There are so many varieties of apples today, choosing which to buy and how to best use them can confuse even the most seasoned apple picker. Here are a few hints and tips for your trip to the orchard, farm stand or market. This is not an exhaustive list but does give you some good suggestions. And, remember that the very best apples to use are the ones you have on hand!
For fresh eating, choose a sweet and crisp fruit like Cameo, Fuji, Gala, Honeycrisp, and Jazz. Gala are my personal favorite for taking on a picnic or with lunch.
For baking, Braeburn, Granny Smith, Jonagold, and Rome Beauty are all good choices that will hold their shape. Granny Smith has always been my favorite pie apple.
For culinary use, Braeburn, Cortland, Empire, Jonathan, McIntosh, Rome, and Winesap. These all work well for general cooking.
Apple sauce and apple butter are best with a variety of sweet and tart apples that are soft so they cook down easily. Cortland, Golden Delicious, Gravenstein, Jonathan, and McIntosh are good choices.
When storing apples, keep in mind they will keep longer and stay fresher in a cold, humid environment. It is best to first put the apples in a plastic bag with a few holes in it. Then place them in a drawer in the refrigerator.When you want to keep cut apples from turning brown, for example when using on a fruit tray, dip the apples in a bowl of water with a few teaspoons of lemon juice stirred in. The citric acid in the lemon juice acts as a preservative and prevents browning.
Of course, apples don’t last long when you have great recipes for their use. One of my personal favorites is below.
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Apple Pecan-Filled Pumpkin Bundt Cake
- Total Time: 85 minutes
Ingredients
Filling
3 T cold butter
½ c brown sugar, packed
¼ c flour
¾ c chopped pecans
1 c diced apples
½ c dried cranberries
Pumpkin Cake
2 c sugar
1 c butter, softened
4 large eggs
2 c canned pumpkin
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 T pumpkin pie spice*
½ c pure maple syrup
*Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 tsp cloves
2 tsp nutmeg
4 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
For the filling, cut butter into brown sugar and flour with a pastry cutter or in a food processor until fine crumbs and pour into a bowl. Add pecans, apple and cranberries, stirring until well mixed. Set aside.
For the cake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a bundt pan.Cream sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs, pumpkin, and vanilla, mixing until combined. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, mixing just until combined.
Pour half the batter into the prepared Bundt pan. Sprinkle filling over batter being careful to avoid the outside edges. Pour the remaining batter into the pan.
Bake for 60 – 70 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Invert pan to remove cake and finish cooling on a wire rack. Transfer to a serving plate and drizzle with maple syrup.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Category: Dessert