The title of this post is pretty self-explanatory, this recipe is a two-parter. After being gifted a large number of apples last weekend that had already been used for pie, I needed to figure out what to do with the rest. Scouring some of my go-to food blogs, I decided to make Food Mayhem's Earl Grey Apple Sauce, but not stopping there, I saw Smitten Kitchen had just posted Spiced Apple Sauce Cake. Step one, apple sauce. Step two, cake. Result: Spiced Earl Grey Apple Sauce Cake.
Part 1 -- Earl Grey Apple Sauce
I cut down the amount of sugar in this recipe for two reasons: I'm not a fan of sweetened apple sauce, and I used a mix of apples so I wasn't totally sure of the sugar content of the fruit but I had a hunch it would be sweet. Also, I made a few tiny additions to the original recipe with some spices and lemon juice.
Ingredients:
- 3 pounds apples, peeled, cored, and quartered
- 1 cup water
- 1/8 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 Earl Grey tea bag (paper removed)
- squirt of lemon juice
- dash of nutmeg
- dash of cinnamon
Steps:
- In a large pot, stir together apples, water, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, add the tea bag (I made a little space for it in the center of the apples). Make sure the tea bag is totally submerged.
- Bring down to a simmer, cover and let it cook for about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.
- Uncover, stir and let it cook for another 15 minutes. (I removed the tea bag when I uncovered the pot to let it cook more, but FM suggests leaving it in for the full 30 min, your call.)
- After its done cooking, add in the lemon, cinnamon and nutmeg and mash the apples with a potato masher for a slightly chunky texture. Or, if you are so inclined, put the mixture into the blender for a smoother consistency.
Serve warm or cold. I let mine cook a little longer to reduce the liquid but it's all a matter of preference.
Part two, tomorrow!