Apples

Apple Kuchen
"Chaucer's Roast Apples" - Atropos Lee
Apple Brown Betty - Lois
Apple Brown Betty - David MacGuire
Apple Pie with Baked Cheese - Ray McPherson
Frosted Apple Pie Bars - Andrew Midkiff
Ritz Cracker Mock Apple Pie - Andrew Midkiff
Roxbury Russets - Don Myatt
Adam Quinan's Favorite Apples
Baked Apples and Variations - Marian Van Til
True Food of the Gods - Martin Watts
Crumble-Topping Style Apple Pie - Jennifer Klein
John Marmet's Favorite Apple Pie
Apple Hedgehog
La Tarte des Demoiselles Tatin - Astrid Bear
Apple Butter (Opens in a new page.)
Apple Cider (Opens in a new page.)

Apple Kuchen
For the crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces
For the filling:
1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg, at room temperature
For the topping:
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, if desired, cored, and thinly sliced
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Lightly grease and flour a 9x13-inch pan.
To make the crust: Place the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl or food processor fitted with a steel blade and mix to combine. Add the vanilla and butter, a little at a time, and mix until it resembles cornmeal. Press into the prepared baking pan and transfer to the oven. Bake until slightly golden but not brown, about 12 to 15 minutes. Set aside to cool. Lower the oven temperature to 400 degrees.
To make the filling: Place the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle and beat until creamy. Add the egg, mix to combine, an pour over the cooled crust.
Place the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and mix to combine.
Place the apples on top of the filling in two or three columns. Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar and transfer to the oven. Bake until firm and a rich brown, about 20 minutes. Cut into 20 to 24 pieces.
Yield: 20 to 25 pieces
Cooking Time: 35 minutes

"Chaucer's Roast Apples" - Atropos Lee
"Apples roasted with sugar candy and galingale syrup (a very delicate dish). Galingale is a lumpy spice, with the aroma of damask roses, usually to be got through a wine spicery. Peel the apples finely and set level on a platter. Stew the galingale root in enough water and honey to fill the platter. Drain over the apples, and bake gently; withdraw from the oven, and serve cold, scattered with crushed white sugar candy. They should look like frosted pink roses, in a syrup the colour of rose quartz."
from Food in England, Dorothy Hartley (Little, Brown and Co., London, 1999)

Apple Brown Betty - Lois
My mother's version [of apple brown betty] was almost breakfast though it served as lunch or dessert, and had fewer ingredients than the recipe given, so we kids made it a lot: Cornflakes, a couple of apples, cinnamon, some butter, sugar (brown, tan, or white, doesn't matter). Quantities didn't seem important.
Butter the bottom of a pan, cover it with cornflakes, about 1/2 inch, put some butter on it, either melted or pats, not too much. Core and cut up some apples, skin on is ok. Cover the cornflakes with a layer of apples, an inch or two deep. Sprinkle the apples with sugar and cinnamon as you set them in. Top with another layer of cornflakes, put on more butter, melted or in pats. You'll probably use up a stick.
Bake at about 375 until the apples have settled way down. Ice cream on top is good.

Apple Brown Betty - David MacGuire
6 large baking apples (Granny Smith, York)
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 stick (1/8th of a pound) of melted, unsalted butter
1 teaspoon each of nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves
2 teaspoons of vanilla
pinch salt
2 cups of rolled oats
1/2 cup of dark brown sugar
1/2 cup of flour
1/2 stick of unsalted butter, melted (that's right; another one)
pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla, additional
1. Peel and slice apples into small chunks. Combine apples, sugar, melted butter, spices, vanilla and salt in a large oven-proof bowl and mix thoroughly.
2. Combine second 1/2 stick of melted butter, oats, flour, sugar and salt, mixing with a fork until the texture is very crumbly. Spread mixture over apples.
3. Bake at 325 degrees, farenheit, for 30 to 40 minutes or until apples are tender and the oatmeal mixture is a golden brown. If the topping is browning too quickly, cover it loosely with foil and continue baking.
Serve with whipped cream or vanilla yoghurt.
That doesn't sound so bad, does it?

Apple Pie with Baked Cheese - Ray McPherson
My grandfather liked cheese with his apple pie so much that he used to bake it just under the top crust. AArgh! When my grandmother was alive she always cut "T S" into the top crust of her pies (she always made 2.) One meant "'tis spice" and the other meant "'taint spice". This was a great mystery to me when I was 5. But she never baked cheese in her pies, thank goodness.

Frosted Apple Pie Bars - Andrew Midkiff
One more thing, for those outside of the area who are curious about recipes, check out Midwest Living Online. For "Bars" which were mentioned, check out Frosted Apple Pie Bars. What makes this truly Midwestern is the inclusion of cornflakes, the use of commercially made food (condensed cream of mushroom soup is another standard ingredient) is typical of Midwestern cooking.

