THERE IS STILL TIME to make a big splash on Valentine’s Day Tuesday. If you are looking for a gift made memorable by your personal touch, try baking your sweetie this rare apple treat rather than reaching for the ubiquitous, ho-hum box of chocolates.

Like chocolate, Valentine’s Day Apple Cheesecake is decadent and sweet, but with a few healthy touches like the apples, pecans in the crust and topping, and the option of no- or low-fat cream cheese and sour cream.

But it’s really less about the ingredients and more about the thoughtfulness—and the effort—that makes this a uniquely special gift. As for the apples, there are plenty of good New England McIntosh available, or Cortland, or Empire, or any combination of them.

Valentine’s Day Apple Cheesecake

Serves 12

Crust

2 c graham cracker crumbs

2 T sugar

2 T finely chopped pecans

1 t cinnamon

1/2 c butter, melted

In a small bowl, combine crumbs, sugar, pecans, and cinnamon. Stir in butter. Reserve 1/8 cup for garnish. Press remaining in a greased 9-inch springform pan. Place pan on a baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes. Cool.

Filling

4  8-oz packages cream cheese, softened (fat-free is fine)

3/4 c sugar

3 eggs, beaten

2 t vanilla

2 T cornstarch

1 c sour cream (fat-free is fine)

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth and light. Beat in eggs, vanilla, and cornstarch just until blended. Stir in sour cream. Pour into crust.

Topping

2-1/2 c New England apples, peeled and chopped

3/4 c cherry, beet, or cranberry juice

1/4 c sugar

1/2 t cinnamon

2 T chopped pecans

In a large bowl, combine apples and juice. Stir the apples gently and allow them to absorb for at least 15 minutes. Drain excess juice. Mix in sugar and cinnamon; spoon over filling.

Place pan on baking sheet and bake for 55-60 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool 10 minutes; then run a knife around inside of pan to loosen. Sprinkle with pecans. Chill overnight before serving. Refrigerate leftover cheesecake.

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HOW SHOULD YOU STORE YOUR APPLES once they are home? Keep them cold! Watch this short video for suggestions about how to keep your apples crisp and fresh.

Lady apples

THE LADY APPLE PROVES THE ADAGE that good things come in small packages. Lady is small but intense! Its bright white flesh is crisp and juicy, with hints of citrus. Some liken it to the flavor of dried fruit. Lady’s red and green color varies depending on the amount of sunlight it gets; the green can lighten to yellow.

Lady is a late-season apple, ripening in late October into November. Because of its size, festive coloring, and ability to withstand a freeze, Lady is often featured in Christmas wreaths, and is also known as Christmas Apple. Lady is a brilliant sight in the orchard during late summer and fall, cascading in thick clusters.

Lady apple

But Lady first and foremost is a culinary apple, packing a powerful punch of sweet-tart flavor. Its small size make Lady less than ideal for cooking, but they are popular in salads, eaten fresh, and pickled sweet or sour, in the latter case sometimes served with a hot sauce.

Lady is one of the oldest known apple varieties, having been cultivated in France since the 1600s during the reign of Louis XIII. It may be even older, dating back to ancient Rome.

The term “lady” has been a popular one when it comes to naming apples. The classic 1905 volume, Apples of New York, lists Lady Finger and Lady Sweet in addition to Lady, while the more recent Old Southern Apples (2010) lists Lady Skin plus four extinct varieties (Ladies Blush, Ladies Choice, Ladies Favorite, and Lady Lyons).

The Apple Book, also from 2010, describes primarily European varieties, especially apples cultivated in the United Kingdom; it adds Lady Sudeley and Lady Henniker, named for the wives of British lords.

Pink Lady

This tiny heirloom is sometimes confused with Pink Lady, another late-season — but very new — variety. Pink Lady is a firm, crisp, tart and honey-sweet apple with a deep pink flush over a green skin. Pink Lady is an outstanding fresh-eating apple, and it is also good for cooking and in sauce. They keep several months with refrigeration.

Pink Lady, introduced in 1989, is an Australian cross of Golden Delicious and an Australian apple, Lady Williams.

***

We’ve made a few alterations to this recipe credited to Martha Stewart.

Pickled Lady Apples

2 lbs Lady apples

2 c cider vinegar

1/2 c brown sugar

1/2 c granulated sugar

1-1/4 c cider or water

1-1/2 t salt

2 cinnamon sticks

1-1/2 t allspice berries

3 whole cloves

1 bay leaf

3/4 t black peppercorns

1/2 c raw cranberries

Prick apples in a few places with a fork. Bring vinegar, sugars, water, and spices to a boil in a medium saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves.

Add apples and return to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until  a fork inserted in the center of an apple meets slight resistance, about 8 minutes. Stir in cranberries, transfer to a bowl, and let cool. Cover, and refrigerate for at least 8 hours (or up to 1 month). Serve apples cold or at room temperature.

