To me, applesauce is the quintessential fall food. I have fond memories of wandering the antique apple orchard at the Bybee-Howell House on Sauvie Island (a mostly agricultural island outside of Portland), really bundled up in scarves and layers for the first time of season, picking up windfall apples* with my mom and sister. Often, we’d bring our dog with us, and she’d run between the trees, tossing apples up in the air with her nose and then chasing after them.
We’d come home with grocery bags full of bruised, but still edible fruit. My mom would cover counter tops with newspaper and we’d begin to peel. When the fruit was all de-skinned, cored and chopped, it would go into her biggest soup pot with a splash of orange juice, cinnamon and grated nutmeg until it had cooked down into a homey sauce.
These days, I still make a yearly batch of applesauce, but I do it a little differently than we used to. I’ve learned over the years to not spend a whole lot of time peeling or chopping my apples. Instead, I cut the apples into quarters and remove the core (of course, if you have windfall fruit, you do have to invest the time in cutting away the bruises and bad spots). The quarters go into the pot with half a cup of apple cider to simmer. As they cook down, the skins will separate from the flesh of the fruit and you can just use a pair of tongs to fish them out.
I like slightly chunky, unsweetened applesauce, seasoned with lots of cinnamon, nutmeg and a dash of cloves (depending on how I’m feeling, sometimes I’ll also add a bit of allspice or powdered ginger), so once the skins are removed and the apples are smashable with the back of a wooden spoon, I’m done. However, if you like a smoother product, feel free to puree or run through a food mill (at this point, you could also go in a different direction and cook it down further, for apple butter).
When it comes to adding sugar, fans of unsweetened applesauce can rejoice, as you are able to can applesauce without any additional sugar. If you want to increase the level of sweetness, you can add approximately 1/8 cup of sugar per quart. I sometimes add a bit of honey if I find the applesauce to be a little too tart. It’s important to taste your sauce before you can it, in order to balance out the sweet/tart flavors. If it’s too sweet, a bit of lemon juice will always brighten the flavors.
To process, bring your applesauce to a boil and pack into clean, hot jars, leaving a half inch of headspace. Remove the air bubbles, wipe the rims and apply lids. Process in a boiling water bath for 15 (pints) or 20 (quarts) minutes. Store in a cool, dark place and enjoy homemade applesauce all year long.
*The Bybee-Howell house used to be a historic site open to the public. They had a Wintering In event each fall that included hand pressed cider and so asked visitors to only pick the windfall apples, as they were saving the ones on the trees for the pressing. However, they lost their funding, the house is no longer open and the Wintering In event doesn’t happen anymore. So it may be that people are allowed to pick the apples. I don’t know for sure.
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Comments ( 23 )
[...] paper shopping bag, to absorb the excess grease. Eat with sour cream and applesauce (preferably homemade). We ate ours as part of a dinner that included steamed broccoli (local), roasted brussels sprouts [...]
Food in Jars » Dark Days: Mostly Local Latkes added these pithy words on Dec 14 09 at 11:40 amIndeed. Coming from California, I never really experienced a real apple orchard, or for that matter, a real fall until coming to the East coast. I like walking up and down the aisles of trees just watching people with their little nets collecting fruit. It all seems a little surreal somehow. Ann’s made two batches of applesauce already this fall, using our slow cooker. This is nice, we’ve had that thing for three or four years, and its only now that I feel like we’ve discovered something it does well.
1. Ted Fristrom added these pithy words on
Nov 19 09 at
12:44 am
I, too, leave on the skins, but then I use a wand mixer to puree the sauce when it’s done and puree the peel in with it. That way, we also get the nutrition there. It means I get a smooth applesauce and not a chunky one, tho. I may try a chunky one for variety
2. Leanne added these pithy words on
Nov 19 09 at
9:28 am
I’ve been making applesauce as well. Next year I’m thinking of making batches with different kinds of apples and doing a taste test of sorts to find out which kind we like best. Last year I used golden delicious and it was quite tasty. I’ve heard honeycrisp is wonderful for sauce.
3. Chiot's Run added these pithy words on
Nov 19 09 at
9:34 am
Hi Marisa!
I just clicked through to your blog for the first time from twitter, (@kellyhunt5) what a fabulous blog you have going. Finding decent canning sites is always a challenge, I have added you to google reader and will now be regularly stalking your recipes!
4. kelly added these pithy words on
Nov 19 09 at
10:03 am
I never seem to have enough apples to justify canning the sauce–we always eat all of it! But I did do a wonderful batch recently of apple-pear butter with fruit from my grandmother’s trees (well, the pears were all windfall winter pears, but still) of which I still have some left. As for the peels, I absolutely love the color they impart to the sauce, don’t you?
5. Andrea added these pithy words on
Nov 19 09 at
10:15 am
It’s so nice to see a thoughtful post on something basic. I learned some new things. Apples rule.
6. Julia added these pithy words on
Nov 19 09 at
11:17 am
I just made my annual applesauce (and some apple butter) this past weekend.
Like you, I just core and quarter the apples and leave the peels on. Try eating the seeds (fresh) – they’re remarkably delicious.
I don’t pick out the skins, I use and old-fashioned Chinois food mill (like this: http://www.spoilthecook.com/bosch/Villaware-Chinois-Food-Mill.html). The applesauce is pushed through the mill, and the skins (and whole spices like cloves or allspice berries) are caught in the mill – just pull out the skins before they cause a total blockage. It’s so easy!
