Applesauce with a Rosy Glow or the only applesauce recipe I’ve ever tried

As I noted in an earlier post, you know it’s December at my house when all that’s produced is AlmondRoco. Likewise, you know it’s fall at my house when all that comes from my kitchen contains apples, such as applesauce.

As a child I would only eat applesauce if it was served with pork chops for dinner. As for eating apples, I think I ate two by the time I was eighteen years old. Yes, my palette, food preferences and diet have changed significantly since my childhood.

My love for homemade applesauce took hold just over a decade ago after making vegan whoopie pies with my homemade applesauce and liking the richness of flavor this applesauce provides to this recipe over store bought sauces. For several years, my freezer would be packed in September with homemade applesauce and gradually emptied over the following winter and spring to make vegan whoopie pies, to top oatmeal or some form of vanilla ice cream. In late 2005 I learned how to can and successfully canned my first batch of applesauce in September 2006. I’ve canned my homemade applesauce ever since.

While some of you might be surprised at the amount of applesauce which gets produced annually, I can only tell you the happiness, joy and fond memories generated is far greater than the time and effort exerted. My cousin, Jenn, and her family join me at the orchard where we pick apples for all of us. When the apple picking is done, we then walk to the orchard’s farm stand for their homemade apple cider doughnuts. One year my mom assisted in coring and slicing the apples. Another year a girlfriend visited during the process and assisted with tasting the batch. A half pint jar given to a co-worker one morning was returned the same afternoon, emptied, washed, and with the statement “That was good.”

I originally came across this recipe in an issue of the Boston Herald sometime in the 1990s. I don’t have the exact date as the recipe was not in the corner of the page which contained the date. What I like most about this recipe is it’s a great way to use up lots of apples quickly without having to peel them. I’ve tinkered with the recipe over the years, increasing the amount of sugar and cinnamon to make a rich “sweet” batch, removing the sugar and cinnamon to create an unsweetened batch, as well as moving the “mash” process from stove top to oven to prevent the apples from scorching or “blackening” the bottom of the pot which can require a lot of time and manpower to scour clean.

Apples ready to be made into "mash" in

the oven

Rosy Applesauce yield: approximately 6 – 9 pints

5-6 pounds red-skinned applesauce (this is about a 1/2 peck of apples)

½ cup water

1 cup sugar

½ cup light brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

To make “mash” on stove top: 

1. Wash, quarter and core the apples.
2. Place them in large saucepan with the water.
3. Cook over very low heat until the pulp softens and separates from the peel – from 30 minutes to an hour. Stir occasionally to avoid scorching.

To make “mash” in the oven:

1. Place oven rack on lowest setting.
2. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees farenheit.
3. Wash, quarter and core the apples placing them in a turkey roasting pan designed to hold 12 – 15 pound turkey.
4. Add water to apples in pan.
5. Tent/loosely cover top of roasting pan with aluminum foil, making certain reflective side of foil faces apples.
6. Carefully place tented roasting pan with apples and water in oven on rack on lowest setting.
7. Bake until pulp softens and separates from the peel without effort when pressed with large spoon – from 30 minutes to just over an hour.

Once “mash” is made:

1. Press “mash” through a food mill or colander.
2. Add sugar and cinnamon to the warm applesauce, mix thoroughly, and let stand until cool enough to eat.
3. Serve either warm or chilled. Refrigerate any unused portion for up to 5 days, freeze for up to 3 months or can the applesauce using the boiling-water method in steps 4 and 5.
4. Heat the applesauce until it boils. Ladle into clean, hot canning jars, leaving ½ inch of headspace at the top of each.
5. Close the jars and process in a water-bath canner with a rack for 20 minutes.