Blackberry Applesauce
Blackberry applesauce folds sweet, slightly wild blackberries into soft homemade applesauce for water bath canning. Leave the seeds in or strain them out.
Servings: 16 servings, makes 3 to 4 pints
Equipment
- Canning Jars, Lids and Bands
Ingredients
- 4 lbs apples as purchased, peeled, cored, and chopped
- 4 cups blackberries fresh or frozen
- 1 cup water or unsweetened apple juice or cider
- Sugar to taste optional
Instructions
- Prepare a water bath canner, jars, and lids. Keep everything hot.
- Peel, core, and slice the apples into a large, heavy-bottomed pot (or leave the peels on if you'll use a food mill). Rinse the blackberries and pick out any stems or soft berries.
- Add the blackberries and water or juice, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring often, until the apples are very soft and the blackberries have collapsed, about 20 to 30 minutes.
- Puree to your preferred texture. Keep the seeds with an immersion blender, or run it through a food mill for a smooth, seedless sauce. Keep it a true, even puree with no chunks.
- Taste and add sugar if desired, then return the sauce to a full boil.
- Ladle the hot sauce into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe rims, and apply lids and rings to fingertip tight.
- Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes for pints and half pints, or 20 minutes for quarts, adjusting for altitude.
- Let jars rest in the canner 5 minutes, then cool undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours before checking seals.
Notes
Apple Varieties: Use sweet apples that soften quickly, like McIntosh, Cortland, Gala, or Golden Delicious. A mix gives a rounder flavor. Tart apples work too, but you may want a little sugar.
Blackberries: Fresh or frozen both work, and frozen don't need thawing. Wild and cultivated berries are both fine, as are marionberries and other bramble berries. Use about 1 cup of berries per pound of apples, and lean heavier for a stronger flavor.
Seeds (Optional Seedless Version): I leave the seeds in. For a seedless sauce, either run the finished sauce through a food mill, or cook the blackberries on their own with a splash of water for about 5 minutes and press through a fine mesh sieve before stirring them into the apples.
Sweetener (Optional): Ripe blackberries and sweet apples are usually sweet enough. Taste after cooking and add sugar, honey, or maple syrup only if you want to.
Yield: This starts with about 4 pounds of apples as purchased (roughly 2 1/2 pounds prepared) plus about 4 cups of blackberries (around 1 to 1 1/4 pounds), and fills about 3 to 4 pints. Yield shifts with how juicy your fruit is and how far you cook it down. Double the batch if your pot is large enough. For a single pint, use about 4 cups sliced apples with a generous cup of blackberries and a splash of water.
Jar Sizes: Quarter pint, half pint, pint, or quart. Jars smaller than a pint use the pint times.
Freezer Option: This freezes well. Cool it, then store in freezer-safe containers with 1/2 inch headspace for up to a year.
Altitude Adjustments: The altitude adjustments for canning blackberry applesauce are as follows.
- 0 to 1,000 feet: 15 minutes for pints, 20 minutes for quarts
- 1,001 to 3,000 feet: 20 minutes for pints, 25 minutes for quarts
- 3,001 to 6,000 feet: 20 minutes for pints, 30 minutes for quarts
- Above 6,000 feet: 25 minutes for pints, 35 minutes for quarts
Nutrition
Calories: 74kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 0.4g | Saturated Fat: 0.04g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.03g | Sodium: 2mg | Potassium: 180mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 138IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 0.4mg