One of my favorite things to make is applesauce. I can’t stand the stuff from the store. I think it’s tasteless and icky. Homemade applesauce, though, is addictive and easy to make. Recently though, I was given some pears and I thought that I’d try pearsauce. (Quick comment – I’m mildly allergic to uncooked apples and pears. I cook a lot of my fruit instead of eating them raw.)
This isn’t so much a recipe as it is a guideline. There are different ways to make applesauce and pearsauce. This is just the method that I like to use which involves an oven because I like being able to walk away and attend other things (things like watching the BBC version of “Being Human” or watching translated episodes of “Bistro SMAP”).
- Wash, peel, and chop your fruit.
- In a baking pan, place your fruit with whatever flavor additions you want. Some of my favorites are apples+cinnamon+prunes and apples+cinnamon+golden raisins. For the pears in the picture, I used powdered ginger, honey, and vanilla. (I accidentally went too heavy on the ginger – oops.) I never measure. Fruit sauce is meant to be uncomplicated. I just put in the amount of ingredients that looks visually balanced to me.
- Cover and bake at 350F for 30-40 minutes. If you’re making a small quantity, you can seal everything into a tin foil pouch and pop it into the oven at the same temp/same cooking time.
- When it’s done cooking, you can mash with a fork. Or you can transfer it into a jar and blitz it with an immersion blender (my preferred method).
