How To Can Pink Applesauce
Hey ya’all.
I really enjoy refashioning (in case you didn’t notice).
But besides that, there are other things I really enjoy as well…like baking…and canning…and gardening (just to name a few).
Today I wanted to share with you some pink applesauce I recently canned.
In one of my first posts (Mango Meyer Lemonade Recipe), I mentioned a great company, Door to Door Organics.
They are an awesome company that delivers organic produce (and other groceries) right to your door!
In a recent delivery I was able to score two 10-pound boxes of organic apples (seconds).
Note: I believe it’s important to use organic apples for canning or baking or even eating, as it is always at the top of the Dirty Dozen list of produce that contains the most pesticides… YUCK!
Anyway…I planned on using mine for making applesauce. My kids love applesauce!
And I don’t make my applesauce the way anyone I know makes it. In fact, every recipe I have ever looked up for applesauce is different than how I make it.
So here’s the Diary of a MadMama way to make applesauce. : )
To start, I sorted all of the reddest apples from the 20 pounds I had…
Then I washed, rinsed and quartered the apples (cutting away the core as I went along).
I poured lemon juice over the apple wedges every so often, to keep them from browning.
Once my largest pot was completely full of apple wedges, I added some water, covered the pot and cranked up the heat.
(1/2 Cup of water per 4 cups of apple slices)
Now and then I checked the apples for doneness.
Once they started looking soft and mushy, I knew it was time for the next step.
Now this is the part where other recipes will have you run your apples through a food mill to remove all skins etc.
Since I don’t have a food mill, and I don’t want to discard the most nutritious part of the apple (the skin – see this article from Livestrong.com for more info), I forego this part.
Instead, I process my apples (skins and all) with my trusty food processor…
I run the apples in batches through my food processor until very smooth.
It works great to really get the skins chopped up until not even noticeable.
As each batch is finished, I add it to another big pot and let it simmer (to keep warm for canning).
Once it’s all through being processed, I give it a taste to see if it’s sweet enough.
Depending upon what kind of apples are being used, the amount of sugar you may want to add to the sauce can vary greatly (if you want to add any at all).
Personally, I don’t prefer super sweet applesauce, but I don’t want it bland either. I prefer adding cinnamon, cloves, allspice and ginger (pretty much any spice I’d find in mulling spices for apple cider).
Then I taste it again to see if it needs any sugar added.
(This batch of applesauce consisted of Gala and Fuji apples.)
After adding all of my preferred spices, the sauce was good, but not quite as sweet as I would like, so I added a little organic cane sugar and then it was perfect!
Because Fuji and Gala apples aren’t a very dark red variety (personally I prefer Rome apples for making pink applesauce), the sauce was a nice peachy color, but not the dark pink hue I had hoped for.
Oh well, it still tasted delicious!
While I let the sauce simmer, I started prepping my jars.
After washing the jars, lids and rims, I put the jars in one pot of simmering water for 10 minutes…
…and put the lids and rims in another pot of simmering water (for 10 minutes).
Once the 10 minutes were up, I got them out of the pot and prepped them to be filled.
If you’ve never canned anything before, you’ll want to invest in some basic tools.
I purchased this Ball Utensil Set, after trying to can without it and continually burning myself.
(Yes I do learn from my mistakes).
My set consists of a jar funnel, jar lifter, lid lifter, and bubble remover and headspace tool.
I think I got it on sale for around $8.00! They usually don’t cost more than $15.00 and they’re totally worth the investment!
See how much easier it is with the proper tools?
Once I filled all of the jars, wiped the tops with a clean, damp paper towel (to ensure a good seal), and topped them with the lids and rims, back into the water bath they went to be processed for 20 minutes.
After the first batch of applesauce was canned, I had an idea.
I decided to add a secret ingredient to help my applesauce look a little more pink.
These yummy little candies not only add color, but they flavor the applesauce to taste a lot like apple cider! Yummy!
Here is the first batch of applesauce… not so pink.
And here is the remainder of applesauce that was left in the pot (the stuff I added the candies to)…
Notice the difference in color? I added about 2 handfuls of candy to the remainder of applesauce.
Check out the difference between the two batches…
Both batches are very yummy, but the second batch tastes much more like apple cider! (And has more sugar content because of the added candies! :/)
Canning homemade goodies like this is not only good for stockpiling your pantry, but they also make great gifts!
There’s just something about creating something with your own two hands that brings such a joyful feeling!
Hope you enjoyed this post!
~Jen
Question: What are your favorite canning recipes?
Feel free to share your recipes or links here or on the Diary of a MadMama Facebook page!
Resources: USDA Complete Guide To Home Canning.
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