Rediscover the Heirloom Apples and Real Cider
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The Renaissance of Heirloom Apples
Some of those old varieties especially loved for cider making were in danger of being lost, but there has been a resurgence in planting and growing the old heirloom trees that returns many of these flavors for our experience.
Photo by fishermansdaughter
Apple Gadget
Pare lots of apples
Apple Master Apple Peeler, Corer, and Slicer, Colors Vary
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Baking and Cooking Apples
The Best Apple Pie
America's Favorite
Deep-Dish Apple Pie from Emeril Lagasse.
Use the included Pie crust recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 pounds Granny Smith apples-sliced 1/2-inch thick
- 2 pounds Macintosh Apples-sliced 1/2-inch thick
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- packed
- 1 lemon- juiced
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- Pinch ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup pecan pieces
- 1 egg- beaten
- 4 ounces Wisconsin Sharp Cheddar-grated
- 1 Pie Crust recipe below
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large saute pan, melt the butter. Add the apples and saute for 2 minutes. Add the sugars, lemon juice and flour. Continue to saute for 2 minutes. Season the apples with nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Mix thoroughly and remove from the heat. Mix in the pecans. Cool the mixture.
Lightly dust a surface with flour. Cut the dough in half. Roll out each half to 12 inches in diameter and about 1/8-inch thick. Fold 1 circle of dough in fourths. Carefully lift the dough and place in a 10-inch deep-dish pie pan. Unfold the pie dough and spoon the apples into the pie shell. Place the second round of dough over the apples. Using a sharp knife cut away the excess dough. Using your fingers, crimp the edges of the pie firmly to seal the dough completely. With the same sharp knife, make 3 slits, about 4 inches long and 2 inches apart, across the pie dough. Brush with the beaten egg, place the pie in the oven, and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Remove the pie from the oven and sprinkle the cheese over the top. Return the pie to the oven and continue to cook for 8 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly. Let cool to room temperature before slicing, about 1 hour. Serve with vanilla ice cream.
Pie Dough:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
11 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
3 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening
5 tablespoons ice water
Sift the flour, sugar, and salt into a large bowl. Using your fingers, work in the butter and shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add 4 tablespoons of ice water and work with your fingers until the water is incorporated and the dough comes together. Add more water as needed just until the dough comes together, being careful not to over mix. Form the dough into a disk, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before using.
Yield: enough for 1 double crust pie
Apple cores are no problem!
OXO Good Grips Apple Corer and Divider
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About Old Fashioned Apple Varieties
What were they used for?
Cooking? Fresh Eating? Long Storage?
Ashmead's Kernel apple is not a pretty face, but has delicious flavor and is useful for eating, salads, cider, and cooking. Wow- if I were a homesteader this is the apple I would want to grow. Learn more about Ashmead's Kernel
Gravenstein is a coastal type of apple. Quite famous in the past, a very old variety that originated in South Denmark. It is used mainly for cooking and cider. Gravenstein apple
Esopus Spitzenburg apple is an eating apple. It was Thomas Jefferson's favorite. "The flavor is truly aromatic and matches the complexity of the English aromatic apples. The flesh is a buttery dense yellow, and there is a rich sharpness which is often characteristic of high quality dessert apples." It is not a very healthy tree, though.
Cole's Quince apple is a very rare cooking and eating apple.
Adam's Pearmain apple is an old-fashioned dessert apple. Dry rather than juicy, it has an aromatic flavor.
Cox's Orange Pippin is an old dessert apple variety, Gala apples are today's version. More about Cox Orange.
Brier's Sweet Crab originated in Wisconsin. Very sweet and good as dessert apple and for applesauce.
Newell's Late Orange is good for cooking. Directions to grow your own tree.
Dula Beauty, great for baking, hails from North Carolina. Dark red with yellowish, crisp flesh.
Winter Banana is a tart-sweet apple which makes it good for cooking. Also prized as an eating apple which has a "banana aroma". Originated in Indiana.
Bentley's Sweet is a very sweet and long keeping apple. Late ripening dessert apple.
Bietigheimer, from German origins, is an early ripening cooking apple.
Bramley's Seedling, an English variety, is good for baking and cider. It has a sharp taste that is excellent used in those ways.
Chenango Strawberry, from New York, an aromatic apple good for eating and cooking.
