365 in 365 - #22 - Decadent Applesauce

Decadent Applesauce

This is by far the very best applesauce that you will ever experience.  Yes, eating this is an experience.  It is sweet, full of warm spices and creamy.  The key to this particular recipe is that it must be served warm because of the butter.  The best apples for this recipe are MacIntosh.  These apples are available mainly in New England but can be found throughout the rest of the US in the fall.

This recipe is labor intensive and you might want to enlist the help of a family member or a friend to take turns straining the cooked apples.  I make a ton of this applesauce each fall and either can it or freeze it.  I give it as gifts and use it in my mother’s recipe for Applesauce Cake, which I will post very soon.  

I serve this with pork as an accompaniment or warm it and put it on toast for breakfast.  I also use this as a topping for ice cream and I serve it as a snack or a desert on its own.  

Equipment

2 stock pots - One for cooking the apples and one for straining the apples into.

1 large bowl - I use a bowl to transfer the applesauce into when the stock pot gets full enough to reach the bottom of the strainer.

1 large wire mesh strainer.  A food mill will not yield the same results as the wire mesh strainer.  The apple sauce will have a wonderfully smooth texture from the wire mesh strainer and the strainer will catch the “strings” from the apples.

1 large metal spoon and a couple of strong arms and hands with a firm grip.

Ingredients

15 lbs of apples, washed and quartered.  I do not peel or seed the apples.

1 cup of water

Sugar to taste – begin with 1 ½ cups

1 - 2 sticks of butter

Cinnamon to taste –begin with 2 tsps. If more is needed, add only ½ tsp at a time

Nutmeg to taste – begin with 1tsp. If more is needed, add only ¼ tsp at a time

Cloves to taste – begin with 1tsp. If more is needed, add only ¼ tsp at a time

** This recipe does not have exact measurements for the sugar and spices because of how sweet or tart the apples might be.  

**It does not need lemon to keep the apples from oxidizing, the spices will give the applesauce a gorgeous color.  

Directions

Place the cup of water in one of the pots and add the apples, cover and simmer on low until the apples collapse.  Stir occasionally so that the apples on the top of the pot get to the bottom of the pot.  All the apples may not fit into the pot at once, so as the apples collapse, add more until they have all been cooked. 

Place the butter in the bottom of the other pot.  This is the pot that the apples will be strained into.  

Strain the hot apples by hand through the wire strainer using a metal spoon in small batches.  A wooden spoon will become somewhat shredded by the wire strainer.  This is the hardest part of this recipe.

Once all the apples are strained and the butter is melted, add the remaining ingredients to taste, beginning with the sugar.   Stir well and serve warm.  

I can't wait to hear how y'all like this version of applesauce.  

Enjoy!

S.