A Treasure Trove of Apple Recipes — Just in Time for the Harvest

The apples are in. Gala. Macoun. Honey Crisp. Delicious. We all have our favorites. Like nothing else, they signal the change of season at our local farm stands and markets. Harvested by the bag and by the bushel, apples whet our appetites for autumnal fare.

With this weekend's cool temperatures ushering in great baking and cooking weather, we asked a handful of area chefs and farmers to share their favorite apple recipes. Catherine Rose from Chaplin Farms in Chaplin sent her family's recipe for apple puff pancakes. Kara Brooks, chef and co-owner of the Still River Cafe in Eastford, forwarded a recipe for apple fritters. Celebrity baker John Barricelli of South Norwalk's SoNo Baking Company contributed his recipe for apple date crisp. From Lyman Orchards in Middlefield, it's roast-ready scalloped apples. Avon-based cookbook author Terry Walters emailed her savory recipe for sauteed cabbage, tart cherries and apples. The cooks at Old Sturbridge Village passed along their "receipt" for Marlborough Pudding. Chef and owner of Harvest Cafe & Bakery in Simsbury, Kimberly Foster, offers delicious streusel-topped muffins. And yours truly couldn't resist adding her favorite recipe for an old-fashioned German apple cake.

So pay a visit to your local farm stand and then get cooking. Isn't apple season the best?

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Chaplin Farms in Chaplin grows and sells more than 15 varieties of apples, which are sold at the farm stand in Chaplin and at farmers' markets around the state including two in Hartford, three in New Haven, and markets in Middletown and Storrs. Chaplin Farms has been owned and operated for over 20 years by four generations of the Rose family. Co-owner Catherine Rose sent this recipe for a favorite family recipe. "Oh my god, you have to try it," she says. It's delicious, and "super-easy." As for which type of apple to choose, Rose says, "I always end up using what I have left over."

Chaplin Farms' Apple Puff Pancake

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, divided use

1 apple, cored and cut into 1/2-inch slices

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

Confectioners' sugar, for dusting (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter a 10-inch ovenproof pan.

In another fry pan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Add apple, cinnamon, and sugar and saute, stirring occasionally, until apple begins to soften and brown, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a bowl, whisk eggs until beaten. Add milk and whisk until blended. Sift flour and salt into egg mixture and whisk until just blended.

In a small saucepan set over medium-low heat, melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Add butter to egg mixture and whisk until smooth.

Pour batter into prepared pan and arrange apple slices evenly on top. Bake until pancake is browned and puffed up, 25 to 30 minutes. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve at once.

Serves 2 to 4.

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One of the best new baking books to cross our desk in ages is John Barricelli's The SoNo Baking Company Cookbook. Barricelli, founder and proprietor of the SoNo Baking Co. in South Norwalk, is a familiar face from episodes of The Martha Stewart Show and PBS's Everyday Food. The following recipe, for Apple Date Crisp, adds an ingenious twist to a favorite fall dessert. "This crisp is reminiscent of an old-time classic dessert," Barricelli writes. "The addition of dates to the filing gives sweetness without adding extra sugar. When baked, they soften up nicely with the juice of the apples. Use a baking apple such as Cortland, Winesap, or Rome, for the dish (Granny Smiths are too firm), as the apples will need to soften and fall apart during cooking. In contrast, the walnut-streusel topping is very crisp. A perfect dessert to help ease into fall."

John Barricelli's Apple Date Crisp

Streusel topping:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Fruit mixture:

1 1/4 pounds baking apples, such as Cortland, Winesap, or Rome, cored, peeled, and cut into coarse dice (about 4 cups)

1/2 cup coarsely chopped pitted dried dates

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon coarse salt

Juice of 1/2 lemon

To make streusel topping: In a medium bowl, use a fork to stir together flour, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Add butter, and using your fingertips, quickly work it into the dry ingredients until pea-size crumbs form. Add the walnuts and toss. Set aside in the refrigerator.

In a large bowl, toss apples with dates, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and lemon juice.

Set oven rack in middle position. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter four 4-inch ramekins (or any ovenproof dishes that hold about 1 cup each) and set them on a baking sheet lined with a nonstick silicone baking mat.

