Baby food Chop the apples roughly and place in a saucepan. Pour in about one inch of water - (you could use apple juice instead, but this will contain sugar). Bring the apples to a boil, then reduce the heat. Cover and simmer slowly until the apple chunks are tender . DON'T cook the apples to the point where the mixture actually looks like applesauce! Cooking it this long will cause it to be watery and tasteless. Instead, remove the apple chunks from the pan and either puree them or mash them well. Thin with a little cooking water if necessary. Sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg and serve warm or - as a soothing treat for teething babies - nice and cold.