That's what Aubry used to call it a couple of years ago when she was in her "princess" phase. It's pink because I cook the apples with the peels on and they dye the sauce. Fun stuff, really!
Here is how we do it:
Core and quarter your apples, removing any holes or overly-brown parts. Removing any worms is a great idea too! As long as you cut them out, you can eat the apples, no problem. Place them a pan (I use a large soup pot and I fill it almost to the top, but you can use fewer apples in a saucepan) and add water about 1/3 of the way up the apples and cover the pot. Turn your heat to medium-high. The water will be boiling in about 15 minutes and at that point just stir everything. Put your lid back on for about 10-15 more minutes and you should find that the apples are completely soft. You don't want any hard parts to remain. The softer, the better.
Remove your apples from the pot (I use a hand-held strainer so the water stays in the pot) and place them in a strainer or a sieve. I use this handy contraption:
Now you need to push the apples through the sieve so that the peel remains and the applesauce squishes out through the bottom. The kids really like this job, but you need to remind them to be careful because the apples are hot.
I ended up adding a very small amount of sugar because our apples, while very tasty, were a bit tart. For 10 cups of sauce, I only added about 1/2 cup of sugar, so no big deal. You can add the sugar to taste or leave it out entirely.
I freeze my sauce in quart-size freezer bags and let me say that it tastes great in the middle of winter when produce is lacking at the store.
Now that you know how to make "princess applesauce" you can take your neighbor up on their offer of free apples from their tree. This recipe is simple, although a bit time consuming, and your kids will love it.
Have fun in the kitchen!