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup lard or shortening
2 egg yolks
1/3 cup milk
5 cups peeled, sliced cooking apples
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup crushed cornflakes
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 slightly beaten egg white
1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons lemon juice
1. For pastry: In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, the 2 tablespoons sugar and the salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in the lard till pieces resemble small peas.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, beat together the egg yolks and milk. Stir into the flour mixture till moistened; shape mixture into 2 balls. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
3. For filling: In a large mixing bowl, combine apples, the 1 1/2 cups sugar, cornflakes and cinnamon.
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll 1 ball of pastry to a 17x12-inch rectangle. Carefully transfer to a 15x10x1-inch baking pan, pressing pastry up the sides of the pan.
5. Spoon filling evenly over pastry. Roll the remaining pastry to a 17x12-inch rectangle. Cut crosswise into 3/4-inch-wide strips. Place diagonally on top of filling; overlap slightly. Brush with egg white.
6. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.
7. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the powdered sugar and enough of the lemon juice to make a drizzling consistency. Drizzle over top. Cut into bars. Makes 24 bars.

Ritz Cracker Mock Apple Pie - Andrew Midkiff
The classic pie, featuring Ritz crackers baked in a golden crust, is perfect for the holidays.
Ingredients:
Pastry for two-crust 9-inch pie
36 RITZ Crackers, coarsely broken (about 1 3/4 cups crumbs)
1 3/4 cups water
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Grated peel of one lemon
2 tablespoons margarine or butter
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions:
1. Roll out half the pastry and line a 9-inch pie plate. Place cracker crumbs in prepared crust; set aside.
2. Heat water, sugar and cream of tartar to a boil in saucepan over high heat; simmer for 15 minutes. Add lemon juice and peel; cool.
3. Pour syrup over cracker crumbs. Dot with margarine or butter; sprinkle with cinnamon. Roll out remaining pastry; place over pie. Trim, seal and flute edges. Slit top crust to allow steam to escape.
4. Bake at 425 degrees F for 30 to 35 minutes or until crust is crisp and golden. Cool completely.

Roxbury Russets - Don Myatt
My favourite apple which I wait eagerly for each fall to appear in the markets of the Ottawa valley is the russet. It's smallish, very hard, white flesh, brown nearly scabby looking skin with hints of green. A delicious tart yet earthy taste. They come off the trees very late, usually near the first frost in mid November.
A second point of apple trivia is the macintosh was created near here at Dundela, Ontario. It was on the farm of Mr. Macintosh. Sadly the farm was recently sold and I believe the last tree is now gone. There were several when I first visited the place in the 70s. It was fallow then but in the family. There are no historical markers.
Google yields much information about Russets and pictures too, at Russet apples: beauty is more than skin deep.

Adam Quinan's Favorite Apples
I like "some" apples, I prefer crisp not too sweet ones, here in Ontario i generally eat Empire or occasionally Macintosh. However, in my youth it was the Cox's Orange Pippin which was a true delight. I can't find them here. Also for cooking the good old English Bramley is hard to beat, again not found here except the occasional tree in an old non-commercial orchard.

Baked Apples and Variations - Marian Van Til
Use reasonably tart apples, wash and dry the skins, don't peel them; cut them in half and core them so that there's a little well in each half. You can serve one or both halves per person; put each serving in an individual dish. (If you want more than 1/2 apple per person it works better to slice them, but they don't look at elegant.
Possibilities for garnishment:
Alcoholic variety:
a. drizzle with sherry or port, and fill the "well" with said liquor; spice with minuscule amounts of clove, or nutmeg or cinnamon or all three. (Or use pumpkin pie spice.)
b. do the same with schnaps or any fruit liqueur which complements the flavor of the apples. (I tried this with a mixed berry schnaps and it was very good. Works well with pears also.)
Non-alcoholic:
Put a dab -- a teaspoon or so or butter mixed with a touch of brown sugar in each apple well, press a walnut half into the butter/brown sugar cream (or sprinkle over each apple half chopped walnuts -- or pecans or whatever nuts you like. Spike each half with a few whole cloves and sprinkle the whole thing lightly with cinnamon.
Alcoholic variation:
Then gingerly pour some dry red wine over the whole thing.
Bake in oven (350 - 400 degrees F) for roughly 15 minutes. But if you're in a real hurry you can microwave it, but the apple peelings don't come out as nicely.

True Food of the Gods - Martin Watts
Apple pie is the true food of the gods and needs no accompaniment. Possibly a little cream or ice cream or custard. Rotted milk is definitely out. The only thing that can be baked into a proper apple pie is a good helping of blackberries.
Cheese: just say no.

Crumble-Topping Style Apple Pie - Jennifer Klein
We discussed this style of pie awhile back and I meant to post it then. Since I am supposed to be guarding this recipe as a family "secret" (bah) I have not included the part for the crust - you are on your own there.

