Here is a bit of a Scandinavian twist on good ‘ol applesauce. My in-laws have a fantastic apple tree that lost a lot of apples in a wind storm. We gathered two bags full of apples just from what had fallen and there are still loads of them on the tree.
Since I finally purchased an apple peeler/corer I decided to make applesauce but have always found the color to be a bit boring. I had some lingonberries on hand and thought ‘why not?’ So in they went with the applesauce. I love the color and tartness of the end product. It brightens my mood every time I use this on my morning oatmeal. When I was growing up we always had applesauce with pork chops and this version of applesauce would work well too. If only I could get my hands on some of those amazing, thick, Iowa pork chops. Mmmmm.
Applesauce with Lingonberries
Makes about 2 cups (can easily be doubled)
You can use a single sort of apple or blend them for variety. Pippin, Rhode Island Greening, McIntosh, Elstar, Cortland, Fuji, Gala, and Gravenstein all work well.
2 1/2 pounds (1.1kg) apples
4 ounces (110g) lingonberries, fresh or frozen
1/2-3/4 cups (120-180ml) water
1/2-3/4 cups (110-170g) granulated sugar, to taste
4 cups (1 liter) water, optional
1/4 cup (60ml) lemon juice, optional
1. Peel, core, and roughly chop the apples. To help prevent the apples from browning while you are working you can place the chopped pieces in 4 cups (1 liter) of water with the 1/4 cup (60ml) of lemon juice added.
2. Remove the apples from the water with lemon, if using, and place them in a large saucepan with 1/2-3/4 cups (120-180ml) water depending on how juicy the apples are. Add the lingonberries and cover. Simmer, stirring often, over low heat until tender but not mushy. About 20 minutes.
3. Add the sugar and cook, stirring until the sugar is dissolved, about one minute. Taste and add more sugar if need be. At this point you can determine what you want the consistency of your applesauce to be. For a chunkier applesauce you can break up the apples with a wooden spoon. At the other end of the spectrum, for a smooth applesauce you can pass it through a foodmill. I prefer mine somewhere in the middle so I use a potato masher to break up the apples. Serve warm or chilled.
semiswede 
Maia,
If you get a “ricer” or victorio strainer, you can make applesauce without having to peel an core you apples. You quarter your apples and cook them until they are soft and then put them in the strainer or ricer. The device will remove the seeds and peels. I like the ricer better than the strainer. It works faster. When you cook your apples with the peels on, if they are red apples, a lot of that color will transfer to your sauce and make it a light pink color. So if you don’t want a sauce blend, try that out.
You also spend a lot less time putting the sauce through the ricer than you do if you peel and core everything.
Correction, its not a ricer.. I have an OXO food mill. Wasn’t a ton of money and works beautifully. I’ve used it for all kinds of fruit, salsa, soups. Easy to clean and three different textures from fine to chunky.
I’m pretty excited to finally have the apple peeler/corer for projects that need to have the peels removed because I find the peeling/coring task to be absolutely mind numbing. A food mill has been on my wish list for a while but I don’t think I can get the OXO brand here. I need to do a bit more serious searching so I can be specific about a Christmas wish list. 🙂
I’ve been told that lingonberries are equivelant to cranberries? Its that correct?
No, they aren’t really the same. You can use them in many of the same ways, but the taste is different. Here is a nice post that clarifies it a bit.
http://smwester.personal.asu.edu/wordpress/?p=191
Hi! I’m responding to your question here instead of on my blog since the comments on my contest are basically entries for a random.org raffle. Feel free to use the contest format! It wasn’t my idea originally, I’ve seen it on numerous blogs. Cheers!
Oh great! Thanks for the random .org tip as well. I had no idea how to go about doing a giveaway and this made a lot of sense.
The photos on your blog are really lovely. I am not much of a baker but I think I may give the spiced apple cookies a go. I just got loads more of apples from my in-laws yesterday. We picked every last apple off of the tree. We can’t get pumpkin pie spice in Sweden but I found this recipe for it so hopefully that will work ok if I mix up enough to use in your recipe. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/pumpkin-pie-spice-ii/detail.aspx Oh shoot. In looking over the recipe again it calls for vegetable shortening. Sometimes living in a foreign country can be so frustrating. I can get Crisco at the American shop, but it’s about $10 for the little tub. Well, I may just have to make a special trip and splurge. 🙂
You can buy McCormick pumpkin pie spice at the American Store in Malmo! 😉 There is also a great kitchen store next to the American Store that you could probably find an OXO food mill, they have lots of OXO brand products!
Thanks for the great tips Sarah. I hadn’t realized you could find OXO here. I love their products. Nice that the American store and the OXO find are next to each other too.
i just discovered your blog, as an american living in malmo, i’m really enjoying it! do you have any idea if there is a pumpkin patch or a “pick your own” apple orchard nearby… i am not lucky enough to have family in the area with their own apple trees 😉
Hmmm. I’m not sure about pick your own apples. I’ll see if I can find anything out. Are you a member of AWC (American Women’s Club of Malmö)? They do a pumpkin patch visit every year. It was this past Saturday but I’m sure they still have plenty of pumpkins to pick from. The farm is Holländarehusgårdens butik, Västenvägen, Borgeby, Bjärred. This link should take you take you to a map. http://kartor.eniro.se/m/avzoA I found something that said their hours are Monday-Friday 9-6 and Saturday and Sunday 10-3, but you might want to call them at 070 231 70 98 and make sure that’s really the case since I don’t know how up-to-date that information is.
I don’t know how long you have been in Malmö, but AWC is a great resource for networking and they have lots of activities from sushi nights to book clubs to trips to the sauna with jumps in the frigid sea. Their address is http://www.awcmalmo.com. It’s actually much more international than the name conveys. It’s an old name from the early 1900s and today’s club is really quite international and has male members as well. If you have kids, or are planning to, Mums in Sweden is a lifesaver at http://www.mumsinsweden.com. It’s a really supportive online community of english speaking women (very few men) who have immigrated to Sweden. There are some Swedes on there as well which is a great help too.
great resources, thanks so much!!! i am new to the area and i do have a 1 year old baby girl… thanks again!!!
You’re welcome. I really do recommend you join MIS and AWC. They can really make a world of difference.
Here is a link for an apple picking place in Lund. An MIS (Mums in Sweden) friend said she has been there and can recommend it. They only have u-pick the next two weekends. http://www.gloriasappelgard.se/
The oxo good grips food mill #1071478V1
This is what I have purchased and I really like it. It has three legs that can stand under it or spread out over the top of a pan. Three different disks make things either very smooth or chunky. I’m done peeling and coring apples. I just quarter them and then when their soft put them through the food mill. If you turn it the forward direction several times and then go backward a few and keep repeating that, you reduce the contents to peels, seeds and stems.
Its much easier to setup and use than a victorio strainer. I’ve had the strainer plug up with seeds or a stem. It does find if you still have the peels on it however.
If you want help acquiring one Maia and this is what you would like, let me know. I’ll take care of it. It really is a great device.