Happiness is warm apples cooked in alcohol
Welp, I just made applesauce out of Penguin's overripe, mealy apple. AND IT'S FUCKING DELICIOUS.
For future reference:
1 apple, cut up into small, thin slices
~ 1/2 T creme de cacao (for flavor; you could also just use vanilla)
enough water to keep it from sticking, burning or drying out (probably only about 1 T at most)
cinnamon to taste
a tiiiiiny bit of lemon zest
I tossed the apples into a saucepan, and added a little bit of cold water and creme de cacao, covered them, and cooked it on low-medium heat, stirring frequently. Once they got squishy, I mushed them with a potato masher, just to speed things along, and added a bunch of cinnamon and lemon zest. I guess, if I'd had particularly tart or bland apples, I might also have added honey at this point, but they really didn't need it because fructose. I also added a touch more water; since I left the peels on (because I like them), it needed more liquid.
I pulled it off the heat pretty quickly, because I like my applesauce chunky, but I'm sure if I'd left it on low heat and kept adding water a little at a time, I could have made it quite smooth. Something to experiment with in the future, maybe?
Whole thing took maybe 15 minutes, and made a nice little dessert-size serving. Delicious when eaten warm. I'll bet a sprinkling of dark chocolate, or chopped pecans, or a little whipped cream, would have made this an awesome fall treat.
For future reference:
1 apple, cut up into small, thin slices
~ 1/2 T creme de cacao (for flavor; you could also just use vanilla)
enough water to keep it from sticking, burning or drying out (probably only about 1 T at most)
cinnamon to taste
a tiiiiiny bit of lemon zest
I tossed the apples into a saucepan, and added a little bit of cold water and creme de cacao, covered them, and cooked it on low-medium heat, stirring frequently. Once they got squishy, I mushed them with a potato masher, just to speed things along, and added a bunch of cinnamon and lemon zest. I guess, if I'd had particularly tart or bland apples, I might also have added honey at this point, but they really didn't need it because fructose. I also added a touch more water; since I left the peels on (because I like them), it needed more liquid.
I pulled it off the heat pretty quickly, because I like my applesauce chunky, but I'm sure if I'd left it on low heat and kept adding water a little at a time, I could have made it quite smooth. Something to experiment with in the future, maybe?
Whole thing took maybe 15 minutes, and made a nice little dessert-size serving. Delicious when eaten warm. I'll bet a sprinkling of dark chocolate, or chopped pecans, or a little whipped cream, would have made this an awesome fall treat.