An Apple a Day in a Plethora of Ways

There's little that can make me feel more in the moment of fall than apple picking. It's late in the season for it, I know, but our New England autumn has been stretching out nicely, flowing from one crisp cool sunny blue-skied beautiful day to the next and in this weather the apples have been holding on. Good thing too, because it was only recently that I got to go out and pick some.



Tougas Farms a place which we discovered on a peach picking trip earlier this year and which I am now completely devoted to, still had several different apples available: lots crispy and tart McIntosh, Cortlands and (my favorite) Macouns, both 1/2 McIntosh breeds crossed with Ben Davis and Jersey Black apples respectively, as well as sweet Empire, Mutsu, and (my absolute least favorite) Red Delicious apples. They also had beautifully autumnal trees, all copper and gold against blue skies, bright orange pumpkins, and goats, glorious goats.



I am, as a matter of general policy, opposed to the petting zoo sideshow thing that seems to be a common feature of pick-your-own farms around here, but a short list of things that make me happy would have to include frolicking goats and man, do these goats frolic. And why wouldn't they when they have one of the best set-ups I have ever seen goats have anywhere? If I were handy with a hammer or richer in the pocket, I would endeavor to have this kind of enclosure built for the goats at Farm Sanctuary--hills, bridges, houses, toys--these goats are living the life.



Were I to eat an apple a day with the huge sack of apples I picked I could be eating them well through December, but though I enjoy a nice fresh unadulterated apple, I was looking to adulterate. That smell of warm apples and all the spices that go so well with them--nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, cloves --I wanted to fill my apartment with those scents and indulge in the flavors of fall. Also, our heat is broken and it's in the thirties and low forties here so despite the leg warmers with argyle knee socks, triple layers and a strictly enforced cat cuddling regime, I need to have the oven on regularly or we will all of us freeze to death.



So, pie is the order of the day. (I swear I made this on a Pie Day, I just didn't get to post it then!) I'm feeling fairly confident that I have made good on my resolution to get pies down this year and am ready to head into the holiday that most demands pie, Thanksgiving. This crust came out with a beautifully flaky and light texture thanks to the arsenal of tips I garnered from Fran Costigan's pie class: ice cold ingredients, a light mixing hand, a little bit of cider vinegar to prevent tough gluten from forming, a touch of baking powder for puff, parchment, parchment, parchment, deliberate rolling and a light brush of maple syrup in the last 10 minutes of baking for shine.



And most critically, I followed Fran's advice to wait before cutting into the pie and was newly amazed at what a difference a day can make. Given the time to sit at room temperature, the pie filling sets up beautifully, absorbing all of the juices and holding together well when cut. This even though I neglected to add any thickener to the filling. I fully intended to sprinkle in some arrowroot or tapioca starch to thicken the filling, but completely forgot. Luckily, apples, being naturally high in pectin, set themselves up pretty much perfectly and made this a successful venture. The dark brown sugar, richly spicy cloves, cinnamon, ginger, vanilla and brandy melded well with the sweet-tart apples. Topped with some quickly hand-whipped Soyatoo, a piece of homemade nutmeg caramel and a fresh grating of nutmeg, it was fall perfection.



To be perfectly honest, I have always preferred crisps to pie. I love the crunch and spice of a buttery brown sugar oat topping and the lack of crust just leaves more room for apples. Since I like to use a good deal of dark brown sugar in my oat topping, I keep the apples a little more on the tart side for contrast in my crisps, adding a bit of fresh squeezed lemon juice as well as a generous sprinkling of spices to the apples.

There are two reasons I can think of that might lead people to prefer pie to crisp, both of which can easily be countered. One is the topping, many crisps seems to neglect their very names and offer soggy oat lumps on top. This is often because too much liquid is added to the crisp. The only liquid I add is a little vanilla and some melted "butter." The topping looks dry when it goes on, but the heat of the oven melts the brown sugar and it, along with the bubbling juices from the apples, wet the flour and oats, which come out crisp as the sugar caramelizes and hardens. The other reason crisps may be less preferred is because they don't serve up in the same pretty way as pie. I like baking individual crisps in ramekins when I know that I'll be serving them to people as opposed to, say, eating it all myself with a big spoon straight out of the baking pan. A little faux-whipped cream or ice cream and a sprinkle of brown sugar on top and I think they rival any pie for cuteness.



