My latest is this strawberry applesauce - it is one of my favorite cultured products to date! I know it's a bit early for most of the country, but out here in SoCal, we are in the middle of our strawberry season. I am so grateful to be part of an organic food coop and was able to get 84 pints of strawberries at just a dollar a pint. We have been in strawberry heaven. I dried most of them (future post!!), but am making a gallon and a half of this cultured strawberry sauce because we are eating it like crazy.
*5 large apples or 6-7 smaller apples
*2 pints of strawberries
*3-6 T whey
*1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
Wash your fruit thoroughly. Cut the apples into large pieces. Using a vitamix or blender, blend the fruit in 2-3 sessions, dividing the salt and whey into each session. Add to three 3 cup canning jars or one 6 cup canning jar and one 3 cup canning jar. You need to leave at least 3 inches of space in the top of the jar. I learned this the hard way! Leave out for 24-30 hours if it is warm. For cooler weather, you may need to do 36-48 hours. Once you see lots of bubbles, it has a fizzy taste, and has lost some of it's original sweetness, it should be fermented and can be placed in the fridge.
(Featured on Healthy Home Economist, My Sweet and Savory, Nourishing Treasures, Homestead Revival, Real Food Forager, Simply Sugar and Gluten Free, The Gluten Free Homemaker, Tessa, The Domestic Diva, Mind, Body and Sole, GNOWFGLINS, The Nourishing Gourmet, Real Food Whole Health, Real Food Freaks, Food Renegade, Butter Believer, Pain Free Pregnancy)
I've made apple butter before but I will have to try making applesauce with strawberries. This looks a lot easier than I thought it would be.
ReplyDeleteHoly Cannoli Recipes
This sounds delicious! I am curious though, because in Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions, she suggests that you not ferment strawberries. How long does this apple-strawberry sauce keep for in the refrigerator? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteMy best guess is that they can not be fermented on their own. I have made two batches of this recipe and both have come out just fine. I have also found recipes for making strawberry wine or hard cider where fermentation takes place, but the recipes mix strawberries with other fruits like apples. I would love to hear other thoughts on this subject or if people have tried strawberries with other fruits. Thanks for the great question, Sara!
ReplyDeleteThat makes sense. Thanks Jessica! I'm going to make it tomorrow. I can't wait.
DeleteThis sounds wonderful! I love fresh applesauce; DH loves anything strawberry and to be able to eat as a probiotic - WOW! He has not jumped on the probiotic bandwagon yet so maybe I can use this to get some more ferments into him.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
This sounds amazing! Unfortunately, my family and I cannot do whey. Any suggestions for a replacement?
ReplyDeleteI use water kefir or kombucha in place of whey because we don't do dairy and have never had a problem. With most ferments, adding extra salt and leaving it longer works, but for sweeter foods, that wouldn't be ideal. :)
DeleteSunny, Cultures for Health (I have a link on the right side of my blog) sells Cadwell's Vegetable Starter which would probably work. It is a dairy free starter. You could also email Cultures for Health and see if they have any other ideas. They are a great company and very helpful.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! I am going to make this right away! Just a question, will there be liquid at the top? Any time I've done veggies, they are always covered by liquid. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAmanda, There is no water at the top, but because this ferments so quickly, there will not be enough time for any mold to grow.
ReplyDeleteWhat could be used in place of the whey? Extreme allergy going on over here LOL. Looks good if I could get a replacement for the whey :)
ReplyDeleteMary, Another read has the same issue and this is what I recommend:
DeleteCultures for Health (I have a link on the right side of my blog) sells Cadwell's Vegetable Starter which would probably work. It is a dairy free starter. You could also email Cultures for Health and see if they have any other ideas. They are a great company and very helpful.
I hope that helps!
Sounds fantastic! Thanks for sharing this. We'll give it a try when strawberry season comes around. Pinning this.
ReplyDeleteI love this!!! It would be perfect for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. Would you be willing to post this to my pregnancy and breastfeeding superfood blog carnival, superfood sundays?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.painfreepregnancy.org/2012/03/superfood-sunday-fourth-edition-march.html
Thanks!!
Thank you for your submission on Nourishing Treasures' Make Your Own! Monday link-up.
ReplyDeleteCheck back later tonight when the new link-up is running to see if you were one of the top 3 featured posts! :)
Thanks for sharing this at Allergy Free Wednesdays! Hope to see you next week!
ReplyDeleteI have never cultured applesauce before-fabulous idea and kid friendly too!
ReplyDeleteThose strawberries look so beautiful and fresh!
ReplyDeleteYour blog is fantastic - I am looking to feature some food bloggers on my blog & would love for you to consider the opportunity. Here's a link to the post with details : http://bit.ly/GHuRbR
Ooh this looks so yummy! Does the healthy bacteria feed off the sugars in the fruit?
ReplyDeleteYes, the good bacteria feeds off the sugars in the fruit. We have gone through a gallon and a half of this and my toddler loves it! I'm so excited to hear that you have made up all your goals and will start the fermenting process. I highly recommend Wardeh's book The Complete Idiot's Guide to Fermenting Foods. I just bought it and am learning a ton myself! I will be featuring some of her recipes coming up over the next year.
DeleteThis looks great! How do you decide how much whey to add? 3-6 T is a pretty big range.
ReplyDeleteI'm making this now and it tastes VERY salty. Will the salt taste dissipate over time? If not, I'll have to sweeten this to try to cover the salt or dump it, sadly.
ReplyDeleteI have not had a problem with it being salty, but it will not be really sweet. Due to some recent research that has surfaced, I have recently switched over to using jars called pickl-its that create an anaerobic environment for fermenting and thus reduce the amount of salt that will be needed in recipes. Since this is a recent switch for me, I hope to be able to go back and state this at the top of my fermenting recipes that use mason jars. Some folks think that mason jars are good for fermenting, but I have changed my stance and will be using the pickl-it jars from now on. Here is an example of a recent pickl-it recipe. http://naturallivingsocal.blogspot.com/2012/07/cultured-mondays-yellow-squash-pickles.html
DeleteI'm sorry that your batch came out salty...maybe the apples your are using were not as sweet as mine. I hope to find the time soon to make a note at the top of my recipes to that I am switching to pickl-it jars.
I have read the posts on using pickl-it jars, but haven't made the switch yet, as I usually just ferment something for a day or two before it goes into the fridge and have found no harm in doing so.
DeleteNo worries on the saltiness. I tried adding honey to a jar and sugar to another, some of my strawberry preserves to another and with no luck. The salt just overpowered it all. Ah well. Live and learn. I wonder if using kombucha and no salt would work? It just hurts a bit to throw all that fruit into the compost and not our bellies.
Before you throw it away, maybe consider adding more honey and just not fermenting and eating it as a regular applesauce. Did you do teaspoons or tablespoons of salt? Also, fermenting products need to be left out long enough for the fermentation process to be completed, which for veggies is around 3 days and fruits about 1 1/2 to 2 days, except sauerkraut, which is weeks. I just did a post today that you may be interested in reading that discusses the reasons I switched over to pickl-it.
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