A delightful, easy taste of autumn
As the crisp autumnal chill settles in, apples and apple-rich baked goods emerge as the culinary face of the season. Or did so before produce arrived year-round from everywhere. Permit me some nostalgia for that quaint time when a fruit or vegetable at peak season was special.
Fresh, dried, squeezed into juice, or fermented into “hard” cider or vinegar, apples are important in many traditions. They imply health (“An apple a day keeps the doctor away”). That’s probably due to their high fiber content that promotes easily perceived digestive health. But they also contain beneficial vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. To me, however, the delight of apples is cooking with them plus eating them fresh.
Most apple cooking involves sweetening the fresh fruit and baking it: pies, tarts, turnovers, strudels, crisps, dumplings, cakes. The limited savory or boiled dishes with apples include braised pork with apples, stewed sauerkraut or red cabbage, applesauce, apple pancakes, jellies, and apple butter. Dried apples have modest culinary roles.
Hundreds of apple varieties (“cultivars”) exist, some preferred for eating fresh, others for cooking, others for cider making. They’re a major agricultural crop in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania, especially in cooler regions and higher elevations. I grew up in an apple- and cider-producing town. I lasted a day and a half picking apples commercially when I was 13. It’s hard work.
Apples (Malus domestica) are among the earliest fruits cultivated by humans, going back more than 7,500 years in Central Asia. They traveled west through the ancient “Silk Road” network of trade routes and by 3,000 years ago were established in Egypt. Early Romans learned to graft cuttings from trees bearing good fruit onto other root stock, advancing selection and propagation of the best varieties. The Romans also introduced apples throughout their empire and into northern Europe.
Though popular, apples carried a whiff of the supernatural, even danger (remember Snow White’s poisoned apple?). In Greek mythology, apples, especially golden-yellow apples, symbolized luxury, pleasure, fertility, and jealousy. The goddess Eris tossed the Apple of Discord into a wedding party, circuitously leading to the Trojan War. In Norse mythology, apples assured rejuvenation and were kept by Idun, goddess of spring. But she was abducted by the giants. The gods, without apples, grew weak. Her rescue by Loki, the mischievous god of trickery and chaos, allowed the gods again to eat apples and regain their vitality.
Then there’s the notorious apple in the Garden of Eden. Scripture doesn’t actually specify the fruit that was forbidden. The Latin word malum meant both apple and evil (though the two homonyms were pronounced differently) and may have led early Roman Christians to entangle the apple with Adam and Eve’s downfall. Old icons and religious paintings sometimes portrayed the forbidden fruit as an apple.
Centuries later, the Old English word aeppel didn’t specify apple, just fruit. The succeeding English word apple remained generic for fruit until the 17th century. John Milton may have cemented the apple’s blame for the disaster in Eden, using “apple” in his 1667 epic poem “Paradise Lost.”
On the positive side, here’s a great apple dessert that’s shamelessly easy to make. “Swedish Apple Pie” has it all, including a misleading name. It is Swedish (called smulpaj, meaning “crumb pie”) and contains apples. But it’s more of a crustless torte than a traditional “pie.” I adapted this recipe from that of my non-Swedish sister-in-law Carol. Simple, inexpensive, and with everything basically thrown into the baking dish, it’s unbeatable. The main difficulty may be deciding between whipped cream or vanilla ice cream to top it. I prefer heavy cream whipped with a little powdered sugar, then a little rum or bourbon folded in at the end.
Swedish Apple “Pie”
- 5 cooking apples (like Gala or Granny Smith), peeled, cored, in 1/2-inch slices
- 1 tablespoon sugar for apples
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1/3 cup butter, unsalted preferred
- 1/4 cup oil (not olive)
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup sugar for batter
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped
- Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream for serving, optional
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an attractive 10-inch shallow casserole.
Place sliced apples in a bowl. Mix the tablespoon of sugar with cinnamon and lemon zest. Sprinkle evenly over apples. Sprinkle the lemon juice. Toss to mix and spread out the apple slices in the baking dish. Then use the bowl to beat the egg.
In a different bowl, glass or ceramic, melt butter in microwave, about 1 minute. Add oil, flour, sugar, egg, salt, and nuts. Stir until combined. Spoon batter over apples and spread evenly.
Bake 45 to 55 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm. When serving, top, if desired, with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Tim Dondero, co-owner and Executive Chef of Donderos’ Kitchen is a culinary enthusiast who has taught international cooking in Atlanta and Athens. His blog is at timsspecialrecipes.com.
