Spiced Blueberry Applesauce
"Something else to do with my extra blueberries, slightly exotic, looks very pretty. This makes an excellent hostess or holiday gift. Taken from Babara Fisher's food blog at tigersandstrawberries.com"
- Ready In:
- 1hr
- Ingredients:
- 7
- Yields:
-
4 quarts
- Serves:
- 32
ingredients
- 2 lbs blueberries (fresh or frozen)
- 5 lbs apples, sliced and cored (weight is 5 lbs. after peeling, coring and slicing ( use several varieties for best flavor)
- 1 cup raw sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1⁄4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 3 tablespoons bottled lemon juice
directions
- Place the apples and blueberries into a heavy bottomed pot large enough to hold all the ingredients and allow room for stirring.
- Add just enough water to cover the bottom of the pot–about 1/2 inch of water on the bottom or so.
- Put the pot onto high heat and stirring constantly, bring to a boil.
- Turn heat down to medium, and stirring continually, cook until the apples are all soft and some are beginning to break down, thickening the released fruit juices.
- Stir in the sugar and spices and keep cooking until the sugar is well combined.
- Turn off the heat, but keep the pot on the stove in order to keep the applesauce hot.
- Using an immersion blender, a food processor or food mill, grind the fruit up into a slightly chunky puree–or, if you wish, grind it down to a perfectly smooth puree.
- Stir in the lemon juice thoroughly, then pack into hot pint or quart jars.
- Try to get any visible air bubbles out with a spatula; this is very difficult with very thick foods like applesauce, but try anyway. Wipe off the rim of the jar with a damp cloth, then center a lid on top and screw on a band.
- Do not tighten the band–just screw it down until it is closed, but not at all difficult to unscrew.
- Put into a hot water bath canner, making certain that water covers the jars completely.
- Bring to a boil, clap the lids on top of the canner and process the jars for 20 minutes–the processing time is the same for either pints or quarts.
- When they have processed for twenty minutes, turn off the heat and open the lid to the canner.
- Allow the jars to sit in the hot water for five minutes, then carefully lift up each jar and set it on a folded dishtowel in order to keep the counter from possibly cooling the glass too rapidly, causing the jar to crack.
- Check the seals on the lids–they should be concave and very tightly adhered to the jar rim.
- If after 24 hours the lids have not sealed, either use up the food that did not seal, or re-pack using new jars and new lids.
- Recipe makes eight pints or four quarts.
Questions & Replies
-
What is the nutrient values in a 1/2 cup serving?
Reviews
-
I ended up adding more spice (mostly cinnamon, but also allspice) just to give it a stronger "spice" flavor. But the taste is so blueberry...but more original than just a basic blueberry sauce.
-
We really enjoyed this. It was easy to make. I scaled it down and didn't can it, just served it right away and kept the rest in the refrigerator. Thanks! -
Reviewed for PAC Spring '08 -- A very good, serviceable applesauce. I would have rated it 4.5 stars, but when in doubt, I round up ... it was just a little bland for my tastes, in spite of the fact I LOVED the unusual spices used (ginger, cardamom and allspice). I don't know if I needed to use tarter apples, or increase the spices, or increase the lemon juice, or what ... I used a combo of Granny Smith, Gala, and Fuji, and used frozen wild blueberries. I'm not able to can anything, so I cut the recipe back and just refrigerated it -- we'll be gobbling it down before it's in danger of going bad. Thanks so much for posting this!
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Kitchen Witch Steph
Blacksburg, VA
A picture of me and my dear friend Liz. I'm on the left.
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I live in Blacksburg, Virginia with my husband and 3 young children, and one fat cat. I'm a stay at home Mom of an 8 year old girl, 5 year old boy, and 2 year old girl. They are all stinky rotten but I am terribly attached to them. Plus, they do put up with me. I guess I'll keep them.
Dinner preparation can be challenging with my toddler hanging on my leg but I still try to make a really nice meal. I enjoy cooking so much and though I could turn to more convenience foods to help me out, I just don't like to. My food is a source of pride for me. Some of my best memories are of my Mom in the kitchen. So, let the laundry pile up and the dust accumulate because I am spending my time in the kitchen.
I live in a close knit community and have an excellent support network of other Moms. There are a lot of good cooks in the bunch so there is a lot of recipe swapping. My MOPS group just sent a cookbook to the printer to make it back by the holidays. I helped with the editing.
Blacksburg may be small but the presence of Virginia Tech ensures that we have a constant ebb and flow of folks from all over the place. Small town meets global world. I'm originally from Indiana where I was raised to love basketball but have transitioned over to Hokie football. Sometimes our town IS that football team. Certainly, I love the tailgating and I feel at home among the ever present sea of orange and maroon. I love this place.
If I am eating out in Blacksburg, I'm most likely to be seen at Gillies's for breakfast, Cabo Fish Taco for lunch, and the Cellar for dinner.
RecipeZaar is the cooking site I visit most. I can almost always find what I am looking for here. The reviews and ratings are so helpful. The folks here seldom let me down. I have accumulated quite a recipe collection from you all. Thank you!
I find myself in the natural foods section of the grocery more and more these days. I have been gradually weaning the family off of processed foods. I can't fathom becoming a vegetarian anytime soon so we buy organic beef from a local farmer. It's great stuff and we get it at a good price.
I've been cooking with whole grains and fresh produce more often lately. I am trying my hand at making my own mayo and ketchup. I went in with a friend to purchase a grain mill to mill our own grains into flour. I look forward to gaining more experience in bread making. Want to try grain soaking.
My favorite cookbooks are my old Fanny Farmer and Good Housekeeping, a 1990 edition of the NY Times cookbook, and an Amish cookbook by Marcia Adams.
I still love my sweets. I tell myself that if I make it from scratch and I use more organic and raw ingredients, that it's OK. Not exactly healthy but an improvement. I do find that many of the desserts I used to like are just too sweet for me anymore. This has put me on a quest to update or replace some of the recipes I've had for a long time.
Other interests of mine include children's literature, cardmaking, writing, afternoon naps. the art of Charles Harper & Audrey Kawasaki, craftsman houses, and tournament-style Scrabble.
Autumn is my favorite season. Few things please me more than the fall's crisp air, leaves dancing around in a cascade of colors, and my glorious friends the pumpkins. The Blue Ridge Mountains are perfect. Plenty of trails locally and in the mountains to do lots of nature walks.
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