Tag Archives: Apples

Baking with apples in a mildly, sweet way

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Baking with apples in a mildly, sweet way

When I am baking, I look for ways to achieve maximum pleasure while minimizing the amount of work, ingredients and inconvenience necessary. The results don’t always bear talking about, but this recipe — oh, this one does. It’s a moist cake with a crumb that’s almost creamy, swirled with cinnamon, and juicy with small bites of apple. It will take you 10 minutes to make, and this recipe never gets old.

I whipped this up for the first time last winter while staying with a group of scientists doing research in snowy Colorado. The first night there, I needed a quick, simple dessert. I had the makings of a yogurt cake, but I had been craving spring’s sweet fruits and berries. There were none to be had, so, I turned to apples.

I love the mild sweetness and brightness of apples when they are cut small for baking in a cake. They are juicy little pops of fruit. In this recipe, I spread a crumbly mix of cinnamon and brown sugar through the middle and over the top of this cake. This creates a cinnamon streak running right through the cake, and a dimpled, puckered top filled with brown-sugar glaze.

The beautiful thing about this cake, besides its moist lusciousness, is that it mixes up in one bowl, and you don’t even need beaters. It’s only mildly sweet, and much of the sweetness comes from the apples.

In fact, I came downstairs the morning after I was baking this, and found only a corner or two remaining. The scientists evidently had decided that the cake was good for breakfast as it had been for dessert.

Apple Yogurt Cake With a Cinnamon-Sugar Streak

  • Vegetable cooking spray or olive oil
  • 1 1/2 cups whole-milk yogurt, well stirred
  • 2/3 cup olive oil
  • 1 lemon, juiced (about 1/4 cup)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 4 small tart apples, such as Granny Smith, about 1 1/2 pounds
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • Pinch freshly ground nutmeg
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, divided
  • 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 9-inch-by-13-inch baking pan with cooking spray or olive oil.

Whisk together the yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, sugar, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl. Peel and core the apples, and chop into chunks about 1/2-inch across. You should end up with 3 1/2 to 4 cups of apples. Stir the chopped apples into the liquid ingredients.

Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon into the liquids and stir just until no lumps remain. In a small, separate bowl, mix the remaining 2 teaspoons cinnamon with the brown sugar and butter.

Pour half of the batter into the cake pan. Sprinkle the batter with half of the cinnamon-brown sugar mixture, dropping it on the batter in small lumps. Spread the rest of the batter over top, and sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon-brown sugar.

Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, covering with foil at the end if the top is browning. When a tester comes out clean, transfer the cake to a cooling rack and let it cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting. Serve the cake warm or at room temperature.

This keeps well for several days, and it gets moister as it sits, thanks to the apples.

Makes 8 or more servings.

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baking with Bill & Sheila

Harvest A Wealth Of Apple Ideas

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Harvest A Wealth Of Apple Ideas

The leaves have turned, pumpkins are ripening on the vine and most of Canada’s apple growers are in the orchards harvesting this year’s crop of apples for your enjoyment throughout the winter months. It is well known that apples are nutritious, as are apple-based products like pure apple juice, apple sauce and dried fruit snacks. But now more than ever, as research is showing that apples contain important anti-oxidants, apples and apple products are an important part of your family’s diet. Why not take advantage of the season and introduce new, innovative ways for your family to enjoy them every day.

Here are a few simple ways to increase your apple consumption and boost your anti-oxidant intake:

• Choose juice over pop. Apple juice contains health-promoting phytonutrients – natural antioxidants – and is usually fortified with Vitamin C.
• Liven up a simple salad by topping it with pieces of fruit or strips of Sun-Rype Fruit to Go bars.
• Want to try something new with that jar of Sun-Rype Apple Sauce? Try these suggestions:
• Use apple sauce on top of ice cream and sprinkle with granola for a healthy sundae.
• Swirl into yogurt or cottage cheese for a low fat parfait.
• Warm up crisp fall mornings by topping pancakes or French toast with hot apple sauce and a dollop of sour cream.
• Replace vegetable oil or butter in most recipes with an equal amount of apple sauce. Apple sauce lowers the fat and calories when you bake.

All it takes is a little imagination to increase the number of apples your family gets in their diet. And, of course, apples make it easier for your family members to get the five to ten daily servings of fruit and vegetables recommended by Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating. Harvest season is a great time to experiment with apple products to see how they can enhance your meal times, for more creative ideas and recipes visit www.sunrype.com.

Harvest Apple Pie With Cheddar Crust

Apples partner well with cheddar and here the cheese is built right into the crust. For another variation, use your favourite crust recipe and top with apple crisp topping.

