Easy Rhubarb Cherry Applesauce
Although this Rhubarb Cherry Applesauce is unique compared to traditional applesauce, I will say that the change in ingredients tastes excellent.
If you love the tartness of rhubarb and the sweet taste of cherries and apples, this is applesauce you will want to try.
NEW WAYS TO INCLUDE RHUBARB IN YOUR DIET
I’m always trying to develop recipes to use the vast amount of rhubarb our one plant gives us every year.
I don’t know if it’s because it was planted practically under the downspout on the side of our house, or it just likes its home, but it sure does give us an abundance of rhubarb without fail every year.
It got to the point where our freezer was starting to fill up with bags and bags of frozen rhubarb, which I promised my wife I would make something with.
Well, two years later, we still have beautiful rhubarb waiting to be used up, plus the new crop we get this year.
Since the birth of our son, we have started making our fruit puree, and it wasn’t until my mother was here that the idea of making Rhubarb applesauce came to my mind.
Adding Complimentary Fruits To Rhubarb Applesauce
I haven’t had a chance to get around to making it until the other day, but I also added in some gorgeous cherries.
Since rhubarb is so tart, I thought adding apples, cherries, cinnamon, and a bit of sugar would bring it to life.
I was right! The result was a gorgeous Rhubarb Cherry Applesauce which we’ve eaten topped with Greek Yogurt or Vanilla Yogurt.
We’ve also made Nicola’s Scottish pancakes and topped them with the Rhubarb Cherry Applesauce and yogurt, and they were to die for.
Our son polished a couple off himself.
You could use the Rhubarb Cherry Applesauce to make applesauce muffins, applesauce cake or even applesauce cookies which I might try for the little guy with some oats and raisins.
In some recipes, you might notice remove the butter and add an applesauce substitute to trim the fat and calories.
How To Make Rhubarb Cherry Apple Sauce
Making applesauce is dead easy, so if you have lots of apples, consider making it yourself.
I chop up four apples, add a 1/4 cup of water, two tablespoons of cinnamon and sugar (desired amount) and let it cook down on the stove-top.
It’s that easy to make applesauce hence the low price at the grocery store.
For this recipe, I used two apples (we like Fuji or Delicious), a pinch of salt, 4 cups fresh rhubarb, 2 cups of fresh pitted cherries (any variety).
I added 1/2 cup of water, two tablespoons of cinnamon and 1/4 cup of sugar (adjust as needed).
This probably isn’t the applesauce recipe you want if you are looking for sugar-free applesauce unless you don’t mind the tart rhubarb taste.
If so, eliminate the sugar in my recipe, substitute it with your sweetness, or leave it out.
All you need to do is cook the Rhubarb Cherry Applesauce mixture down for about 15- 20 minutes on high stirring frequently.
I used my hand blender to blend it up and make it nice and smooth.
It tasted better the next day as there was time to let the flavours come together.
The good thing about making applesauce at home is you know what goes into it.
Some places may add any types of apples bruised or not. You can source the best apples and create a luscious or chunky sauce when you make homemade applesauce.
Canning Applesauce
I’ve never thought about canning applesauce, but you could certainly can this in jars, so you have it for the year in your cold room.
We make a crab apple jelly, so that might be a good time for us to can it all simultaneously.
Last year I made a delicious Mixed Fruit Custard Crisp Square with rhubarb mixed in and Rhubarb Blueberry Sauce for my pancakes. Nicola also recently shared her Classic Rhubarb pie with Meringue Topping.
Below is a photo of the cherries we picked at my father-in-law’s house this past weekend, plus fresh rhubarb from our garden.
The other pot has some chives, lettuce and spring onion from our garden as well.
- 2 Fuji or Delicious apples peeled and chopped in chunks
- 4 cups chopped fresh rhubarb
- 2 cups of pitted fresh cherries
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
- 1/2 cup cold water
- pinch of salt
- This is a very simple applesauce.
- Peel the apples and chop them up before putting them in the pot
- Add the rhubarb chunks
- Add the pitted cherries
- Add the water, salt, and cinnamon
- Cook on high for 15-20 minutes until soft
- Blend with the hand blender
- Refrigerate for a day for better taste
- Freeze into muffin tins for baby food fruit pucks if you’d like baby food.
- Can stay in the freezer for up to 3 months
Add this Rhubarb Cherry Applesauce to your favourite recipes for baking and creating other tart and sweet recipes.
Discussion: What are some of your favourite recipes with applesauce?
-Mr.CBB
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I use applesauce to make applesauce bars, potato pancake, and cinnamon apple rice. Been trying to experiment some recipes using applesauce. Some have turned out to be really delicious.
Do you have a recipe for the applesauce bars?
I definitely try this one and I’m sure my daughter would love this!
I used to make apple sauce for the kids when they were babies but it was just apples and juice. I used apple juice in place of water. I would need the contents of a couple of trees to keep hubby in apple sauce here the way he goes through it. I did can some years ago when I had access to a load of apples. I just made it up and poured into the jars, 10 minutes in a boiling water canner…good to go. Anything I can, jams and such I always run through the boiling water canner for the sake of safety. Especially if it was for the Little Man…. Or freeze it in bags or containers.
This does look yummy to try, I think with any fruit combination.