Homemade smooth apple purée or textured apple sauce, peeled, unpeeled, sweetened or unsweetened. Use as baby food or to accompany savoury sausages, breakfast porridge, sweet pancakes and so much more.
750gapples(Bramleys and other cooking apples are best)
1tbsplemon juice
50mlwater
750ggolden caster sugar(anywhere between 50g and 100g)
1pinchground clovesor ¼ tsp cinnamon (optional)
Instructions
Apple Purée (unpeeled)
Briefly scrub the apples to remove any debris and rinse. Cut into quarters or eighths and remove the cores, but don't peel.
750 g apples
Chop roughly and place in a large lidded pan together with the water and lemon juice. Stir the apples as you add them to the pan. The lemon juice will stop them oxidising and going brown.
1 tbsp lemon juice, 50 ml water
Add the sugar (I use 75g) and spice, if using.
750 g golden caster sugar, 1 pinch ground cloves
Bring to a gentle simmer, stir and cook with the lid on for fifteen to twenty minutes or until the apples and skin are soft. Bramleys and other cooking apples will go mushy and that's fine.
If the apples seem a bit too dry or are catching on the bottom of the pan, just add a tablespoon or two of water.
Taste test to ensure the apples are sweet enough for your liking. If not add a little more sugar.
Blitz the lot in a blender until you have a fine purée. Pour into warm sterilised jars and seal. Or eat within four days. Serve warm or cold.
Will keep in the fridge for at least a month. Once opened, consume within 3-4 days.
Apple Purée (peeled)
Follow the same method as above, but peel the apples first.
You won't need as much sugar as there won't be as much bulk. Start with 50g and taste test when cooked. Add more sugar if you feel it needs it.
You'll only need to cook the apples for ten to fifteen minutes.
Apple Sauce
Follow the same method as for peeled apple purée, above. Only stir the apple sauce when it's finished cooking rather than blending it. If it's too lumpy for your liking, use a potato masher to get your ideal texture.
Apple Sauce Or Purée (unsweetened)
Follow the methods for apple sauce or purée, but don't add the sugar or the lemon juice. You may, or may not, want to add the spice. Sweeter dessert apples are best for unsweetened apple sauce.
Notes
Makes two 300ml (1 ¼ cups) jars of unpeeled purée or one 300ml (1 ¼ cups) jar of peeled purée or sauce.For baby food, keep the sauce or purée plain and unsweetened. All you need are sweet dessert apples and water.You’ll find additional tips and info about this recipe in the step-by-step guide in the body of the post.
Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per jar. They’re approximate and will depend on exact ingredients used.