Apples
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Apples can be canned, juiced, and optionally fermented to produce apple juice, cider, ciderkin, vinegar, and pectin. Distilled apple cider produces the spirits applejack and Calvados. Apple wine can also be made. They make a popular lunchbox fruit as well.
Apples are an important ingredient in many winter desserts, for example apple pie, apple crumble, apple crisp and apple cake. They are often eaten baked or stewed, and they can also be dried and eaten or re-constituted (soaked in water, alcohol or some other liquid) for later use. Puréed apples are generally known as apple sauce. Apples are also made into apple butter and apple jelly. They are also used (cooked) in meat dishes.
Pesticides, a good reason to buy organic apples
I regularly camp in a Kentish plum orchard and lst year when talking to the local farmer, I was shocked to learn that the apple trees (not the plum trees) are sprayed with with a pesticide, every single week, from the moment they set flower, to the day they are picked. That makes an organic apple, a very worthy item!
- In the UK, a toffee apple is a traditional confection made by coating an apple in hot toffee and allowing it to cool. Similar treats in the US are candy apples (coated in a hard shell of crystallised sugar syrup), and caramel apples, coated with cooled caramel.
- Apples are eaten with honey at the Jewish New Year of Rosh Hashanah to symbolise a sweet new year.
- Farms with apple orchards may open them to the public, so consumers may themselves pick the apples they will buy.
Sliced apples turn brown with exposure to air due to the conversion of natural phenolic substances into melanin upon exposure to oxygen. Different cultivars differ in their propensity to brown after slicing.
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A selection of apples at Borough Market
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A 'modern' apple peeler - London Science Museum
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vacuum packed apple slices ready for freezing
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Bramley apples, used as cooking and eating apples
Cooking apples
A cooking apple is an apple that is used primarily for cooking rather than eating fresh. Cooking apples are larger, and can be tarter than eating varieties. Some varieties have a firm flesh that doesn't break down much when cooked. Many apples are dual-purpose, eg Granny Smith's.
Cultivars can be divided into apples which are cooked whole in the oven and become soft and fluffy, often aromatic . Other varieties are processed, as in pies or sauce, etc., such as Bramley. Bramley is by far the most popular cooking apple in the UK.
Apples can be cooked down into sauce, apple butter or fruit preserves, baked in an oven and served with custard, and made into pies or apple crumble. In the UK apples are commonly boiled and mashed and served as apple sauce with roast pork.
Vacuum packing and freezing apples
I've been playing with a new toy, A vacuum packaging machine. Peel and core and slice the apples. keeping them in a bowl of water to which a few drops of lemon juice has been added should prevent them turning brown. Freezing about 3 large apples per pack is a good quantity to use for making home made apple sauce.
See also:
How much does one cup of apples weigh?
Estimated US cup to weight equivalents:
| Ingredient | US Cups | Grams | Ounces |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apples (chopped or diced) | 1 Cup | 100g g | 4 oz |
| Apples (sliced) | 1 Cup | 175 g | 6 oz |
Conversion notes:
Every ingredient has a cups to ounces or grams conversion table. Search for the ingredient, cup to weight conversions are at the end of each ingredient page.
We also have a generic conversion table and a portions per person lookup.
Seasonal Information: Apples
This information is specifically for countries in the northern temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere; particularly the United Kingdom, however it should be applicable for northern USA, northern Europe, Canada, Russia, etc.
Apples are at their best and in season during the following months: October, November, December & January.
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