All you need to make applesauce are apples, a little water, and some sweetener, it’s so easy! When I’m processing lots of little apples from our tree, I like the ease of quartering them and using a food mill to sort out the peel and seeds after cooking. If you don’t have a food mill, you will want to core and peel apples before cooking.
Applesauce/Compote de Pommes
each pound of apples yields about a pint of applesauce
adapted from Dorie Greenspan, "Compote de Pommes" in Around My French Table
Ingredients
- 4 pounds apples
- ½ cup water
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp local honey
- pinch of sea salt
Instructions
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Quarter the apples, w/o peeling, and put them into a large pot.
(Alternatively, you can core and peel the apples then quarter them and add them to the pot. More time consuming, but you can then skip the food mill step after cooking.)
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Set the pot over medium-high heat on the stovetop. Add the water, brown sugar, honey, and pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, lower heat to a simmer and cook, stirring now and then, for 20–30 minutes, or until the apples are soft enough to mash.
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Let cool then pass through a food mill to remove the seeds and peel. Taste and add additional sweetener if you wish. Keep in the refrigerator to use within a week, freeze for longer storage.
