Sell apple sauce to me please

[Lindsey]

I have been given the bounty of a large amount of apples, a huge mixture of glory. I don't think the UK has such great ideas with apple sauce as others do so could you tell me what you use it for?

[Mjx]

So we don't flood you with ideas you're already familiar with, what have you already done/areyou planning on doing? I'm partial to using apple sauce for fruit leathers and spiced apple sauce cakes, myself.

[Lisa Shock]

I'd make simple syrup, cool it, juice the apples, using the pulp extraction type juicer like you'd use for carrot juice, and while making the juice add a tiny amount of vitamin C powder to retain color. Then, I'd make sorbet. (apples have a tough fiber, you can't just puree them for sorbets)

You could also make and can apple butter.

And, if you have a basement, you could cellar some of them.

[Jaymes]

Apples are so versatile that it's almost easier to think of things you cannot do with them.

During apple season, we always slice, cook and freeze a great many of them to use throughout the year. And we definitely bake at least a half-dozen or so loaves of apple-nut bread. It freezes beautifully and it's so handy to pull out a loaf to slice up for breakfast, or as a quick dessert with ice cream.

And, recently my go-to company dinner dish has been from Dorie Greenspan's "Around My French Table" - the Chicken, Apples & Cream Normande. But I make it with pork tenderloin. A divine dish.

[Kerry Beal]

I eat it with grilled pork. Or feed as is off a spoon to the rug rat or my elderly dad. Both love it. Sometimes I'll add some guava or other fruits when I'm making it to make it more interesting.

[JAZ]

If you're looking for ideas to use applesauce itself and not additional ideas for apples, you could try Julia Child's recipe for apple tart -- it uses mostly applesauce with a top layer of apple slices. Here's a version of it.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

My go-tos are applesauce and cheddar cheese quick bread, spiced applesauce cake, and applesauce/apple crisp.

You can also put up apple pie filling made up of spiced applesauce with sliced apples poached in it....

[djyee100]

How about Apple Charlotte? It has a pureed and sweetened apple filling. I like the charlotte served with a caramel sauce.

When I have too many apples, I prefer apple butter to apple sauce. The apple butter goes on morning toast, pancakes, and waffles. Apple sauce I reserve for grilled pork chops--sometimes--or a quickbread with walnuts. Funny, now that you ask the question, there aren't that many things that I use apple sauce for, either.

[Shel_B]

Judy Rodgers has a nice recipe for a roasted apple sauce in her Zuni Café cookbook - it can be found on line easily enough - and she uses those roasted apples in a nice, simple Charlotte as well.

There's always an apple flognarde or clafoutis ... easy and delicious.

If you need some recipes, let me know. I can send you a few ....

[Jaymes]

When I have too many apples, I prefer apple butter to apple sauce. The apple butter goes on morning toast, pancakes, and waffles.

Ummm....apple butter. A wonderous thing.

Lindsey, I second this. Especially if you're unfamiliar with it, you should definitely give it a go.

[andiesenji]

Apple butter is applesauce taken to the next level and it can be glorious.

[quiet1]

It's pretty unglamorous, but apple sauce is one of my household's go-to foods for when your digestive system is quite unhappy with you. (However, that is American style apple sauce. The only apple sauce I encountered in the UK was much more acidic and would probably not work as well. I'm talking about a relatively sweet and bland type of apple sauce - I mean, it still tastes of apples, but it's not made using a particularly sharp variety of apple so it's much easier on the stomach.)

I also sometimes serve it alongside pork, and if you make latkes or similar things then apple sauce is essential. But mostly I keep some on hand for medicinal purposes and occasional snacking. (Warmed apple sauce with cinnamon on top is a pretty decent quick in-from-the-cold snack that'll give you a bit of an energy boost since the sugars in the apple sauce don't take long to start being digested.)

[SylviaLovegren]

How many is a lot of apples?

