Spiced Cranberry Applesauce

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

I'm starting to figure out what I want to do for my 3-Top Thanksgiving (my mom, Rob, and me). One of the things I decided to do was completely out of the blue; having just acquired some home grown apples from a friend and with a big bag of cranberries awaiting inspiration in the fridge I decided to throw together an applesauce. I had never made the stuff before but figured it couldn't be that hard, and in truth it was a snap. This recipe is a rough translation of what I did, but it's applesauce (i.e. boiled, mashed apples with water and sugar) so you can easily adjust it to your own liking.

It's sweet and deliciously tart. The cinnamon and ginger add a nice bit of spice in the background. I originally ate it warm, but it was a perfect little dish for a snack the next day out of the fridge. Plus the striking color just incites drama in the dish.

It's a perfect fall recipe, and I think would be great if you are planning to step outside the Thanksgiving staples and do a few different seasonal dishes.

Cranberry Applesauce
What You'll Need...
6 large apples (I used some monster sized Granny Smith)
1 12 oz bag of cranberries
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
1/2 cup of sugar

What You'll Do...
1) Bring 5 cups of water to a boil. Add the cranberries and let them cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring once or twice. I always giggle when the cranberries start to pop for some reason. I just always find it humorous and amusing as food often can be.

2) While they boil, peel and shop the apples into bite sized pieces. Add them to the boiling water and let cook for about 10 minutes until a fork can easily pierce them.

3) Add the sugar. Add the cinnamon and ginger. Stir together.

4) Puree with a stick blender, or process in batches in a standing blender. Let cool a bit and serve. Feel free to pop it in the fridge as it's great cold too.

5 comments:

  1. I think this looks great. I've never made applesauce before. It's my secret shame.

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  2. Ooooh that looks luscious, what a fabulous idea!

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  3. Garrett thanks for sharing that .I could really use this recipe. Just wondering if i could use frozen/ canned cranberries. as i dont get the real stuff here in Africa.

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  4. Kate - I don't see why not. Just be sure they are thawed, or in the canned, see if sugar has already been added.

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  5. hey there. i read this and thought, "i have all these things" and had been planning on making some applesauce out of some late-season cortlands i bought (paid too much for in the store after weeks of buying awesome farmers' market apples!). i used my food mill for this. great idea for cranberries and apples. this would be good with blueberries too, i think. anyhow, we sampled some warm and had a few bowls cold, and then the rest i stuck in the freezer to have with our thanksgiving meal instead of cranberry sauce. thanks for the fun and easy idea!

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Hey, you're leaving a comment! That's pretty darn cool, so thanks. If you have any questions or have found an error on the site or with a recipe, please e-mail me and I will reply as soon as possible.
~Garrett

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