Vanilla Spiced Applesauce
This year I am welcoming this crisp cooler air with open arms. I just pulled out my box of sweaters and sweatshirts this weekend and have been rocking a hoodie all weekend long. One of the things Hubby and I do every year to ring in the new season is to go apple picking. It’s become a tradition to do this with my brother and his family.
We’re lucky enough to live about 30 miles form my brother. The rest of my family is out in the Midwest where I grew up. Every year, they bring their kids and it’s fun to look back at last year’s apple picking adventure to see how my little niece and nephew have grown.
After we got home with our bag of apples, Hubby made his first request of the season for applesauce. He loves homemade applesauce and I tend to only make it in the fall. My favorite recipe to make is this Cranberry Applesauce but I was in the mood to mix things up this time around. I had a few vanilla beans in the cabinet and decided to make this Vanilla Spiced Applesauce.
Hubby enjoyed the flavor and I loved the little black specks. Vanilla beans are probably one of my favorite ingredients out there.
One Year Ago: Homemade Cinnamon Applesauce
Two Years Ago: Chicken Tikka Masala
Four Years Ago: Tiramisu Cupcakes
Five Years Ago: The Cone Method and Mussels
Don’t forget about my Power of Pink Challenge – make something PINK by the end of the month to raise Breast Cancer Awareness!
Vanilla Spiced Applesauce
Homemade applesauce spiced with vanilla beans, anise, and cardamom.
Yield: 10-12 servings
Ingredients:
8 apples, diced into large chunks
3 vanilla beans
2 whole star anise
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cardamom
1 cup water
1/4 cup brown sugar
Directions:
Place the apples in the bottom of a dutch oven or large pan.
Slice the vanilla pods in half lengthwise. Scrape the seeds from the pods with the back of a knife. Place seeds and pods in pan.
Add remaining ingredients and set over medium-high heat until the water starts to boil.
Stir applesauce mixture, cover, and reduce heat to medium-low. Allow to simmer for 20 minutes until apples have broken apart. Use a potato masher to help mash the apples if you'd like.
Allow applesauce to cool and remove star anise pods and vanilla bean pods.
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
Loving the look of this recipe. Is it tart enough so that I could can it using using the water bath method, or do you think I should employ pressure? I’m about to come into a dozen pints of blueberries, and I’m trying to be creative. 🙂
Ohmygodness! I made it and I’m in love! 🙂
Greetings from Poland!
beantownbaker — July 14th, 2013 @ 4:19 pm
So glad you enjoyed this! Glad to have a friend in Poland 🙂
I made your curd as part of my newest recipe (Eeyore’s Birthday Cake–angel food cake with blueberry curd filling), and I just wanted to say that it turned out fantastic! The curd was really easy to make and super delicious. 🙂
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:16 pm
So glad you enjoyed this curd recipe!
how much would I need to fill a 3 layer cake.. its for my wedding and I am looking for an easy recipe.
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:18 pm
Hope this worked well for you. I used one batch for a triple layer cake.
I was thinking about making this for a shower cake do you know if it would blueberry curd freezes well?
So I’m not sure what I did wrong, but I just made this recipe and it seems something went awry. It didn’t come out very purple, more like a bluish gray, and it doesn’t really taste like blueberries. I used 1 cup of frozen blueberries. Did I use the wrong kind of blueberries maybe?
Hello is it possible to can this recipe?