Spiced Applesauce with Sweet Basil Seeds

Heritage apples for sale from Apple Luscious Organic Orchard at Moss St Market in Victoria, BC

This raw applesauce, created by Tamara Bailey, chef/owner of Café Ceylon (104-1175 Cook St., Victoria), has a unique paradisiacal tang. Sweet basil seeds are available at Burnside Food Market, 658 Burnside Rd., Saanich. “The soaked seeds are plump, shiny and beautiful like caviar,” says Bailey.

Serves 4-6.

6 sweet apples, peeled, cored and chopped        

4 green cardamom pods

1/4 tsp saffron

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 Tbsp rosewater

1/2 cup raw honey                 

1 tsp lime juice

2 tsp sweet basil seeds, soaked in cold water for 5 minutes        

Purée chopped apples in a food processor and place purée in a bowl. Remove cardamom pod shells and grind seeds into a powder. Add saffron, nutmeg, rosewater, honey, cardamom powder and lime juice to the apple purée and mix with a wooden spoon. Garnish with soaked basil seeds and serve at room temperature.

– By Sylvia Weinstock