Duchess of Oldenburg is an old Russian apple which is fine for both eating and cooking.Has a tangy flavor reminiscent of Winesap.
McIntosh Red is widely available in supermarkets, but is an old variety. Great for salads, and for cooking and baking. Famous for its sweet but mildly tangy flavor.
Margil was widely grown in England in the1700's and established popularity in the Colonies here by the 1750's. It is now a rare apple, to the small side with russet coat, its flesh is tender, ivory, very sweet, and flavorful. Red Jacket Orchards of Genvea, New York grows it and I found it in my market in Ohio. Delicious!
Northern Spy from New York in the early 1800's; it has a spicy, aromatic flavor. Quite famous for pies.
Make Lots of Apple Sauce
Roma Food Strainer and Sauce Maker for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
Amazon Price: $32.00 (as of 06/01/2012)
Softer apples are best for applesauce
Heirloom Apple Resources
about the old apples
- WSU Clark County Extension
- Very helpful article about old fashioned varieties and lists of the best ones.
- Trees of Antiquity
- Trees of Antiquity : fruits of all kinds-heirloom trees,
- Apple Journal- "A Passion for Apples"
- Apple Journal is a comprehensive resource for growers and consumers about apples and apple growing. Find information about cooking, nutrition, variety selection and usage, farm market reports, historical archives, and orchards
- BRAMLEY APPLES - A WINTER TREAT
- Bramley cooking apples make a great seasonal pudding!
Growing Heirloom Apples
Resources
- Big Horse Creek Farm
- Heirlooms and other Apple trees available for sale
- LBEEC: Heirloom Apples in Central and Southern Appalachia
- Heirloom Apples in Central and Southern Appalachia
- Heirloom Apples Are Back In Fashion
- -- Old-fashioned apples are back in fashion. After nearly disappearing from the marketplace, apple varieties that were popular decades or even centuries ago are making a resurgence.
- Urban Homestead
- Old apple varieties of Virginia. Catalog to order, information to learn about them.
- fAQ'S from Urban Homestead
- Growing information on old heirloom apples
- Apple Journal- "A Passion for Apples"
- Apple Journal is a comprehensive resource for growers and consumers about apples and apple growing. Find information about cooking, nutrition, variety selection and usage, farm market reports, historical archives, and orchards
- Virginia Fruit Web Page
- Virginia Fruit Web Page - We
specialize in entomology, plant pathology and horticulture of
deciduous fruits (apples, peaches, cherries, plums, and
nectarines) as well as grapes and small fruits (blueberries,
strawberries and brambles).
Keep Your Apple Crop
Old Fashioned Apple Rack
Plant for Success
How do I plant a tree? Dig a hole- The Right Way
Do You Love Apples?
thumbs up on heirloom varieties
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All About Apples
Cider Apples
best varieties for cider making
Cider is a blend of several apple juices made from crushed apples.How To Make Cider
Crush ripe apples and extract their juice under pressure.
If making an alcoholic sort of cider there is a fermentation process.
"The four types of apples for cider are describes as sweets, sharps, bittersweets and bittersharps. Sweet and sharp are easy enough to understand (eg Cox and Bramley) but the bitter types are apples grown specifically for cider and are not used for eating or cooking. The specific thing about these fruits is that they have high levels of tannins, flavour compounds which set your teeth on edge if you bite into the apple, but which ferment out to give a richer, aromatic flavour with good mouth feel in the finished cider" [1]
American Varieties for Cider
Red Limbertwig
Harrison Cider
Campfield
English Varieties for Cider
Kingston Black - Bittersharp
Dabinett - Bittersweet
Sweet Coppin - Sweet
Crimson King - Sharp
If you are serious about making cider
Cider press
American Harvester Double Tub Cider Press
Amazon Price: $855.00 (as of 06/01/2012)
New England Cider Pie
Recipe from James Beard- that man really knew how to cook!
Ingredients
- Pie dough for a 1-crust pie
- 2/3 cup boiled cider or 2 cups apple cider- boiled down to 2/3 cup
- 2 tablespoons sugar- to taste
- 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon unsalted butter -melted
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- Pinch of salt
- 3 large well beaten eggs
- 2 tart apples such as Granny Smith- peeled | cored | coarsely grated
- 3 tablespoons packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream
Instructions
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a large circle about 1/8-inch thick. Fit it, without stretching, into a buttered 8- to 9-inch pie pan. Trim off the excess dough, leaving a 3/4-inch border. Fold under the edge of dough, pressing along rim of the pan and forming a high, fluted border. Chill the pie shell while you preheat the oven to 375%u02DAF, with a rack in the lower third.
