Apples
Apples embody the fall. They are all warm colors and greens like the changing leaves.
Their flavors range from crisp like the breeze to soft like the last breath of summer. Making anything with apples represents this time of year to me, but part of me always dreads apple season. I’ll tell you why: apple season marks the slowest fruit season in New England! For the next 4 months apples and pears will be “the” fruit available except for long-distance citrus. So, my apple joy has more to do with the experiences surrounding apple-picking, apple cider doughnuts, and long walks through the forest and along the shore planned with the urgency of cold months ahead.
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On the other hand, because of its incredibly important role in the fall to winter months (nearly half the year!) there are many ways to use apples. It has been important to me to go beyond the apple pie, which seems to have close to 10,000 adaptations. My opinion is: whether its small or large or in-between, it’s still apple pie and we can do more. So, I want to talk about chutneys, dried things and salads, cider reductions and fermentations as well as delicious baked goods.
Speaking of going beyond the apple pie, the apple itself is a fascinating fruit. It may be one of the earliest cultivated fruits known to humankind. The current estimate for its lineage is 50-65 million years ago. When apples became apples it was the Eocene Epoch of history or the period that is also considered the “dawn” period. It is considered the “dawn” because most of what exists that we now would recognize appeared for the first time in living record during the Eocene.
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The world was warm and humid and temperate, subtropical forests were all over the continents, not grasslands. Imagine the tropical forests of central America in the state of Oregon!
This was also the time when the Bering strait was closed so mammals could walk from what is now East Russia to Alaska, down into South America. In other words, the apple spread with early humans.
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Considering this, there may be some truth to the stories of Adam and Eve. In the sense at least that with cultivation, came better nourishment, and with that, modern humans. It was the apple amongst a few other fruits that guided and ran beside humanity across the world. And not just for human consumption! There are some theories that apples are built the way they are to protect their seeds from birds, who are tricked to be more interested in the tender fruit. The apple developed a sinister method to prevent its seeds being eaten: cyanide. Next time you eat an apple core and taste that almond-like flavor, think twice again if you’ll eat the rest.
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When planting apple trees, you must think of the need to lie dormant. These plants like to sleep through cold nights. They need well-drained soil and plenty of time to fruit. Though rarely do two people eat the same kind of apple. That’s because there are currently about 7,500 different varieties of apple and growing.
It’s a funny thing: if you plant an apple seed, it will grow crab apples, not yummy, sweet and juicy ones.
Crab apples are for the birds. To have the apples we know and love, the tree has to be grafted from an existing tree or you start all over again cultivating crab apples into apples and who really has the time? But grafting means that multiple plants are joined together to build a whole new plant. As you can imagine, there are a lot of varieties involved!
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And that’s before the bees come. The bees can carry pollen from multiple apple flowers. If you are in an orchard with many kinds of apples, you might end up with a whole new breed. For apple farmers, it might be harder to keep one apple kind genetically the same year after year than to discover new ones.
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Apples have certain features in common : they are part of the rose family (rosaceae), and they grow an edible juicy, fleshy round globe around their seeds. There are three categories: cider, dessert, and cooking. Most of what we’d recognize here in the US are dessert apples. But that was not always the case.
Johnny Appleseed, from the children’s song, was a real guy.
And quite a character, he was a Swedenborgian who wore a sack with armholes and preached the interconnectedness of all things as he travelled.
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He went around the US following the pioneers across the frontier planting apple trees. But not for apple pie. These were cider trees and they served two purposes. The first was to mark territories that people wanted to settle despite existing tribes already living on those lands. The other was to make cider, which was considered the safest drink to drink where water was scarce or difficult to clean. Cider was less likely to grow harmful bacteria because of its alcohol content so adults and children alike enjoyed it.
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Apples harvested in fall can stay relatively fresh for almost a year under the right conditions. To me this speaks for the apple’s timeless quality. So much about it revolves around patience and mindfulness, aging well. In fact, the longer apples are kept, the more their carbohydrates turn into sugar. An apple so sweet that tells the tale of time itself.
