Apple sauce variations.

[LouisXIV]

A number of years ago when I was in Paris across the street from my hotel on rue Monge was a small supermarket that I would stop at for a little treat to take back to my room with me. I noticed these little containers of flavored apple sauce. They have them here in the USA, but not the assortment of flavors. I purchased one with rhubarb and really liked it. I could never find it here in the States of I made my own. Here is how I do it.

I take a 3 pound of apples, core, peal and cut into small pieces and put in a large pan. I cut up 4 or 5 stalks of rhubarb and add to the apples. I then ad about a teaspoon or more of cinnamon and about a half cup us sugar. I add just enough water to stew the mixture. Put on medium heat until the fruit is soft and there are still some little chunks of apple. I let it cool and store in the refrigerator. It is also great on ice cream.

I have also make it with sour cherries, both frozen from the store and once with a can of cherry pie filling. Both worked well. This morning I made it with cranberries and is also very good. I boiled the cranberries with a little sugar and then ran them through a food mill to puree and then added them to the apples, added a little water and cinnamon and finished cooking.

I was wondering if anyone else had done anything like this and what other things did you add to the apples.

[bixaorellana]

Thanks for this, Louis. How apt that you added it right next to the thread on potato pancakes, too.

Really, I had rather forgotten about applesauce, since my mental image of it is the bland commercial stuff that tastes like baby food. (I did always love apple butter, though, to the point that I couldn't keep it around.)

Your suggestion of using tart ingredients to spice up the apples is great. I think that the rhubarb/apple combination is very old-fashioned, but fell out of common use decades ago. What a good idea to revive it.

Apples are in season here right now, in quite a few varieties. We also get tejocotes, a kind of very sour crab apple. You've started me thinking about using them to tart up some homemade applesauce.

[Deleted]

It's true that French supermarkets have at least a dozen variations of apple sauce on sale -- since it is an item that you can mix with just about anything.

My mother told me that when I first started eating 'different' foods as a baby, anything I refused to eat, she would just mix with apple sauce and I would gobble it down. Maybe that is why I almost never eat apple sauce now.

[Jazz]

Applesauce was part of my childhood, Louis, and I love it. When I make it today, I add cinnamon, cloves, and perhaps cranberries and chopped walnuts. It's delicious served alone, with a light cream , or creme fraiche.