Just plain applesauce, if the apples are good, is gorgeous. Pared, cored, cut in chunks, cooked with a hint of liquid (I use apple cider, if it's available). When you get close to the texture you want, taste for sugar and add if necessary. Eat all by itself, or with some cinnamon, or honey, or ginger, some crisp cookies, or some oatmeal raisin or gingerbread, served with roast pork, topped with whipped cream for a dessert or mixed with ditto for a fool. How can you go wrong?

[Shel_B]

Apple butter is applesauce taken to the next level and it can be glorious.

So, how does one make apple butter? Got a recipe or some techniques you care to share?

[djyee100]

Apple butter is applesauce taken to the next level and it can be glorious.

So, how does one make apple butter? Got a recipe or some techniques you care to share?

This was originally a recipe for roasted apple butter, that was supposed to cook down in a low (250F) oven for a few hours. It took forever, much more than a few hours, so now I reduce the puree on the stovetop. I still like the concept of oven-roasted apple butter, though. Maybe play with the oven temp?

To make Apple Butter: In a large saucepan, combine 3 lbs apples, cored and chopped coarsely, with 2 1/4 cups cider (preferably) or water. Bring to a boil and simmer until the apples are tender. Remove from heat. Combine the apple mixture with 1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp grd cinnamon, 1/4 tsp grd allspice, 1/4 tsp grd cloves. Puree the apple mixture in a blender or food processor. Return the puree to the saucepan. Cook over low heat until the mixture turns dark brown and very thick and spreadable. Stir the mixture regularly to avoid scorching.

Notes: Apple butter doesn't have butter in it; it's a fruit spread. You don't have to peel the apples before cooking them. I like to reduce the puree in a claypot, a cazuela, on the stovetop. The claypot produces gentle even heat and reduces the risk of scorching.

Since apples can vary, taste and adjust as you go for the sugar and spices.

This method is supposed to be good for other fruit butters made with peaches, apricots, or pears. I haven't made other fruit butters, though. Maybe I'll try some pear butter this fall, now that I'm thinking about it.

Lindsey, are you still with us? How do you feel about apple butter?

[Lindsey]

Yes, so sorry I am still here, alive and kicking - had the chance to pop over to Isle of Skye so grabbed it with both hands.

Thank you all for your input, I can see that our idea of apple sauce (almost exclusively used with pork here) does either include, or exclusively use sharp cooking apples, so soothing it is not. Apple butter sounds just the thing to make with the large majority of my treasure. Have made some pectin already which was amazingly easy and pleasing to use.

I like the idea of apple breads, new to me and such a good idea.

Oddly the Scots do not seem to use their apple crop or even bother to give it away, surprising considering the dearth of fruit up here. In England it is a common sight to see 'help yourself' boxes at the side of the road.

Thank you all for your good ideas, as always.

[Jaymes]

While perusing the various thread titles, I noticed the "Seasonal" thread, and it occurred to me that, when autumn arrives and the leaves begin their downward meander, I always think of apple butter.

When I was a kid, apple butter invariably appeared on our fall breakfast table, to be dolloped onto hot bran muffins, or spread over toast made from some crunchy variety of bread - something with nuts or berries and whole wheat.

I have family in Southwest Missouri, and "Apple Butter Festivals" are a very big deal around there. They get these huge copper pots and set them over fires and add apples and stir, stir, stir. The aroma is utterly incredible.

Here's info about one of the largest of these festivals:

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/DO/20131012/NEWS01/310120008/Mount-Vernon-Apple-Butter-Makin-Days-festival

Excerpt: "The recipe? Apples, of course, and water, red hots, cinnamon and ground sugar plus smoke and a little bit of ash from the wood used to heat the apple butter for seven hours or more. There’s no butter. It’s called apple butter because of the consistency."

Of course, not all of the varieties have added sugar, or cinnamon. That was the kind we kids always preferred, naturally, but Mom never approved. She only bought jars of the "no added sugar" variety. Dad had to sneak in jars with the cinnamon and sugar added.

Edited October 12, 2013 by Jaymes (log)