Apple Recipes
Apple Cider Doughnuts with Cider Glaze
• Juice of 6 apples or 2 cups apple cider
• 2 cups flour
• 1 Tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• ½ tsp cloves
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 2 tsp instant yeast
• Oil for frying
• Powdered sugar
Instructions
1. Gather ingredients.
2. Combine flour cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and yeast in a medium bowl.
3. Whisk eggs, melted butter, brown sugar and cider in a different bowl.
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring to combine until a smooth dough is formed.
5. Fry: Heat frying oil in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan. (Once it is hot enough, if you drop a droplet of water, it should splatter).
6. Form a handful of dough into a ring form and cook in the hot oil for 5 minutes or until golden brown. Regulate temperature of oil so that it does not smoke.
7. Remove the doughnut from the oil and place on a paper-towel lined plate, dabbing the extra oil off.
8. Repeat steps 6 & 7 until the dough is used up.
9. Bake:​ Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease doughnut pan. Evenly spoon doughnut dough into each spot so that the dough is halfway up the side.
10. Enjoy dusted with powdered sugar!
11. Cider Glaze: add 1/4 cup apple cider to a pan with 1 cup sugar, a dash of cinnamon and a splash of vanilla extract. Heat until smooth, but not boiling. Set aside to cool. Once the doughnuts are fried/baked, brush each with the glaze.
Apple Custard Tart
• 3 sweet apples, cored and sliced OR cored and spiralized
• 4 Tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp orange blossom water
• 1 tsp cinnamon• ½ tsp nutmeg
• 2 cups wheat flour
• 1 cup unsalted butter, cooled and cubed
• Pinch of salt
• ½ cup cold milk
• 1 tsp sourdough starter (if available)
• 1 ½ cups milk or milk/cream combo
• 5 egg yolks
• 2 tsp vanilla extract OR seeds from 1 vanilla pod
• ½ cup cane sugar or maple syrup
Instructions
1. Gather ingredients.
2. Combine flour, butter, salt and sourdough starter in a bowl and work until it looks like even crumbles. Slowly add cold milk to the mixture while continuing to work it with your hands. It should form into a smooth ball of dough. Alternatively, do this same series of steps using a kitchen machine with a dough hook at low-medium speed. Wrap in plastic wrap or a waxed cloth (beeswrap) and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour or up to overnight.
3. 1 hour prior to baking: core and slice/spiralize apples. Combine in medium bowl with brown sugar, orange blossom water, cinnamon and nutmeg. Allow to marinate until baking time on the counter covering the bowl with a towel.
4. Meanwhile, generously butter a tart pan. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
5. Take the dough out of the refrigerator and roll out on a lightly dusted surface until it is evenly ¼ in thick.
6. Transfer dough onto the tart pan and gently form to the shape of the pan. Cut off excess dough around the top. Place in the oven for 15-20 minutes until just barely golden brown.
7. Meanwhile, place milk/cream, egg yolks, vanilla and sugar in a small sauce pan on low-medium heat. Whisk constantly until the mixture begins to thicken. Set aside.
8. Take the crust out of the oven and pour in custard mixture. Arrange apples inside the custard tart.
9. Bake for 30 minutes until custard is set.
10. Take out of the oven and allow to cool completely before serving.
11. Enjoy!
Cidre
• Juice of 30-40 apples
• 3 cups sugar + 12 Tsp sugar
• 1 packet wine yeast
• 8 campden tablets
• 4 ½ gallon jars
• 4 burpers to top the jars
• 12 bottles
Instructions
1. Gather ingredients and sterilize jars in dishwasher or with boiling water.
2. Juice the apples in a juicer, coring them first.
3. Place equal parts apple juice, sugar, campden tablet and wine yeast in each jar, making sure there is at least 2 inches of empty space to the top.
4. Cover the jars with the burpers. Allow to sit in a cool, dry, and dark place for 6 weeks. Check regularly: every 2-3 days for the first 2 weeks, then once a week until ready to bottle.
5. Sterilize bottles. Open the jars of cider and place 1 campden tablet in each jar.
6. Filter the cider using a cheese cloth and funnel into each bottle. Make sure there is 1 in of empty space to the top of each bottle. Add 1 Tsp sugar to each bottle and seal tightly.
7. Keep the cider in a refrigerator for 6-8 months. Enjoy!
Art
"Taste of Apple 1" Olivia Carye Hallstein 2022
