Pink Applesauce

Pink Applesauce- Right Off My Trees!

We have a few apple trees on our property. We don't spray our apples. As a result, they tend to look a bit gnarly and blemished, but that doesn't matter for applesauce. I prefer to use my unsprayed apples for applesauce as I use the skins to get the pink color. I don't want all those chemicals on the apple skin in my applesauce! To make about a quart of applesauce, I pick about a dozen medium size apples. Wash and core the apples and cut into quarters then cut the quarters in half. Place the apples in a pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Boil until soft- about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and drain.

Using a food mill or a potato ricer, mill the apples so the sauce extrudes from the holes and the skins are left inside. Remove skins and repeat with more apples until done. Milling the apples with the skins on produces a nice pink color. You can make applesauce with peeled apples and process in your food processor, but you won't get the nice pink color.

Taste the applesauce and decide if you want to add any sugar to sweeten. I like mine tart and unsweetened. Add about 1/4 tsp of cinnamon and 1/8 stp of nutmeg (or more if you prefer) and mix thoroughly into the applesauce. The flavor of applesauce is best of served at room temperature. Applesauce freezes nicely but you can also can it.