I have Lifecycles to thank for my first venture of apple picking in one of Victoria’s most beautiful orchards. Lifecycles is a not for profit organization dedicated to cultivating awareness and initiating action around food, health, and urban sustainability in the area. They have their hands in the right barrels so to speak, I only wish I had gotten onto them earlier in the fruit picking season.
After a good solid few hours of climbing ladders and dodging falling apples, us volunteers were able to divvy up the findings and reap the rewards. As you can see from the pictures we ended up with a nice variety of different apples (and some grapes, quince and pears).
So then the question arises… what to do with all these apples? Well, first there was Thanksgiving apple pies (plural), then came the morning fresh apple and kale juices. Then I put it to my followers and you guys came up with this great suggestion…. Ginger Spiced Apple Sauce, thank you! Apple sauce is no longer the pureed slop you thought it was, this recipe was inspired by the beautiful blog Green Kitchen Stories. Go on, give it a try :)
Ingredients for Ginger Spiced Apple Sauce
1 kg (or 2.2 pounds) of freshly picked apples
1.5 cups water
2 tbsp. minced or grated fresh ginger
8 cardamom pods
1-2 cinnamon sticks
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 lemon juice and zest
2 tbsp. organic fair trade cane sugar (optional)
Method for Ginger Spiced Apple Sauce
Clean apples well if you are leaving the skin on (fibre be goodness!). Core and roughly chop them.
Place chopped apples with the remaining ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 30-40 minutes. Stir regularly and add more water if it becomes too thick. It is ready when the apples are nice and soft.
Remove the cardamom pods and cinnamon sticks when done.
If you aren’t eating all the sauce right away put it into sterilised jars. To sterilise jars, boil jars for 10 minutes and then add the apple sauce. If you want to go that extra step, screw on the lids and boil the filled jars for an extra 10 minutes.
Now your sauce should stay fresh for a few months. Once you open you may have to eat within the week.