Divide apple mixture among prepared ramekins. Top with streusel. Bake, rotating the baking sheet about two-thirds of the way through cooking, until apples are cooked and bubbling and topping is golden brown and very crisp, about 45 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves 4

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It's harvest season at Lyman Orchards in Middlefield where visitors can pick their own apples or buy them in the farm's Apple Barrel store. The shop also stocks seasonal delectables including fresh-made fruit pies, apple butter, and apple cider.

Asked for a favorite apple recipe to share with Patch readers, marketing and public relations manager Karen Augeri immediately suggested Edna Lyman's Scalloped Apples, a Lyman family and customer favorite for generations.

Dorothy Lyman Waller calls this recipe "a wonderful accompaniment to roasts of all kinds. A favorite at family gatherings and church suppers for more than 70 years."

Edna Lyman's Scalloped Apples

6 baking apples, medium to large, peeled, cored and quartered

2 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup sugar

3 tablespoons butter or margarine

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter a 9-by-13-by-2-inch baking dish, and set aside.

In a saucepan, combine water, sugar, and apples. Bring to a boil over high heat, and cook 1 minute. Place apples rounded side up in prepared baking dish. Pour half of the cooking liquid over apples. Dot with butter or margarine. Pour lemon juice and then maple syrup over all.

Bake about 1 hour until apples are tender. Use remaining sugar/water cooking liquid to baste, if necessary.

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Kara Brooks, chef and co-owner of the Still River Cafe in Eastford, offered up this recipe for delectable apple fritters, which are made using beer. She recommends a light lager-style.

Kara Brooks' Apple Fritters

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups cornstarch

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar (light or dark)

4 tablespoons baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

8 Granny Smith apples, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups beer, a lager style is best

Canola or vegetable oil for frying

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, both sugars, baking powder and cinnamon. Add apple cubes and toss to coat.

In another bowl, whisk together eggs and beer. Add to dry ingredients, stirring to combine. Do not overmix.

Pour enough oil into a deep skillet or wok so it comes about 3 inches up the sides. Heat oil to frying temperature. (To test, drop a small quantity of fritter batter into hot oil. The oil should make small bubbles around the batter, gradually turning it golden. If oil is smoking or if it blackens the fritter batter, it's too hot.)

Drop fritter batter carefully by heaping tablespoons into hot oil. Fry until crispy. Fritters are done when they are golden in color and floating on the surface of the oil.

Serves 12

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Avon resident and cookbook author Terry Walters sent the following recipe for a healthful, colorful Cabbage Saute with Tart Cherries and Crisp Apples. "We enjoy freshly made coleslaw all summer long," Walters writes. "So by the time fall rolls around, this cooked sweet preparation comes as a welcome change. I like my cabbage wilted and just soft, but you may like yours cooked through. If so, simply saute until you've reached your desired texture." If making this dish in advance, Walters recommends reheating it and adding apples just before serving. For a variation, try substituting caraway or fennel seeds for the mustard seeds. she says. The recipe is reprinted, with permission, from Clean Start by Terry Walters (Sterling Epicure, an imprint of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.)

Terry Walters' Cabbage Saute With Tart Cherries and Crisp Apples

1 medium yellow onion, cut into thin wedges

1 1/2 tablespoons grapeseed oil

3 cups thinly sliced red cabbage

3 cups thinly sliced green cabbage

1 cup dried unsweetened cherries

2 tablespoons mirin

1 Macoun apple (or tart, firm variety of choice)

Sea salt

DRESSING:

2 tablespoons mustard seeds

2 tablespoons brown rice syrup

1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons apple cider or juice

In Dutch oven over medium heat, sauté onion in oil for 6 minutes or until very soft. Stir in cabbages, cherries and mirin and continue sautéing until cabbage starts to soften, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

In small dry skillet over low heat, lightly toast mustard seeds for 2 minutes or until fragrant, being careful not to burn. Add brown rice syrup, apple cider vinegar and apple cider, and whisk 1 minute. Remove from heat and set aside.

