Quarter the apples without peeling or coring. (You like this recipe already don’t you? The advantage to not peeling and coring now is that the pectin needed for the apple butter to gel and some of the apple flavor is in the peels and the cores. The disadvantage is that it makes step #3 a real pain, which can be avoided by peeling and coring now. It’s a classic lose-lose situation so you might as well bite the bullet and get rid to sieve!)

Place the apples in a large pot. Add the vinegar and water. Cover, bring to a boil, and then simmer for 20 minutes.

Push the softened apple mix (together with its juices) through a fine-meshed sieve using a pestle. Measure out the resulting apple pulp. Add ¼ -½ cup (50-100 g) of sugar for each cup of apple pulp. Start with less sugar. It’s much easier to throw in an extra ½ cup (100 g) later than it will be to take one out.

Add a dash of salt, the cinnamon, ground cloves, allspice, lemon juice and rind and the grated ginger. Taste the results to make sure you’re satisfied with the spices. If not, add more.

Cook the seasoned pulp in a large wide-bottomed pan over low heat for 2-4 hours. Stir occasionally. When the apple butter has thickened test whether it’s done by dropping a spoonful onto a freezer-chilled plate. The apple butter should not be runny.

Pour into sterilized jars. Turn the jars over to cool.

Enjoy on toast, on croissant, on pancakes, on scones or even straight out of the jar for a blast of autumn.