Reforming Bad Apples: Roasted Applesauce

You know the saying, “One bad apple spoils the whole barrel”? That saying didn’t just come out of nowhere – the ethylene gas given off by the overripe apple signals the other apples to ripen. (Pretty amazing that they can do that, don't you think?) So you can imagine my dismay when, during our recent family apple picking outing, I realized the four-year-old had been picking the windfalls up from the ground and putting them in our bag, along with all the good apples.

“Stop! Don’t do that!” Her hand froze, hovering with worm-eaten apple just above the bag. “We can only use the apples from the trees. Those apples on the ground are bad.”

“OK, Mommy.”

“Did you put any others in there?”

“No,” she said, smiling up at me angelically.

I rooted through the bag, and pulled out as many wormy, faintly rotting apples as I could find.

I realized I probably didn’t find them all a couple weeks later, when I smelled the tell-tale fragrance of apple cider vinegar. I inspected the apples one by one, found three or four fully rotten ones dribbling their vinegary juices all over the place, and determined the others were now prematurely past their prime, mealy and definitely not vibrant in flavor.

Bummer. Only one thing to do with them: Make applesauce.

The great thing about applesauce is that you can use less than stellar apples, and no one will ever know the difference. This is because applesauce gives you the freedom to doctor up your apples, and remedy whatever ails them, through the judicious addition of lemon juice, sugar or honey, and spices.

I decided to try roasting my apples rather than boiling them, first and foremost because I am lazy and don’t want to hover over a pot of boiling apples, much less peel and slice them. But I also know that roasting tends to concentrate flavor and sweetness, and decided that this was the way to go with my very unflavorful, unsweet apples. Whatever flavor there was would be intensified.

Anyhow, it worked. The roasting process gave the sauce a faintly caramel taste, and the texture was fantastic – very thick and a bit lumpy. (I don’t like my applesauce to be watery and smooth like baby food.) And you don’t have to peel or slice anything! Woohoo! Nor do you you need a food mill! Double woohoo!

 Roasted Applesauce
A little note: If you are going to add a little spice to your applesauce, why not forego the usual cinnamon, and try a small amount of Chinese five-spice powder instead? The spices in it work really well with apples, and if you just do a small amount, it will have a lovely, subtle effect, and everyone will say your applesauce tastes great, and wonder what the heck you did to it. (My five-spice powder has cinnamon, star anise, fennel, ginger, cloves, white pepper, and licorice root, which technically is seven spices, but who's counting? Different brands will be slightly different, but still good. The traditional version has Szechuan peppercorns, star anise, cloves, cinnamon, and fennel. Just five. )

Oil, for greasing pan
8 apples, halved and cored (keep skins on)
Sugar, or honey, to taste
Lemon juice, to taste
Dash of salt
¼ to ½ teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder (Taste first before adding more. A little goes a long way.)

Preheat oven to 375°. Grease a large sheet pan with a neutral-flavored oil. Halve lengthwise and core eight apples, leaving the skins intact. Arrange the apples cut side down on your baking sheet, and place the sheet on the rack in the center of your oven. Bake for approximately 45 minutes, or long enough for the apples to start browning on the cut surface. (This is the delicious caramelization that you want.)

Remove apples from oven, and using an offset spatula remove them from the pan onto a plate to let them cool. Once apples have cooled, use a large spoon to scrape the apples out of their skins into a bowl. Mash the apples with a fork to desired texture. Add and mix in sugar or honey, lemon juice (usually just a generous squirt is needed), salt, and five-spice powder as desired. Or just be normal and add cinnamon – your sauce will fail to be anything but delicious. This sauce freezes well.