Fast, light and healthy dessert is as close as a bag of apples

Mr. Maven finished his lunch this afternoon, with “I’m still hungry.”

“Here, have the rest of my soup. I’m full anyhow.”

“Nah. I want something sorta sweet. What have you got at home?”

I had to think about that. Since I’d come home with a bag of assorted apples yesterday, the obvious thing might be an apple crisp or galette. Hmmmm. Too much butter … flour … calories … work. After I’d iced my knee from skiing today, I had a better idea - homemade applesauce. Really. My homemade applesauce, with a dollop of light cream and a sprinkle of chopped walnuts.

Add a ginger cookie and you’ve really got something elegant enough for a fancy supper with very little fuss. You could serve it warm with a small dollop of vanilla ice cream and nuts. Go crazy.

Here’s what you need to remember - use more than one variety of apple. It took me forever to get this simple rule through my head, but boy, does it work. With this in mind, I’d bought some Braeburn (they were on special for 99 cents a pound), pink lady and honeycrisp.

The Braeburns seem to have become more common in Whole Foods, anyway, and I love them cooked. They are sweet-tart with a hint of spicyness, and hold together well cooked. Honeycrisp apples are a new favorite - but relatively expensive. They are CRISP, hence the the name. They are also low acid, and have a nice all round flavor. The Pink Lady seems very popular everywhere these days, and are another nicely sweet, eating apple that also cooks well. You could also add in Golden Delicious, Rome, Granny Smith, Gravenstein, Winesap, Ida Red or several others. I chose the ones I did, simply because if I didn’t cook them, they are also great for just snacking on.

Any combination will work.

 

Ingredients -

6 apples of different varieties

2 cups of unfiltered apple cider

1/2 cup brandy or cognac

1/3 cup maple syrup

A good pinch of sea salt

A good pinch - or two - of ground pepper

Core the apples. If you prefer them peeled then do so, but I like the added peel. Cut in half, and then each half into about six to eight chunks. Add to a heavy bottomed pot, with the cider, maple syrup, brandy or cognac, salt and pepper. That pepper thing might sound odd, but pepper has a remarkable way of enhancing fragrance and depth - being the ‘foil’ to the sweet notes.

Set the pot, with a tightly fitting lid, over a medium flame and now go out and fill the bird feeders and sweep the back steps. Take a look at it and stir every five minutes or so, letting it cook for about 20 minutes. The apples should be pretty tender by now, and if so, take a potato masher and start to gently mash them.

Mash them to the consistency that you like. I prefer some chunks - just like I prefer mashed potatoes.

You can quit right here, or let them simmer for about another 20 minutes, partially uncovered until the juices cook down a bit more. Keep an eye on them.

Serve warm or chilled.

My only question on great desserts like this - why don’t restaurants offer it? It’s cheap, simple and with a little ice cream and a fancy cookie, a no-brainer.

-maven