Apples, Apples Everywhere - Recipes

Again I am turning to my trusty 1863 cookbook for these wonderful Apple recipes!

What plant we in the apple tree?

Fruits that shall dwell in sunny June,

And redden in the August moon,

And drop, when gentle airs come by,

That fan the blue September sky,

While children come, with cries of glee,

And seek there when the fragrant grass

Betrays their bed to those who pass

At the foot of the apple tree

—Bryant.

Baked Apples

Moderately tart apples or very juicy sweet ones are best for baking. Select ripe apples, free from imperfections, and of nearly equal size.
Wipe carefully and remove the blossom ends. Water sufficient to cover bottom of the baking dish, should be added if the fruit is not very juicy. If the apples are sour and quite firm, a good way is to pare them before baking, and then place them in an earthen pie dish with a little hot water. If they incline to brown too quickly, cover the tops with a granite-ware pie dish. If the syrup dries out, add a little more hot water. When done, set them away till nearly cold, then transfer to a glass dish, pour the syrup, which should be thick and amber colored, over them. Sour apples are excellent pared, cored, and baked with the centers filled with sugar, jelly, or a mixture or chopped raisins and dates. They should be put into a shallow earthen dish with water sufficient to cover the bottom, and baked in a quick oven, basting often with the syrup. Sweet apples are best baked without paring. Baked apples are usually served as a relish, but with a dressing of cream they make a most delicious dessert.

Crab Apples

Lemon Apples

Prepare tart apples the same as for citron apples. Fill the cavities made by removing the cores with a mixture of grated lemon and sugar, squeeze a few drops of lemon juice over each apple, and bake. Serve with or without whipped cream.

Baked Apple Sauce

Pare, core, and quarter apples to fill an earthen crock or deep pudding dish, taking care to use apples of the same degree of hardness, and pieces of the same size. For two quarts of fruit thus prepared, add a cup of water, and if the apples are sour, a cup of sugar. Cover closely, and bake in a moderate oven several hours, or until of a dark red color.

Baked Apple Sauce No. 2

Prepare nice tart apples as for No. 1. Bake, with a small quantity of water, in a covered pudding dish, in a moderate oven, until soft. Mash with a spoon, add sugar, and when cold, a little grated orange rind.

Apples Stewed Whole

Take six large red apples, wash carefully, and put in a fruit kettle with just enough boiling water to cover. Cover the kettle, and cook slowly until the apples are soft, with the skins broken and the juice a rich red color. After removing the apples, boil the juice to a syrup, sweeten, and pour over the apples.

Steamed Apples

Select pound sweets of uniform size, wipe, cut out the blossom-ends, and pack in a large pudding dish. Pour in a cupful of water, cover the dish closely, set in a moderate oven, and steam till the apples are tender. Remove from the dish, and pour the liquor over them frequently as they cool.

Compote of Apples

Pare and extract the cores from moderately tart, juicy apples. Place them in a deep pudding dish with just enough water to cover them. Cover, place in a moderate oven, and stew until they are tender. Remove the apples and place in a deep dish to keep hot. Measure the juice and pour it into a saucepan, add a few bits of lemon rind, and boil up until thickened almost like a jelly. While the juice is boiling, heat some sugar, one tablespoonful to each cup of juice, in the oven, and add to the juice when thickened. Pour scalding hot over the apples, and cover until cold.

Apple Compote No. 2

Pare eight or ten rather tart, finely flavored and easy-cooking apples, carefully removing the cores, and put them into a broad, shallow, granite-ware saucepan with just enough hot water to cover the bottom. Cover tightly and place over the fire. The steam will cook the apples tender in a short time. Do not allow them to fall to pieces. Make a syrup by dissolving one cup of sugar in a pint of hot water. Add three teaspoonfuls of the juice of canned pineapple, and pour over the apples while both are hot.

Smooth Apple Sauce

If fruit is not sufficiently perfect to be cut into uniform quarters, a good way to prepare it is to pare, core, and slice into thin slices. Cook in as small a quantity of water as possible, the fruit covered closely, so that the top portion will steam tender as soon as the bottom, and when done rub through a colander, or beat smooth with a wooden spoon or an egg beater. Let it cool before adding sugar. A little lemon peel may be added to the fruit just long enough before it is done to flavor it, if desired.

Boiled Apples with Syrup

Halve and remove the cores of a half dozen nice apples, leaving the skins on. Boil till tender in sufficient water to cover them. Take out with a fork into a glass dish. Add to the juice three or four slices of a large lemon; boil for ten or fifteen minutes; sweeten to taste; then pour over the apples, and cool.

Stewed Apples

Select fine fruit of a sub-acid flavor and not over-ripe. Pare, remove the cores and all blemishes, and divide into sixths if large, into quarters if small. Put into a porcelain or granite-ware kettle with enough boiling water to cook and leave a good liquor. Cover, and simmer gently, without stirring, from one to two hours. Do not add sugar till cold. Be careful not to break the fruit in serving.

Stewed Crab Apples

Select perfect fruit. Wash and stew in but little water until they are very soft. Rub through a coarse sieve or colander to remove the seeds and skins. Sweeten to taste.

Sweet Apple Sauce with Condensed Apple Juice

For the juice, wash, divide, and core rather tart apples and cook until softened with one cup of water for every six pounds of fruit. When soft, put into a percolator and drain off the juice or extract it with a fruit press. Boil until it is reduced one half. Skim if needed while boiling, and if not perfectly clear allow it to settle before using. A considerable quantity of the juice may be thus prepared and put into stone jars, to be used as needed. For the sauce, pare, core, and quarter sweet apples. Put into a porcelain kettle with enough of the condensed juice to cover. Cook slowly until tender.

Apples with Raisins

Pare, core, and quarter a dozen or more medium sized sour apples. Clean thoroughly one fourth as many raisins as apples, and turn over them a quart of boiling water. Let them steep until well swollen, then add the apples, and cook until tender. Sugar to sweeten may be added if desired, although little will be needed unless the apples are very tart. Dried apples soaked overnight may be made much more palatable by stewing with raisins or English currants, in the same way.

Apples with Apricots

Pare, core, and quarter some nice, sour apples. Put them to cook with two halves of dried apricot for each apple. When tender, make smooth by beating or rubbing through a colander, and sweeten. Dried apples may be used in place of fresh ones.

A great source of information on apples and various varieties (including seasonal availability and the best choices for cooking) can be found at: FruitandVeggieGuru.com