This is my post for this week's plantbased challenge which choice of ingredients threw me for a loop. It always does, but it turned out to be an easy choice after all.
We went to the other side of town yesterday to visit Marc's folks. His mom has been out of the hospital after an operation so we feel we need to visit her once a week until she is recovered. It's always a chore to get there. We have to take a train for half an hour than catch a bus that takes half an hour then we have to walk 20 minutes from the bus.
I got a consolation prize of apples that are falling from the tree every few seconds. Hundreds of apples are on the ground below the tree. Nobody wants them. I packed up as many as I could carry and split the load with Marc.
The photo below is only a small portion of what I have. I left a tree behind that has hundreds of juicy sweet and tart apples just hanging there like the garden of Eden.
I would have baked a pie or cake but my bottom oven element doesn't work so I chose apple pancakes.
First I made some apple honey which is bee free of course. I am not a bee. This is a popular substitute for honey if someone doesn't want bee honey.
Apple honey
4 cups apple juice
1 cup cane sugar
squeeze of fresh lemon
chamomile tea bags
First I pressed the juice out of the apples after coring them. Surprisingly they were not blemished much like the ones last year. This was a healthy lot of apples.
After juicing them I filtered out the foam with a coffee filter. I would have used cheesecloth but I ran out.
I was impressed with the color. It looked like apple juice that you buy.
It was put into a pot with the sugar and tea bags, then brought to a boil.
After the boiling for a few minutes I turned down the heat and simmered for around twenty minutes. It seems thin still but when it cools off it thickens.
The tartness of the apple and the sweetness of the sugar are nice. I much prefer this to real honey any day, although apple flavor may not go with just anything,
Meanwhile I had peeled and chopped a large amount of apples to make applesauce. I don't remember making this before so it was pretty exciting.
Applesauce
Around 25 to 30 small apples peeled cored and chopped
1 cup cane sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
2 tablespoons cinnamon
Put in a large pot, boil then simmer to reduce the liquid. I used a hand blender to blend when it was all cooked down.
For the pancakes I used grated fresh apples.
Apple pancakes
2 cups all purpose flour
3 grated apples
3 tablespoons cane sugar
1 vegan egg
1 cup plant milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Mix wet ingredients then add dry. I added a little more plant milk after mixing so I could get a thick but pourable texture.
After the pancakes were done I stacked them with a layer of applesauce in between.
I usually use maple syrup for pancakes but the apple pancakes were doused with apple syrup for an apple explosion.
With no rhyme or reason I sprinkled some sesame seeds on top. I didn't want much else so I could let the apple flavors shine. I owed it to the apples since their kin are left rotting on the ground. So many doctors that could be kept away.
This was breakfast. We normally have spicy savory things for breakfast but I switched to a North American style breakfast. It was like eating cake but not quite as decadent.
Well that takes care of some of the apples. I wish I could share apples with the folks that can't find them or afford them. It's a shame. I don't know what I will do with next week's load of apples. I even have a couple more dozen left until then.
Thanks for stopping by!
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