Dutch Apple Streusel Pie from Lois Halliwill
I have not included the recipe for the pastry. Use a basic sweet pastry dough to form the bottom shell of the pie. You will not need a top layer.
For the pie filling:
6 large apples (4-5 cups sliced; use Granny Smith, Pippin, or a good baking apple that has tartness)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup tapioca (the granulated type)
1 tbsp. Butter
Cinnamon to taste
Juice from 1 lemon
Dash of salt
8 inch pie tin (deep) with pastry in it
For the streusel topping:
1 cup flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
2/3 cup cold butter
Peel and remove cores of apples, then slice into pieces about 1/2-inch thick.
Combine in a large bowl: sliced apples, tapioca, salt, lemon juice. Mix well and let this mixture sit for at least 5 minutes.
Add the sugar to the mix, season with cinnamon, and place the mixture into the pastry shell.
Time to make the streusel: Place the flour, cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter in a large bowl and cut the butter into the flour mixture until well combined (use a pastry cutter for this). You will have a crumbly looking mixture.
Cover the apples generously with it (it will shrink as the butter melts).
Bake in oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake for about an hour (or until the apples are soft and crust is a light brown). You may want to put a drip pan or foil under the pan, as the juice will drip.

John Marmet's Favorite Apple Pie
I am not a fan of all pies, favoring apple above all, then peach, pumpkin, chocolate, banana, key lime, pecan, shoofly and coconut, but I am a fan of all apple pies. I like the thin crusted flaky kind of apple pie and the thick crusted chewy kind and the kind with the sprinkles on top and the kind with the woven top and the kind with the dry bottom and the kind with the gooey bottom and the kind where the apples are welling up in the middle and where they are flat across the top, and the kind with sugar granules on top and the kind with cakey crust and the kind, well you get the idea. But hold the raisins. Please.

Apple Hedgehog
Meringue des pommes en herrison (Apple meringue as a hedgehog)
This recipe was prepared by Carême for the Regency Banquet at Brighton Pavilion in 1817 (but not at the grand banquet).
40 apples
6 ounces clarified sugar
peel of 1 lemon
half a jar of apricot jam
2 egg whites
2 tablespoons icing sugar
castor and granulated sugar to dust
8 ounces sliced almonds
4 ounces sliced pistachios
After coring 40 apples with an apple scoop, peel 15 of them quite round, putting each apple, as soon as it is peeled, in water, in the same way as for a suédois. Take eight and boil them in 6 ounces of clarified sugar, taking care that they remain a little firm.
In the meantime, peel the remaining seven and put them to boil immediately after taking the first out of the syrup. Remove when still firm. The remaining 25 should be peeled and cut in slices and added to the syrup with the peel of a lemon, and the whole put on a moderate fire.
When the apples are dissolved, stir them till they are reduced to a perfect marmalade, and rub them through a sieve and then add half a pot of apricot marmalade. When cold, spread two spoonfuls of this apple/apricot marmalade on an oven-proof serving dish on which you then place nine of the largest whole apples, on them five more, and the last on top.
First, put some marmalade on the inside of the apples, and fill up the vacancies with more. With the remainder of the marmalade, cover the entire in such a manner that the whole forms a perfect dome.
Then beat the whites of two eggs very stiff, and add to this two spoonfuls of icing sugar. Spread this meringue over the apples as regularly as possible, and then dust it all with castor sugar.
Take some sliced sweet almonds and stick them lightly but evenly on the sugar a quarter of an inch apart. When you have finished, strew some granulated sugar over the whole, and place your dish in a slack oven, in order that the almonds as well as the egg and sugar may become lightly coloured. You may afterwards add some pistachios, each cut in six fillets, placing them in small holes made with a silver skewer. Your dish is then put back in the oven for 10 minutes and placed on the table as soon as you take it out.

La Tarte des Demoiselles Tatin (as The Blessed Julia calls it) - Astrid Bear
For 8 people
4 pounds crisp cooking or eating apples
1/3 cup granulated sugar
optional: 1 tsp cinnamon
Quarter, core, peel, and slice apples into 1/8 inch thick slices. Toss in a bowl with sugar and cinnamon.
2 T softened butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
6T melted butter
Butter a 9 inch diameter baking dish with the softened butter (especially in the bottom) Sprinkle half of the sugar in the bottom of the dish, and arrange a third of the apples over it. Sprinkle with a third of the melted butter, repeat with a layer of half the remaining apples and butter, then a final layer of apples and butter. Sprinkle the rest of the sugar over the apples.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Roll out sweet short paste -- (1 cup flour, 1T. sugar, 1/8 tsp salt, 4T chilled butter and 1 1/2 T. chilled veg. shortening, 2 1/2 - 3 T cold water) to a thickness of 1/8 inch. Cut into a circle the size of teh top of the baking dish. Place over the apples, allowing the edges to fall against the inside of the dish. Cut small holes to allow steam to escape.
Bake in lower third of preheated over for 45-60 minutes. If the pastry begins to brown too much, cover lightly with aluminium foil. Tart is done when you tilt the dish and see that a thick brown syrup rather than a light liquid exudes from the apples.
Immediately unmold the tart onto a fireproof serving sish. If the apples are not a light caramel brown, sprinkle heavily with powdered sugar and broil for a few minute to caramelize the surface lightlu (Or, bring out your little propane torch!)
Sserve warm, with heavy cream or creme fraiche.