Martha Stewart Adds This Underrated Spice To Her Homemade Apple Butter

Seasonal preserves are some of the most delicious spreads. Summer blueberries and blackberries, plucked at their sweetest and transformed into a fruity jam, make scones, breads, cakes, and muffins tastier. However, when it comes to autumn, nothing beats homemade apple butter, and no one does it like Martha Stewart. The media mogul makes this slow-cooked, caramelized, velvety confection using standard ingredients. It all starts with a balance of crisp, sweet, and tart apples, apple cider, lemon juice, and sugar, along with warm spices like cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. But to really add a subtle but unexpected layer of flavor, Stewart adds a whole star anise pod.

Star anise is a must-have spice. It has a subtle, spicy kick to offset its sweet and licorice-esque taste, and the discerning palate might detect hints of cinnamon and cloves. It comes from the fruit of the Chinese evergreen tree Illicium verum and is used for simmering foods like apple butter. A single star brings a noticeable addition for your taste buds. Simply add one — and only one — star, along with all of the other ingredients, to your slow cooker or Dutch oven and let it cook low and slow. Anything more will be overwhelming.

Once the apples and other ingredients have cooked down and the apple butter looks like the consistency of applesauce, Martha Stewart notes that you want to make certain to remove this eight-point, star-shaped spice. These woody-textured stars do not soften up while they cook or bake and are, therefore, not edible. While you can grind it up, you don't want to buy it already ground, as it loses its flavor rather quickly. 

It is also important to note that star anise and anise seed are two different spices from different plants. If you want to make apple butter like Stewart but don't want to buy a star anise, you can use Chinese five spice. This mix includes cloves, cinnamon, pepper, and fennel seeds to capture the same warm spirit of the pod. Because Chinese five spice can be a little intense, start with half the amount of star anise that the recipe calls for. You can always add more.

You can use any type of apple that you want for apple butter. The results will be amazing. While slow cooking apple butter will generally give you the texture you want, you can always break out the immersion blender if there are any lumps or bumps. Then, use this condiment to transform your morning oatmeal into something more exciting, add a touch of fruitiness to your toast or morning smoothie, or give a meat marinade a sweet touch.