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IdaRed apples from Red Apple Farm in Phillipston, Massachusetts, July's featured variety

THERE’S STILL TIME to order the 2012 New England Apple wall calendar. Each month features a different New England orchard and apple variety, like Lady. The 12”x12” commercially printed calendar makes an ideal gift for the apple lovers on your list.

To order your calendar, send $12.95 ($9.95 plus $3.00 shipping) to New England Apples, P. O. Box 41, Hatfield, MA 01038. Make checks out to New England Apple Association. We’ll send your calendar out within 24 hours of receiving your order.

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IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR Lady apples, visit the Farm Search page of our New England Apples website, click on “Lady,” and then “Find Orchards” at the bottom of the page.

To view photographs of more than 110 New England apple varieties, go to Apple Varieties. For a description of each one, click on the image, or watch our three-part series on New England apple varieties, featuring Chuck and Diane Souther of Apple Hill Farm in Concord, New Hampshire.

Part two, “New England Varieties—Old and New” includes Lady, and is featured here.

Don't be deceived by their dull finish — russets are among the most flavorful of apples

PERHAPS THE MOST OVERLOOKED APPLES are the russets, undoubtedly due to their dull, rough-looking skin. It is a shame, as they are some of the most flavorful apples anywhere. Several varieties are especially prized for cider.

Russeting occurs naturally in many varieties, but is seen as a defect in others. It may appear on a portion of each apple, or cover its entire surface. Many of the fully russeted varieties are medium to small in size, limiting their mass appeal in today’s world of super-sized portions.

Most russets are excellent keepers, but therein lies a source of their commercial decline: as storage techniques improved a century ago, the russets fell out of favor, undoubtedly hastened by consumer preference for a shiny red (or gold or green) apple. But if you can set aside the aesthetic demand for a uniformly smooth and shiny skin, your taste buds will be richly rewarded.

We’ve previously sung the praises of several russeted varieties, such as Ashmead’s Kernel and Hudson’s Golden Gem, both of which are excellent cider apples. The distinctive variable russeting against a red background on varieties like Orleans Reinette can be striking in appearance.

We admit that most people consider the Knobbed Russet unattractive, if not downright ugly. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and we consider the russets to be stunning in their subtle coloration and compact shape. We feature five here: the aforementioned Knobbed, plus Golden Russet, Pitmaston Pineapple, Pomme Grise, and Roxbury Russet. They are linked not only by their coppery brown exteriors and intense flavors, but also by their rich histories and colorful names.

Golden Russet

GOLDEN RUSSET is a firm, sweet apple with a fine-grained yellow flesh. It had its beginnings in western New York state in the 1800s, where its exceptional sweetness made it a favorite with cider-makers. Golden Russet is still considered to be one of the very best varieties for cider, but it is good for fresh eating and cooking as well.

Knobbed Russet

KNOBBED RUSSET is the strangest looking apple in our experience. It sports a gnarly but edible skin covered with warts and welts. But it is more than a novelty. Like the frog that became a prince when kissed, the Knobbed Russet’s character is magically transformed when bitten into. Its bold flavor is superior, strong and earthy, rich and sugary. It has a firm and dense, crisp golden flesh. Also known as Knobby Russet, it was first grown in Sussex, England, in 1819.

Pitmaston Pineapple

PITMASTON PINEAPPLE is a small, juicy apple good for both fresh-eating and cider. It has a sweet, nutty flavor with a hint of honey, and a pineapple taste that gives the variety its name. Pitmaston Pineapple originated in the town of Pitmaston, near Worcester, England, in the late 1700s, and was presented to the London Horticultural Society in 1845 by Mr. Williams of Pitmaston. Its parentage includes Golden Pippin.

Pomme Grise

POMME GRISE has many similarities with Pitmaston Pineapple: it is a small, round, juicy apple with thick, tough skin lightly covered with brown russeting. Its pale yellow flesh is firm, crisp, and aromatic, with a unique nutty, spicy flavor, making it a popular choice for cider-making. Also known as Gray Apple, Pomme Grise originated in Canada, and was widely grown in New York’s St. Lawrence valley in the 1800s.

Roxbury Russet

ROXBURY RUSSET is America’s oldest cultivated apple variety, first grown in Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1635. This exquisitely flavored heirloom has had a host of names over the years, including Belpre Russet, Boston Russet, Hewe’s Russet, Marietta Russet, Putnam Russet, Shippen’s Russet, Sylvan Russet, Warner Russet, and — our favorite — Leather Coat.

Roxbury Russet has a coarse, crispy yellow-green flesh. Its spicy-tart flavor is as good for fresh-eating as it is for making a fine syrupy cider. Its parentage is unknown.

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IF YOU ARE FORTUNATE ENOUGH to find some russets at your local orchard or grocery store, here is a recipe that emphasizes their rich taste. Most russets are slow to brown when sliced compared to many varieties, making them especially good in salads.

