Fall Flavors: Applesauce

A One Ingredient Recipe

Question: What could be easier than a recipe with one ingredient?

Answer: Nothing, with the exception of  a recipe with one ingredient that’s made in a slow cooker.

Given the reality of the global marketplace, apples are available year-round. Even so, apples figure prominently in fall recipes. So there’s no better time than now to discuss the best way to make applesauce.

My original recipe for applesauce had four ingredients: apples, water, sugar, cinnamon. I peeled, cored and seeded the apples. They were undoubtedly McIntosh apples, since they were thought to be a great apple for applesauce. It was probably the only time I bought McIntosh apples, given my preference for tart apples with a firm texture. And even if you love them, I think we can agree that McIntosh apples are neither tart nor firm textured.

Once the apples were peeled, cored and diced, they were put in a saucepan, along with enough water to keep them from burning, and simmered until the apples were tender. I’m not sure I’d use “tender” to describe cooked apples, but that’s how they’re described in my 1962 edition of “The Joy of Cooking” (Bobbs-Merrill) by Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker.

Actually, the recipe recommends leaving the peel on the apples. The cooked apples-complete with the attached peels- can be either put through a “puree strainer” or chopped in a blender. At this point, the “strained apple pulp” is put back in the saucepan.

The recipe continues. “Add enough sugar to make it (the pulp) palatable. Cook gently for 3 minutes. Add to tasteless apple sliced lemon or lemon juice….Sprinkle it (the applesauce) with cinnamon. Serve hot or cold. If served hot, add: 1-2 teaspoons butter. If served cold, add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla or a few drops almond extract.”

I don’t know if I ever added butter or anything else to the apples, other than cinnamon and sugar, and I typically served the applesauce cold. End of phase one.

Somewhere along the line, I rediscovered the slow cooker I originally bought when my daughter was in kindergarten and my son was a toddler. For the sake of brevity and -to be honest-vanity, I’ll skip mentioning the date and say only that I remember having a nice discussion with the woman who took the order at Carson Pirie Scott on State Street. The cooker still works, which is more than I can say for a long line of other appliances purchased since then.

So what’s my recipe?

4-5 apples, depending on size

Peel and core the apple

Cut the apples into slices

Put the slices into the slow cooker

Cook on high until soft, about 1 1/2-2 hours.

If you want the apples to cook longer, set the slow cooker at a lower temperature. Because I like my applesauce to have some texture, I mix the cooked apples with a wooden spoon until they’re the right consistency.

The flavor of the applesauce depends on the type of apples you use. A sweeter apple, like a Gala, will make a sweeter applesauce. I often use a mix of Fuji and Pink Lady apples. The resulting applesauce is slightly tart. Of course, you can always add sugar and, of course, cinnamon to taste. The applesauce should be kept refrigerated.

Enjoy!