Make applesauce

Homemade applesauce is chopped apples, a splash of water and some patience. It tastes much brighter than anything from a jar, and your kitchen smells like cinnamon while it cooks. It is also a good use for the apples at the bottom of the bag.

What you need

This makes about three cups.

• About 6 medium apples (roughly 2 pounds), any kind
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon, or a cinnamon stick
• 1 to 2 tablespoons sugar or maple syrup, only if you want it sweeter
• A squeeze of lemon juice (optional)
• A pinch of salt

A heavy-bottomed pot with a lid, and a potato masher or a fork.

Make it

1. Wash the apples. Peel them if you want a smooth, pale sauce, or leave the skins on for more colour and fibre. Core them and cut them into chunks about 1 inch wide. Smaller pieces cook faster.
2. Put the apples in the pot with the water, cinnamon and salt. Add the lemon juice if you are using it.
3. Cover and bring to a gentle boil, then turn the heat to low. Simmer for 15 to 25 minutes, stirring now and then, until the apples are soft and falling apart. Add a splash more water if the bottom starts to catch.
4. Remove the cinnamon stick if you used one. Mash with a potato masher for a chunky sauce, or blend it with an immersion blender or in a blender for a smooth one. If you blend hot sauce in a regular blender, fill it no more than halfway and vent the lid.
5. Taste. Add sugar or syrup a little at a time, and stir until it dissolves.
6. Serve warm, or let it cool and chill it.

Choosing apples

A mix is best. Soft, sweet apples (McIntosh, Gala, Fuji) break down into a smooth sauce. Tart ones (Granny Smith) add sharpness and a little more texture. If you use only sweet apples, a squeeze of lemon helps balance them. Bruised or odd-looking apples are fine here, since they get cooked down anyway. Just cut out any bad spots.

Ways to change it

• Chunkier or smoother. Mash by hand for chunks, blend for smooth.
• More spice. Add a pinch of nutmeg or ginger, or a splash of vanilla at the end.
• Pink applesauce. Leave the skins on red apples, then blend.
• Fall mix. Cook a pear or two in with the apples.

Using it

Applesauce is good warm on its own, and it is just as good cold from the fridge. Spoon it over oatmeal or yogurt, serve it next to pork or roasted vegetables, or use it as a swap for some of the oil in baking. A small cup of warm applesauce with a little cinnamon on top makes an easy, quiet snack on a school night.

If something goes wrong

• It is watery. Too much water or the apples were very juicy. Simmer it uncovered for a few more minutes, stirring.
• It scorched on the bottom. The heat was too high or the pot too thin. Do not scrape the burnt bit in. Pour the rest into a clean pot and carry on.
• It is bland. A pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon go a long way, before more sugar.
• It tastes too sharp. Stir in a little sugar or maple syrup while it is warm.
• It has gone brown. Apples brown when cut. Cooking sorts this out, and the lemon helps.

Keeping it

Cool it, then keep it in a covered jar or container in the fridge for about a week. It freezes well in small portions, so you can defrost a cup when you need one. Leave a little space at the top of the container for expansion. If you want to store it at room temperature, use a properly tested canning recipe and method, rather than improvising.

Make it a fall evening

Make a pot after apple picking with the apples that bruised in the bag. Eat it warm with a spoon, stir it into oatmeal, or serve it beside roasted vegetables. The same apples can go into apple crisp the next night.