the cores out.

Fruit butters don’t actually contain any butter at all, the name actually refers to their spreadable consistency. Popular in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany since the Middle Ages, where monks would make apple butter using fruit from monastery orchards, the tradition then spread across the Atlantic with the Pennsylvania Dutch. However, as I like to throw in whatever I can beg, borrow or scrump, this recipe also contains blackberries and pears; if you have any plums left, pop them in too.

Containing much less sugar than a traditional jam it is not a preserve as such. Divide the cooked mixture so you have one portion for the fridge, where it will keep happily for up to two weeks, then split the rest between containers or ziplock bags and freeze. It will store well frozen for up to a year so you can just defrost some as and when you fancy. Spoon over porridge or yoghurt, spread over fresh bread or serve with pancakes; it also makes delicious little puff pastry turnovers or as an accompaniment to roast pork.

This will take a large 6L slow cooker to fit in everything, so if yours is smaller, the ingredients are easily halved. And if you are looking for more apple recipes, try our apple, marzipan and hazelnut strudel, Danish apple cake, Granny’s apple meringue recipe or an easy apple and campfire cobbler!

Ingredients (takes 12 hours)

2.5kilos of fruit, such as apples, pears and blackberries ( I used 1.5k of apples, 1 of pears and then threw in 100g of blackberries for good measure. If you prefer a less grainy texture, add fewer pears, or omit them altogether)

150g brown sugar

150g white sugar

Zest of 1 lemon

Juice of half a lemon

2 heaped teaspoons of ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon allspice

4 cloves

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1. Prepare the fruit by quartering the apples and pears and removing the cores and pips. Chop roughly (and I do mean roughly, this is a lazy recipe after all), and place in the slow cooker.
2. Grind the cloves to a powder in a pestle and mortar, remove any tough woody stalks and tip over the fruit.
3. Add the blackberries, sugar, lemon juice, zest and spices, give everything a good stir and then set your slow cooker to the ‘low’ setting.
4. Cook for 10 hours, stirring occasionally to break up the fruit. After 7 or 8 hours, when the fruit has collapsed, either blend the mixture to a puree by using a stick blender, or whizz it all in batches in a food processor and then return it to the crockpot and continue to cook.
5. After ten hours, check the flavour, adding more cinnamon and sugar if you like (you may need a little extra sweetness if your apples were very tart); I made one batch with eight cloves and it had a distinctly medicinal undertone, so less is more with that one!).
6. Reset the timer for another two hours, but this time prop the lid open with a couple of wooden spoons to allow the moisture to escape and the mixture to thicken up.
7. Once the slow cooker pings again, stir through the vanilla essence and allow to cool slightly before potting into a sterilised glass jar. Bag or box the rest up and store in the freezer until required.