We are making apple cheese! Obuolių sūris!

Описание: Apple cheese (Lithuanian: Obuolių sūris) is a traditional Lithuanian dessert, made from cooked apples with sugar.
It originated in Lithuania sometime in the Middle Ages. The oldest found recipe was written by a Radvila nobles cook in the 17th century. It was initially made with apples (or quince) and honey, but honey was later replaced with sugar.

Apple Cheese recipe

3kg (6.6lbs) apples (before peeling/coring)-about 15 largish ones
200g sugar (a bit more for sour apples)
juice from one lemon (optional)
pinch of cloves, about half teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg
walnut pieces
Core and peel apples and cut them into pieces. Place prepared apple pieces into a slow cooker bowl and sprinkle sugar on top, cover with a lid. Sprinkle some sugar on peels as well and cover. Leave overnight to allow juices to come out.
Pour juice off peel juice into the slow cooker pot.
Put the slow cooker on low. Mix occasionally. We cooked about 14 hours on low, then opened the lid and cooked for another couple hours. It is done when spatula separated mass doesn't come together again. Then add spices and lemon juice, mix for a few more minutes, and shut off the heat. Mix in the nut pieces.
Pour into the cloth bag. We tried some in a zip lock bag and found it to be a bad idea, even with some holes it was drying way too slow. Put cloth bag with cheese mass on the tray (to catch liquid that might come out), place cheese on top, another tray or cutting board on top and some weight to make it flat. Leave for 12 hours, then put into a dehydrator. Don't forget to take it out of the bag after a few hours because it might get stuck pretty badly. Drying takes quite a while 2-3 days on lower temperatures. Traditionally it is hung to air dry for a month or longer.
If it is dried well, it should stay good in the room temperature, but to be safe, place into the fridge. It won't last long because it is so delicious anyway.
It takes quite a few apples to make a small apple cheese, so best done when you have too many apples during the harvest time.

If you have any tips, let us know in the comments.

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