I've been sitting on some apples gone wrinkle-y for a while now so I picked up some cider and lemons to turn them into applesauce. Mich was shouting "Apple Butter!" from her blanket fortress on the couch but we discovered that that takes 12-15 hours in a slow cooker, so we'll save that for the inevitable next time that one of us lets apples go south.
Raspberry Applesauce
adapted from Joy of Cooking
4 apples of any sort, peeled, cored and cut into inch size pieces (you don't have to peel them but it's a personal preference
1/2 cup of apple juice or cider (less if you're using really juicy apples)
1 lemon, squeezed
1 cinnamon stick (I was out so I used whole cloves)
1/2 pint of raspberries
Put all ingredients in a medium size saucepan, cover and cook on low heat until apples are soft and most of the liquid has cooked down, about 20 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick (or cloves). Add to the pot:
1/3 cup sugar (I used a combination of brown and white sugar and really you can tinker with this to your liking, some might cut all of the sugar out and decide to let the fruit stand on its own)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
Stir until the sugar has dissolved and turn off the heat. At this point you can decide what sort of texture you want your applesauce to have. If you want it slightly chunky, just mash it up roughly with a potato masher, which is what I did. Since I added the raspberries, I would have liked a food sieve to get the seeds out, but I don't.
This was a great way to use up mealy apples! Given my pet peeve of spoiled food, I get a small thrill when I find a way to make use of something that would otherwise be thrown out. And this was great on toast or just the way it is.
Peeled and ready
Mushed!
Mmmmmm toast.
This stuff was delicious!
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