My grandmother taught me to make applesauce. Homemade applesauce was a staple for her, something she always seemed to have on hand, and as a child I was spoiled by it. Store-bought applesauce has always been a poor substitute, so watery, anemic and bland in comparison to the tart, rosy-pink sauce she made, spiced with cinnamon and best served warm from the pot.
When you see how easy it is to make your own applesauce, you’ll never buy another jar. It does take about an hour to simmer, but most of that time is completely hands-off. There is the matter of the food mill, which might not be standard equipment in your kitchen. You can use a food mill for pureeing soups, and making tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes, but even if the only thing you make with it is applesauce, it’s worth having one.
I like the tart flavor of McIntosh apples so I use mostly Macs for sauce. Because I like my sauce to have a deep pink color, I seek out the reddest Macs in the bin, and then I usually throw in a couple of apples of another variety with a really nice dark red skin. For this batch I found some native Cameo apples at the farmstand, with skin of wine-red bordering on purple.
Using apples of different varieties will probably mean that some apples in the pot will be softer than others; cut the harder ones into smaller pieces so they’ll soften faster and keep pace with the others.
Add as much or as little sugar as you like. I like it tart, so I add what amounts to about 1/2 tablespoon per cup. This lets the flavor of the apples take center stage.
Making this ahead, and what to do with it:
- Applesauce will keep for several weeks in the refrigerator, and freezes beautifully. This recipe makes a lot (6 cups) — plenty for now and plenty to freeze for later.
- Serve it as a side at lunch or breakfast in place of a piece of fresh fruit. It’s also a perfect partner for roast pork - John won’t eat pork (roast, tenderloin, or chops) without a little applesauce as a condiment.
- Applesauce makes a nice, simple, not-too-sweet dessert, too. Sprinkle a little extra cinnamon on top of each serving to zhuzh it up.
Applesauce
Ingredients
- 5 pounds of apples (8 to 10 large)
- 1 cup apple cider or apple juice, plus additional if needed
- 3 tablespoons light brown sugar (or to taste)
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon (or to taste)
Directions
- Step 1 Core the apples but do not peel them. Cut them into quarters. If some of the apples are a harder variety than others, cut each piece of the harder ones in half again. Put the apples into a large pot or Dutch oven with a lid, and pour in 1 cup of cider.
- Step 2 Heat the pot over medium high heat until the cider comes to a gentle boil. Lower the heat to medium low and partially cover the pot. Simmer, partially covered, until the apples have fallen apart and are completely tender, 40 to 60 minutes depending on the type of apples. Stir the apples every 10 minutes or so, to move the uncooked apples from the top down to the bottom so that all the apples cook evenly. If the mixture starts to get dry and stick to the bottom of the pot, add a little bit more cider.
- Step 3 When all the apples have completely broken down, remove the pot from the heat. If your food mill has interchangeable disks with different sized holes, insert the disk with the larger holes. Set the food mill over a large bowl. Ladle some of the apples into the food mill and process them through. Continue processing until all the apples are pureed. Discard the skins left behind in the mill.
- Step 4 Stir the brown sugar and cinnamon into the apple puree. Taste and add more sugar and/or cinnamon to your liking.
- Step 5 Let the applesauce cool, then spoon into storage containers and chill.