Core apple and cut into 1⁄4-inch matchsticks. Return cabbage to medium heat, add apple, drizzle with dressing and fold to coat evenly and heat through. Season to taste with salt, remove from heat and serve.

Feeds 4

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Our forefathers and mothers had a few favorite apple recipes that were steady features of their autumn feasts in New England. Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Mass., has seen to it that these recipes have been preserved and passed on. The following recipe for Marlborough Pudding originally appeared in Amelia Simmons' American Cookery, which appeared in 1796. More recently, it was featured on Al Roker's New England Thanksgiving, which aired on the Food Network. Marlborough Pudding is a nontraditional pie that was typically served alongside the Thanksgiving dinner, not as a dessert. Made with a combination of stewed apples, sherry, and cream, Marlborough Pudding is actually more English than American. It represented a taste of England for homesick settlers. Despite what is said about English cooking, the popularity of the dish has stood the test of time. Around holiday time at Old Sturbridge Village, the Marlborough Pudding tends to disappear first from the buffet.

The following is a modern adaptation of Simmons' recipe. Please note it requires one pre-made pie crust and stewed apples. While plain, unsweetened applesauce may be substituted for the stewed apples, the pie will not be as tasty. Most commercial applesauce is made using Delicious apples. Home cooks will get better flavor using heirloom varieties including Baldwin, Russet, or Northern Spy. To stew them, simply peel, core and dice the apples, then cook them in a small amount of water until they're tender. (Watch the pan, and stir the apples occasionally. If more water is required, add it sparingly, or you will have a soupy pie.)

Old Sturbridge Village's Marlborough Pudding

6 tablespoons butter

Juice of 1 lemon

3/4 cup stewed, pureed apples

3/4 cup sherry

1/2 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup white sugar

4 eggs

1/2 recipe for pie crust

2 teaspoons grated nutmeg (or to taste)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Melt butter and set aside to cool. Squeeze lemon and remove seeds. Add lemon to stewed apples, sherry, cream, and sugar, and mix well. Add melted butter to mixture, blending well. Beat eggs and add to mixture.

Prepare pastry and line one deep, 8-inch pie plate. Season with grated nutmeg and spoon mixture into prepared pie plate.

Bake 15 minutes at 400 degrees F. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake 45 minutes more or until a knife blade inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool before serving.

Yields one 8-inch pie.

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Your Patch writer had to add this recipe for a German Apple Cake. She can't get through autumn and winter without it. The recipe makes a moist, old-fashioned apple cake that is delicious served mid-afternoon with coffee, or garnished with a bit of whipped cream for dessert.

German Apple Cake

1 cup salad oil

3 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

4 cups apples, peeled, cored and sliced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a 9- by 13-inch baking pan, and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the oil and eggs. Add sugar and vanilla, and blend well. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, mixing well to combine. Gently fold in nuts and apples.

Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Serves 8 to 10

At Harvest Cafe & Bakery in Simsbury, chef and owner Kimberly Foster combines two flavors of fall — apples and pumpkin — to make these delicious streusel-topped muffins.

Harvest Cafe & Bakery's Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins

STREUSEL TOPPING:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

3/4 stick butter (6 tablespoons)

BATTER:

5 cups all purpose flour

3 ½ cups sugar

½ cup brown sugar

2 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp allspice

1 tsp salt

4 eggs

2 cups pumpkin puree

1 cup melted butter

4 cups peeled, finely chopped fresh apples

Line 12 to 15 muffin cups with paper liners. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.


Make streusel topping: In a bowl, mix 1/2 cup flour, ½ cup brown sugar, ½ cup of sugar, ½ tsp cinnamon, ¼ tsp nutmeg, ¾ stick of butter (6 tablespoons).  Mix together until it is crumbly.  Set aside.

Make batter: In a large bowl, combine all dry batter ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine eggs, pumpkin and butter. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Mix until just combined, then fold in apples. Portion batter into muffin cups lined with paper. Fill muffin cups just to about 1/8” from top of papers. Sprinkle streusel mixture over the top of the muffins. Bake in preheated oven for about 35 minutes. Check muffins with a toothpick, if sticky, continue to bake if needed. Let cool. Makes 12 to 15 muffins