And speaking of cute, this baked apple dessert that Kjersten suggested we all make from Peter Berley's Modern Vegetarian Kitchen is responsible for setting me off on a complete obsession with caramel. He suggests caramel sauce as an optional addition to the nut stuffed baked apples and offers a recipe which did not work out at all for us, but with some tinkering and time, I worked the caramel sauce into this gorgeous amber syrup that truly took these apples to the next level.



As Berley notes, these are like inverted apple crisps with the filling tucked into the hollow core of the the apple that is baked in cider sauce that has a surprising ingredient which we all questioned right through to the first bite when we were finally convinced that Peter Berley knows of what he speaks when he says to add a light sesame oil to the liquid that the apples bake in. It was toasty and nutty and distinct but complementary and delicious



In the tinkering with Berley's caramel sauce, the wheels in my head started turning on the concept of caramelization, which I didn't know much about. It's one of those particularly fascinating kitchen chemistry things--heat the sugar to one point and it does something, to another point and it performs in a totally different way. I was inspired and intrigued by Kittee's experiment with candied apples and thought I'd try my hand at them with a veganization of the golden vanilla caramel recipe with the fresh nutmeg variation in Alice Medrich's Pure Dessert.



It's pretty straightforward as far as the ingredients go, golden syrup (which you can sometimes find in the general baking area of mainstream grocery stores or in the British import section), cane sugar, Soyatoo heavy cream (did I mention I stocked up at Vegan Essentials for the holidays?), Earth Balance and vanilla. The trick is all in the preparation. There are times to stir and not to stir, crystal formations to prevent, specific temperatures to reach...it was supposed to be a relaxing Saturday morning activity designed to keep me warm near the stove and chilled out before beginning my day in earnest, but I'll be honest, it had me stressed out. I'm going to chock it up to it being my first time though because I don't think caramel has to be stress-inducing, just delicious.



Though I had to endure being picked on by my friend, I did later buy a book on caramel at the New England Mobile Bookfair, which if you live in the area and like cookbooks and haven't been too are missing way out on because they are partnered with Jessica's Biscuits, a major seller of discounted cookbooks. Peggy Cullen's book, Caramel, looks like it is packed with good advice and tricks for making caramel, so expect more of this kind of stuff to come. I try to avoid eating candy, but I think I've found a major weakness in my resolve on the issue. I used about one third of the batch of nutmeg vanilla caramel to make these apples and made the rest into little pieces of candy, which I wrapped up and stowed in an inconvenient place... and yet I still have been gorging myself on it. It crunches with the first bite and then immediate responds to the warmth of your mouth and gives way to spiced creamy caramel tones and a perfectly chewy texture.



And the caramel-coated apples? Holy wow. They're so surprisingly delicious with the tiny section of the apple which was dipped in the hot caramel just slightly cooked and rosy red and the bright white inner flesh. I can't remember ever having a caramel apple that I enjoyed so much. My surprise favorite was the one above which I sprinkled with Australian Murray River Sea Salt, which is a really light flaky pink salt that melts instantly and beautifully. It provides a deep, almost smoky chord of contrast to the sweet of the caramel and makes the whole fancy salt craze make sense in one delightful bite.



And a final apple creation, baked apple cider donuts with a cider glaze. They need some work, but I'm committed to the cause! Made with a cider reduction, whole wheat pastry flour and a generous amount of cinnamon, they were subtly sweet, lightly wholesome and comforting. Some might say it's overdoing it, but one of these with some hot mulled cider and crisp wedges of apple for breakfast and I could be happy all day long.