"applesauce" news and stories

Happy National Applesauce Cake Day!

Thought to rise into popularity during the World War's dearth of sugar, applesauce cake uses applesauce as a sweetener that both adds saccharine flavor and intense moisture to the cake. This otherwise simple loaf cake has potent apple flavor, spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg nuances, perfect for a sweet breakfast treat or afternoon coffee break.

The "warmly spiced, slightly sweet and oh-so-apple" cake, pictured above by blogger Patent and the Pantry, remains a simple pleasure, "a taste of childhood and home and family." She continues, "It is also a trigger for childhood memories: trying to wait for it to be cool enough to eat as it sat on the wire baking rack; running little fingers under the rack glaze that had drizzled off the edge of the cake; finally getting a slice and eating it from the bottom up so the last few bites were coated with icing."

Try the classic recipe yourself; you'll surely find it turning into a stained, dog-eared family favorite.

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When life gave former Chicago police officer Jim Mullen lemons, he didn't let it get him down.

The 44-year-old quadriplegic, injured in 1996 when he was shot in the face and the bullet went through his cheek and lodged in his spinal column, instead makes applesauce. He started Mullen's Chicago's Finest Apple Sauce, made from his mother's recipe, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

He breathes through a ventilator, moves with a breath-controlled wheelchair and needs around-the-clock care, but the applesauce entrepreneur, whose addictive product "tastes like apple pie without the crust," sells Mullen's Chicago's Finest in about area 60 stores, including Whole Foods.

"People might buy it once because of my story or my situation." Mullen told the paper "But they don't keep buying it because of Jim Mullen, paralyzed police officer. They buy it because of Jim Mullen, kick-ass applesauce."

The beginning of fall marks the height of apple season. Why not make some fresh applesauce and get baking?

Sometime early last month, I went out to Linvilla Orchards in Media, PA with a friend to pick apples. I came home with an overflowing half bushel box, awash in good intentions. However, life got in the way and I let the apples sit for longer than I would have liked. They got a bit mealy as the sugars turned to starch and so the only treatment for them was to turn them into applesauce and apple butter (two things I love, so I wasn't particularly sad).

Years ago, when I first started making applesauce, I would labor over the apples, peeling, coring and chopping them into fine pieces. These days, my technique is a little more slapdash. I do still core the apples and I chop the quarters into smaller bits. But I skip the peeling part altogether, which saves an amazing amount of time and hand cramping.

Instead, I cook the apples down (with lots of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and lemon zest) with the peels still attached. When I'm able to mash an apple piece with the back of a wooden spoon, I take the whole mess off the stove and run the apples through a Foley Food Mill. It purees the apples into a nice, even sauce that still has some good mouth feel and gets rid of the peels at the same time. It's really easy to boot. If you make a lot of applesauce (or stewed tomatoes or peaches) this tool will become an invaluable addition to your kitchen gadgetry.