7. Steph in Canada added these pithy words on
Nov 19 09 at
1:08 pm
Here’s a link that will actually work:
http://www.spoilthecook.com/bosch/Villaware-Chinois-Food-Mill.html
8. Steph in Canada added these pithy words on
Nov 19 09 at
1:09 pm
Ted, if you think a slow cooker is good for applesauce, consider using it for a batch of apple butter. Works wonders!
Leanne, I’ve tried leaving the skins in and pureeing the sauce smooth, but I find that you get teeny, tiny bits of apple skin all throughout the sauce, which I don’t enjoy at all. However, if could be that my immersion blender just isn’t very powerful.
Chiot’s Run, I always have the intention to do such things, but never actually manage to make things happen. I feel like I’m doing pretty well if I am able to make applesauce at all.
Kelly, thank you!
Andrea, I do love the color that apple peels lend to sauce. So rosy!
Julia, glad you liked the post and that you learned something new!
Steph, I have one of those, and it’s never occurred to me to use it for applesauce! Thanks!
9. Marisa added these pithy words on
Nov 19 09 at
4:50 pm
Marisa,
Every time I can (rather than freeze) applesauce, I leave the 1/2-inch headspace and remove air bubbles, but it comes out of the canner with the sauce expanded to the top and some bubbles incorporated into the sauce. It hasn’t seemed to affect quality or shelf-stability (I always check carefully on opening) but it seems a little odd. Any thoughts?
Thanks!
10. Jed added these pithy words on
Nov 19 09 at
9:26 pm
I put up about 200# of apples each year and we like the early varieties best – akane, liberty, gingergold, lodi, transparent, king. The white fleshed apples make the prettiest an most rounded sauces. I use my roma so I don’t have to do anything but wash them. I lightly steam them and then run through the mill. The liberty & akane turn pink which is fun for the kids. No chopping, peeling, cutting seeds, etc. It’s amazingly fast to make large quantities of sauce to can that way!
11. Sustainable Eats added these pithy words on
Nov 20 09 at
4:04 am
I spent two days last week making apple sauce and apple butter from a big bunch of apples from my sister’s tree. Apple butter is a definite comfort food from my childhood. I even posted a blog entry about it! Beautiful pictures! Thanks.
12. Barb added these pithy words on
Nov 20 09 at
10:49 am
Apple sauce and butter are on my list. Thanks for the site. Love it.
13. Jennie added these pithy words on
Nov 20 09 at
11:49 am
Indeed! Aple sauce, pear sauce and quince sauce are all things to make from the fall fruit. Although quince sauce requires some sugar (not for safety but for taste). It’s also fun to mix them. Quince really brings a wonderful spicy floral aroma to apple sauce.
The fruit can be cooked on the stove, steamed, in the oven, it does not matter: they just need to be soft enough to go through the food mill.
Thanks for reminding us all of the “simple” pleasures.
14. Sylvie, Rappahannock Cook & Kitchen Gardener added these pithy words on
Nov 20 09 at
12:07 pm
We did 80 lbs of apples this year, all honeycrisps from the Portland Nursery. I hack them into chunks, peels and cores and all, and count on the foodmill to separate out the seeds and skins. As long as the holes are small enough, it works pretty well. I think you also get a slightly larger yield since you’re not losing any flesh in the peeling and coring — we ended up with about 2 cups sauce for each pound of apples.
15. deena added these pithy words on
Nov 21 09 at
12:12 am
This is the first year we made applesauce and I leave the peels on as well and run it through my food processor. We used a variety of apples and every batch is different. We froze some and canned some and I did not notice any difference when we defrosted it. Delicious. We also cooked them overnight in the crock pot. What a nice smell to wake up to:)
16. Donna added these pithy words on
Nov 21 09 at
8:52 am
In the Netherlands, apple sauce accompanies bowls of french fries, especially for the children! So yes, ketchup, mayo and applesauce
17. Kitchen Butterfly added these pithy words on
Nov 21 09 at
12:35 pm
There is nothing like homemade applesauce! It’s so easy to make, and almost any apples will do. Back at my parents house in the country, we would always collect the apples on the trees in our backyard. While the apples weren’t typically good for eating, they made great applesauce!
18. FoodFitnessFreshair added these pithy words on
Nov 21 09 at
11:58 pm
I had a similar experience to Jed, however, my sauce seeped out of the top of the jar after I removed it from the water bath. We ended up transferring the whole batch to freezer containers and haven’t gotten up the courage to try another project. I’m new at canning and don’t want to be discouraged so quickly! Does anyone have any ideas about what happened? We tried to remove as much air as we could. Not enough headspace maybe?
19. A fellow Marisa added these pithy words on
Nov 25 09 at
12:22 am
Jed and Marisa, it is totally normal to have some siphoning (the technical canning word for when some of the contents of the jars seeps out during processing) with applesauce. However, if the jars seal post-processing, they are still safe and shelf-stable. You should make sure that you leave 1/2 to 3/4 an inch of headspace, as it will help prevent the siphoning.
20. Marisa added these pithy words on
Nov 25 09 at
1:01 am
Hello, sorry for commenting in an old post. I live in Brazil, and I can’t find apple cider here (I don’t live in a big city, maybe it’s possible to find it in São Paulo). Is it possible to replace it with unsweetened apple juice?
Thanks.
22. Carla added these pithy words on
Jun 13 10 at
6:32 pm
I just ran across your site, Marisa. Its quite informative and has inspired me to “put up” as my grandmother would say, some tomatoes from the huge amount we have been blessed with this year. I will do applesause as well. Keep up the good work and thanks for sharing!!!
23. Donna added these pithy words on
Aug 22 10 at
4:37 pm
