Apple Recipes

This post will present some apple recipes which you can easily prepare. Before we go there let us learn  a few things about apples. The apple may well be regarded as the king of all fruits, not only on account of its wide distribution over the earth's surface, but also because of the general favor with which it is received. It is, perhaps, the oldest fruit with which we are acquainted. There are innumerable able kinds, of varying size, form, and flavor. The small, sour, wild crab-apple is probably the parent stock.

The composition of the apple, which is given below the accompanying diagram, is much like that of other similar fruits. The carbohy­drate, consisting of sugar, starch, and similar pro­ducts, makes up anything from five per cent to fif­teen per cent according to the variety, but the chief constituent is, of course, water.

Almost anyone will find a ripe apple wholesome and easily digested, pro­viding it is well masti­cated and the skin is rejected. But if the teeth are poor, and efficient mastication is impossible, then it is wise to scrape the apple with a silver knife, or a spoon before eating it. Cooking softens the cellulose or woody matter of the apple, and changes some of the gums present into gelatinous substances. Consequently a baked apple is generally recognized as being more digestible than a raw apple, and it makes an acceptable dish for almost any invalid.

Composition of the Apple.

Water 82.5 per cent; (a) Cellulose, 2.7 percent; (b) Acids, 1.0 per cent; (c) Carbohy­drate, 12.5 per cent; (d) Fat, 0.5 per cent; (e) Mineral matter, 0.4 per cent; (f) Protein, 4 per cent.

The following vegan and vegeterian recipes are gleaned from "Science in the Kitchen," by Mrs. E. E. Kellogg:—

Baked Apples,

Take any good tart apples; peel, cut in halves, arid remove the cores. Scatter a few spoonfuls of sugar in the bottom of a dish, and lay the apples in, flat side down ; add a teacupful of cold water, and bake till tender. Let stand in the dish till cold, then take up the pieces in a vegetable dish, and pour over them what juice remains. Sweet apples are good baked; in this way without sugar.

Dried Apples.

Good apples properly dried make a very palatable sauce; but unfortunately the fruit generally selected for drying is of so inferior a quality that if cooked in its fresh state it would not be good. The dried fruit in most of our markets needs to be looked over carefully, and thoroughly washed before using. Put into a granite-ware saucepan, cover with boiling water, and cook gently until tender. Fresh steam-dried or evaporated applet will cook in from one-half to three-fourths of an hour; if older, they may require from one to two or more hours. Add boiling water, as needed, during the cooking. If when tender they are lacking in juice, add a little boiling water long enough before lifting from the fire to allow it to boil up once. If the fruit is very poor, a few very thin slices of the yellow portion of lemon or orange rind added a half-hour before it is done, will sometimes be an improvement.

Compote of Apples.

Pare and extract the cores from moderately tart, juicy apples. Place them in a deep pudding-dish with just enough water to cover them. Cover, place in a moderate oven, and slew until they are lender. Remove the apples and place in a deep dish to keep hot. Measure the juice and pour it into a saucepan, add a few bits of lemon rind, and boil up until thickened almost like a jelly. While the juice is boiling, heat some sugar, one tablespoonful to each cup of juice, in the oven, and add to the juice when thickened. Pour scalding hot over the apples, and cover until cold.

Apple Charlotte.

Take three cups of nicely stewed tart apples which have been beaten smooth or rubbed through a colander and sweetened to taste. If the sauce is thin and very juicy, place it upon the range, and simmer slowly, till it is of the consistency of thick marmalade or jelly. Add to the apples four tablespoonfuls of grated fresh or canned pineapple for flavouring. Re­move the hard crusts from slices of light whole­ wheat bread, spread them quite thickly with the apple, and pack in layers in a pudding mould. Cover with a simple custard made of a quart of milk, three tablespoonfuls of sugar, and two eggs. Let it stand half an hour, then bake. Do not press the bread or beat it after the custard is turned on, as that will be likely to make the pudding heavy. Other fruit marmalade may be used in place of the apple preparation if preferred.

Apple Jelly.

After cleaning, cut nice tart apples in quarters, but unless wormy do not peel or core. Put into porcelain saucepan with a cup of water for each six pounds of fruit, and simmer very slowly until the apples are thoroughly cooked. Turn into a jelly-bag, and drain off the juice. If very tart, allow three-fourths of a pound of sugar to each pint of juice. If sub acid, one half pound will be sufficient. Put the sugar into the oven to heat. Clean the saucepan, and boil the juice therein twenty minutes after it begins to boil thoroughly. Add the sugar, stirring until well dis­solved, let it boil up once again, and remove from the fire. The juice of one lemon may be used with the apples, and a few bits of lemon rind, the yellow portion only, cooked with them to give them a flavour, if liked. One-third cranberry juice makes a pleasing combination.