One of my earliest memories as a very small child was going with my dad up to “Old Man Tristy’s” apple cider press. To put this little jaunt into perspective, we lived next to my grandmother about 2 miles from town and my grandmother lived next to my Aunt Ellen. My memory puts Old Man Tristy in a trailer out in a vacant field of sagebrush somewhere a bit north of Aunt Ellen. There were only a smattering of other houses near us at the base of the foothills where I grew up, and most of the families were related to us.
I don’t exactly know what arrangement my father had with Mr. Christensen (Old Man Tristy), but I know it involved us getting to take home several jugs of fresh apple cider. I still recall the sound of the conveyor belt as the apples bobbed along and the way Tristy would pluck certain apples off the belt and toss them aside. The lighting was dim in the old building that housed the press and it seemed that the low lamp glow added to the magic of turning the apples into the most delicious drink I had ever tasted. To this day apples hold more than flavor for me; they hold memories.
This recipe is a new one for me, made from a jug of apple cider ( not juice), boiled down until it’s reduction yields a sweet, yet tangy, intense apple syrup. Once I have reduced the cider into syrup I put it in the fridge and use it on everything from pancakes to pork chops. It’s great in a glaze or drizzled over muffins. Your imagination with this unique syrup is your only limitation. Tristy is gone–so I picked my cider up at Walmart.
Get a jug of apple cider (not apple juice).
The amount of syrup you want to make is totally up to you. I like to start out with about 8-10 cups of cider in a pot (this leaves a bit of cider for the kids). I end up with around 2 cups of cider syrup.
Bring the cider to a boil and then reduce your heat to just a simmer. This pot is going to simmer on that very low heat for about 8 hours and your home is going to smell delicious. Everyone who stopped by my house the day I made mine made about the same comment, “Wow! It smells soooo good in here”! And it did. My syrup ended up looking like this:
a deep, golden brown. Isn’t it beautiful? After you are done licking your fingers and the spoon, store it in an airtight container in your refrigerator and start the long list of uses you will have for it over the next few weeks…apple muffin glaze, ice cream sundae topping, a base for barbecue sauce, pork chop glazing, pancake syrup….
Ingredients
- 100% Apple Cider
Instructions
- Measure 8-10 cups of apple cider into a large pot.
- Bring the apple cider to a boil and reduce heat to a slow simmer.
- Simmer for approximately 8 hours or until the cider syrup has reached the desired consistency. This amount of time reduces the syrup by about 2/3.
- Cool and place in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Keep an eye on the syrup during the last few hours. As the syrup thickens it can settle and scorch. Periodic stirring may be necessary.
- 100% Apple Cider
- Measure 8-10 cups of apple cider into a large pot.
- Bring the apple cider to a boil and reduce heat to a slow simmer.
- Simmer for approximately 8 hours or until the cider syrup has reached the desired consistency. This amount of time reduces the syrup by about ⅔.
- Cool and place in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
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