I’ve been using applesauce as a part of my low fiber diet for a while now. They’ve supplanted bananas as my go-to fruit. I can eat fresh apples, but only if I peel them, which is more of an investment than I usually want to make to eat a single apple.
But when I visited my brother, he offered me a revelation!
I can make my own applesauce. He demonstrated for me (twice) while I was there, and that applesauce was the most delicious I could remember eating. I was inspired to make my own once I got home.
That inspiration was a bit delayed by my being sick upon arriving home, but when Ambrose and I made it out to Old Fashioned Fruit & Veg, I picked up 4 apples (2 gala and 2 cosmic crisp). While my brother, who is a chef (executive chef, technically), peeled his apples with a knife, I went with the veg peeler. It worked for my needs (and allowed me to peel while sitting on the couch instead of standing at the counter).
When I was young, we had some family friends who would put on an apple themed fundraiser every fall, and one of the games was trying to peel an entire apple without the strip breaking. I was horrible at it. But Ambrose finally got the proper method to stick in my brain, and I’m getting much closer to peeling a whole apple in one strip.
So, you peel the apples, chop them up, put them in a pot and start cooking at medium-ish heat. Salt is optional, sugar (if you’re crazy because apples are so sweet naturally), cinnamon… I’ve been thinking about getting some ginger and letting it cook with the apples. Once the apples are cooked, let them cool a bit and then into the blender! I read online that one can also use a potato smasher, but I like the blender better for applesauce. You can choose your texture that way.
My first batch was a bit on the sweet side, and ran out too soon, so for batch 2 I went with 6 apples (2 cosmic crisp, 2 honey crisp, 2 granny smith). From this batch, I’ve learned that a little granny smith goes a long way, and I need to be a little less heavy handed with the cinnamon. It’s delicious, and tastes like apple pie filling, but I want it to be a little less pie-like.
So… I’m having a lot of fun so far experimenting with my applesauce stylings, and I plan to continue.
 |
| Batch 1 |