Ingredients

• 1 kilogram green apples
• 1 kilogram firm, ripe pears
• 1 cup water
• grated rind one lemon
• 6 cups sugar (approximately)
• ½ teaspoon mixed spice or cardamom, optional

Method

1. Wash the fruit and chop roughly. There is no need to peel or core the fruit.
2. Place the fruit, water and lemon rind into a jam pan and cook over a low heat for 30 minutes, stirring regularly until the fruit is very, very soft.
3. Sieve fruit through a mouli. Wash the preserving pan and return the fruit to it, measuring the fruit as you do.
4. Add one cup of sugar for every cup of fruit pulp and cook over a low heat, stirring regularly until the sugar has dissolved.
5. Bring to the boil and then cook, over a moderate heat, stirring constantly, until the butter comes away from the sides of the pan. The mixture will 'plop' like the Rotorua mud pools.
6. Remove from the heat and stir in the spice, if using. Pour into wide-necked, hot, dry, sterilised jars. Seal with cellophone jam covers while hot or, if covering with lids, seal when cold.

Cooks Tips

- Not as firm as fruit paste, fruit butter should be thick but spreadable. Enjoy with ricotta, creme fraiche or cream cheese on toasted fruit bread, or add a spoonful to a roast pork gravy. - When apples and pears are in season, this is an economical preserve to make. This recipe can be halved.