Cheddar Crust
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 550mL
3/4 tsp salt 4 mL
1/2 cup vegetable shortening125mL
1/4 cup cold butter 50mL
(cut into small pieces)
1 3/4 cups old cheddar cheese 425mL
5 to 6 tbsp ice water 75 to 90 mL

Apple Filling:
6 cups Ontario Apples 1.5 L, sliced peeled (Such as Cortland, Crispin (Mutsu), Golden Delicious, Jonagold, McIntosh, Northern Spy, Russet, Spartan)
1 tbsp lemon juice 15mL
1/3 cup granulated sugar 75mL
1 tbsp all-purpose flour 15mL
1/2 tsp cinnamon 2mL
1 egg yolk 1
1 tsp milk 5mL

• In large bowl, combine flour and salt. With pastry blender, cut in shortening and butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in cheese. Stir in water a little at a time until dough holds together. Press into 2 round disks; wrap with plastic wrap and chill 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile prepare filling: In large bowl toss apples and lemon juice. In small bowl, combine sugar, flour and cinnamon; stir into apples.
• On lightly floured surface, roll out pastry for bottom crust to 1/8-inch (3mm) thickness. Place in 9-inch (23cm) pie plate; trim edge even with rim. Roll out pastry for top crust, cutting steam vents. Add filling to bottom crust, place top crust over apples, trimming to 1/2-inch (1 cm) over the edge. Tuck overhang under edge of bottom crust and finish edge as desired. In small bowl, beat together egg yolk and milk; brush top of pie with mixture.
• Bake on bottom rack in a 425ºF (220ºC) oven for 15 minutes then reduce temperature to 350ºF (180ºC) and bake for about 40 minutes or until apples are tender and crust is golden brown.

Makes 6 servings.

Growing Apples for Great Wine

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Growing Apples for Great Wine

There are countless varieties of apples in general cultivation in this country and all have their likes and dislikes – yet all the all-round varieties seem to do well almost anywhere.

Like all fruits they like to be treated well and will reward those who remember this. I am concerned with growing apples and other fruits such as plums for wine-making; therefore there seems little point in covering the growing of these fruits in the espalier fashion or as cordons. Apart from the fact that the average home-grower will not want this type of tree, he will want as much fruit as he can get from as little space as he can allow. No one will dispute the quality of fruits grown as cordons, but they are expensive to start with and cannot hope to compete with the bush tree when a lot of fruit is the aim of the grower.

The bush tree is the most suitable for the small garden where the owner wants as much fruit as he can get from a small space and for a minimum of labour.

Deep digging is essential, for it must be remembered that trees, once planted, will remain perhaps the lifetime of the owner.

The roots of apples go a great deal deeper than is generally imagined and provided the right variety for the type of soil is planted, the trees will settle down and fruit well. Unless your garden is in what we call a frost hole – a natural depression in the lie of the land that catches the spring frosts harder than elsewhere and then catches the first rays of the morning sun – you can grow apples without fear of the frosts depriving you of your crops.

Bush apples are usually planted ten to twelve feet apart and are put in before Christmas. Early February is the latest that I would leave this job.

Prepare the soil well in advance and allow it to settle before planting. Six months in advance is not too early to get the first digging done if the soil has never before been broken.

When planting, take out holes a good bit larger than are required to accommodate all the roots without cramping. The depth of the hole will depend on the depth the young tree had been planted before it was delivered to you and this will be clearly marked on the young trunk.

Any roots damaged in transit should be cut off cleanly with a sharp knife.

It is best to drive a stake firmly into the middle of the hole and to tie the tree to this while planting. Spread out the roots, shovel sifted soil over them and firm each layer by treading. Rattle the tree occasionally so that the soil is shaken down between the roots. Plant firmly; insecure planting is the most frequent cause of deaths among young trees. When firmly planted, untie the tree from the stake and bind the trunk with felt or some other material and bind this part to the stake. This will prevent chafing of the bark.

For general purposes it is best not to prune a young tree during the first season after planting, but pruning thereafter is of the greatest importance. Not only does it keep the tree in shape but it prevents overcrowding and ensures regular and heavy fruiting.

In the case of bush apples, each leading shoot – that is the growing tip of each main branch – is cut back by about six inches. The young growths growing off this main branch are laterals; these must not be allowed to become branches otherwise the tree will become overcrowded. These laterals are pruned back to leave four or five buds.

The following precautions should be taken against pests and diseases. Spray during winter with a tar-distillate wash. Spray with a nicotine wash in spring, when the buds begin to open and again a week after the petals have fallen. Fix grease bands to the trunks.

author:Brian Cook