Apple sauce

This recipe is taken from our third book Sweet Seasons. It’s a simple way to bottle the beautiful apples that are so abundant in late summer.

Delicious with roasted pork, we use it to add sweetness to smoothies and muffins, over pancakes, or simply swirled through thick plain yoghurt. Most recently we mixed apple sauce with Chantilly cream to fill cardamom craquelin choux buns, finished with salted caramel and flaked almonds. Yum!

Ingredients

8–10 apples, approximately 1.2 kg
grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
150 g water
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
100 g raw caster sugar

Method

Peel, core and quarter your apples, and put them in a large saucepan. Add the lemon zest and juice, cinnamon, ginger, water and salt. Add half the sugar, reserving the rest to add to taste later.

Place the saucepan over a high heat and bring the mixture to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for 15–20 minutes, until the apples are cooked through and completely soft. Check the sweetness and add more sugar to taste. For a chunky apple sauce, break up the cooked apples with a spoon. Alternatively, transfer them to a food processor and blitz to your desired consistency. Pour the hot sauce into sterilised jars or bottles, and seal immediately.

The apple sauce will keep for many months stored in the pantry. Refrigerate after opening and use within 2 weeks.