In a bowl, whisk together the boiled cider, sugar, melted butter, lemon juice, salt, and eggs. Add the grated apples and stir to blend well. Pour the filing into the pie shell; sprinkle the brown sugar and nutmeg over the top.
Bake until mixture is just set in the center, usually 50 minutes.
Let the pie cool on a wire rack. Serve warm, topped with ice cream or whipped cream.
Thanksgiving Cider Pie
- Serves: 8
Old fashioned pie from the archives of the Columbus Dispatch "Cooks Corner"
Ingredients
- Crust:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter-diced
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons ice water
- 1 large egg yolk-lightly beaten
- Filling and topping:
- 2 cups apple cider
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 large eggs at room temperature-separated
- 1 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
- 1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream or whole milk
- Confectioners' sugar
Instructions
Combine flour, butter and salt in a food processor. Pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add ice water and egg yolk. Process until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather into a ball and flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 30 minutes or longer.
Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch round. Transfer to a 9-inch pie plate. Fold in overhanging dough to form a high-rising border. Flute the edges. Refrigerate dough at least 30 minutes. (Pie shell can be prepared 1 day ahead; cover with plastic wrap and keep refrigerated.)
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
To make filling: Put cider in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook until cider reduces to 1/2 cup, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Add sugar, water and butter to cider and return pan to high heat. Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and cook until mixture reduces to 1 cup, about 10 minutes. Transfer mixture to a medium, heatproof mixing bowl and cool to room temperature.
Whisk yolks into the cooled cider mixture. With an electric mixer on high speed, beat egg whites until just firm. Fold them into the cider mixture in three additions.
Spoon filling into the prepared pie shell. Bake 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees. Continue to bake until crust is golden brown, and filling has puffed and set and has become dark brown on top, about 25 minutes more. If filling and crust are browning too quickly, cover pie with a buttered sheet of foil.
Cool to room temperature.
To serve, place creme fraiche in a serving bowl, and whisk in 1 to 2 tablespoons cream to lighten slightly. Dust pie with confectioners' sugar. Garnish with creme fraiche.
Cider resources
- cider
- Here are a few notes on cider from a personal point of view. The cider apples we grow are described more fully in the varieties page CIDER
- Real Cider and Perry
- Old Scrump's Cider House: one of the most valuable web resources for cider & perry enthusiast.
- The Wittenham Hill Cider Portal
- All about small-scale cider making, cider growing, and making apple juice and vinegar - written by Andrew Lea, a food scientist and hobby cidermaker
Select a Healthy Tree
An Apple A Day Is Good For You
what might a comment do?
Thank you, Squidangels.
Geeve
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A-Redneck
Feb 28, 2012 @ 10:48 am | delete
- Your apple pie reminds me that I need to cook up some apple crisps and apple cake soon to use up last years harvested apples. We have only one apple tree in our yard but it seems that every second year it throws off about 300 pounds of apples which is amazing to us. I love having the fresh organic apples.
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JoyfulReviewer
Nov 15, 2011 @ 5:19 pm | delete
- Congratulations on your lens being chosen to be featured on the Fall Harvest Fest monsterboard. Nicely done!
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Geeve
Nov 7, 2011 @ 5:03 pm | delete
- A great lens. Blessed by the neighbourhood Angel and also part of the Angel's Fall quest.
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hysongdesigns
Nov 5, 2011 @ 9:12 pm | delete
- I love fall because that's when the new crop of apples comes in. during the winter I often eat 2-3 apples a day. Current favorites are Fuji, Gala and of course, Granny Smith, which is also my fav for making apple pie.
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Apples!
Old Fashioned Pie Birds for Your Pies
and a pretty pie plate,too
Heirloom Apple Candle
the fragrance of fresh aromatic apple
Camp Chef Cast Iron Candles : Apple Cobbler
Amazon Price: (as of 06/01/2012)
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Apple Pies Recipe Book
Apple Pie: 100 Delicious and Decidedly Different Recipes for America's Favorite Pie
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Lodge L Series 3-Quart Apple Pot, Apple Green
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