French Apple-Pear Salad

2 medium or 3 small New England apples, such as Roxbury Russet, halved and cored

2 pears, halved and cored

2 ribs celery, chopped

2 T lemon juice

1/2 t vanilla

1/4 c walnut or canola oil

salt to taste

2 t tarragon

1/2 c toasted walnuts

Brie or bleu cheese

Slice fruit into long spears and place in a medium bowl with celery. Whisk lemon juice, vanilla, oil, and salt. Pour dressing over fruit. Top with tarragon, walnuts, and cheese.

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The heirloom variety Sheep's Nose is featured on the cover of the 2012 New England Apples calendar

FROM SHEEP’S NOSE TO McINTOSH TO ROXBURY RUSSET, the 2012 New England Apple wall calendar is a great way to learn about the region’s apples and keep the beauty of the orchard nearby year-round.

Each month features a different New England apple variety and orchard. The 12”x12” commercially printed calendar makes an ideal gift for the apple lovers on your list.

To order your calendar, send $12.95 ($9.95 plus $3.00 shipping) to New England Apples, P. O. Box 41, Hatfield, MA 01038. Make checks out to New England Apple Association. We’ll send your calendar out within 24 hours of receiving your order.

Sheep's Nose, or Black Gilliflower, from the 2012 New England Apples wall calendar

WHAT COULD BE MORE DELICIOUSLY BOLD than a gift of New England apples this holiday season? Imagine the pleasure of receiving a box of fragrant, fresh apples, a jar of creamy smooth apple butter, a bottle of our region’s finest apple wine or hard cider, or a stunning wall calendar packed with photographs and descriptions of many of the apples that flourish on our soils?

If you are feeling especially generous, you could package one or more of these apple items with something rarer still: the gift of your time, and the thoughtful care that goes into baking an apple pie, cake, or bread.

Many New England orchards offer locally grown apples, gift baskets, and homemade apple products through their websites. Just visit New England Apples and link to Orchards By State or Find An Orchard for ideas, or to find that special apple you are looking for. Maybe it is one of our classic New England varieties like McIntosh or Cortland, coveted but impossible to find in many parts of the country. Maybe it’s the sensational Honeycrisp, one of the newest and juiciest of apples. Or perhaps a box of gift-wrapped box heirloom varieties with histories as rich as their flavors, like Calville Blanc d’Hiver, Lady, or Cox’s Orange Pippin.

New England has a thriving cider business, and many of the new generation of hard ciders approach the quality and complexity of fine wines. Similarly, why settle for bland, generic apple preserves, salsa, or butter, when you can choose from among the many made here in New England with our distinctive varieties?

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OUR 2012 NEW ENGLAND APPLES CALENDAR looks good enough to eat. The 12”x12” wall calendar features orchard photographs from throughout the region, and different apple varieties each month, with extended descriptions. Among the pictured apples are heirlooms like Esopus Spitzenburg, Orleans Reinette, and Roxbury Russet, newer varieties like Crispin (Mutsu), Honeycrisp, and Spencer, and classics like McIntosh, Empire, and Macoun.

The inside back cover lists New England orchards by state, and how to contact them.

The cover photograph of a Sheep’s Nose doubles as December’s featured apple. Named for its distinguishing conical shape, which resembles a sheep’s snout, it is a beautiful apple, sometimes solid red, sometimes with green streaks.

The color can run to a deep reddish purple, which gave the variety its original name of Black Gilliflower (in addition to this apple, “gilliflower,” a variant of “gillyflower,” has been used to describe several plant species, primarily carnation and dame’s violet, since the mid-16th century).

Opinions of Sheep’s Nose as a fresh-eating apple are mixed (some consider its flesh to be too dry, especially over time). But in addition to its beauty and novel shape, it is an aromatic apple that works well in sauces, and it stores well. It was discovered in Connecticut in the 1700s.

To order your 2012 New England Apples calendar, send $12.95 each ($9.95 plus $3 for shipping) to: New England Apples, P. O. Box 41, Hatfield, MA 01038. Make checks payable to New England Apple Association. Calendars will be shipped on the day your order is received.

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IF YOU WANT TO MAKE A BIG IMPRESSION on a special someone, here is a recipe that came to us from someone who referred to it in reverential terms. She has made it more than once and served it to appreciative guests.

The inspiration for the recipe is The Gift of Southern Cooking by Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock. We substituted walnuts for pecans. It didn’t matter; apples and caramel go well together, no matter how you slice it.


Apple Caramel Cake

Cake

1 c brown sugar, packed

1/2 c sugar

1-1/2 c canola oil

3 eggs

2 c all-purpose flour

1 c whole wheat flour

1 t baking soda

1 t cinnamon

1/2 t nutmeg

1/2 t salt

5  New England apples, such as Empire or Cortland, cored and cut into 1-inch pieces

1-1/4 c chopped pecans or walnuts

2-1/2 t vanilla

Caramel glaze

4 T butter

1/4 c sugar

1/4 c brown sugar

1/2 c heavy cream

Preheat oven to 325°.
 Butter a 9”x13” baking dish. Blend together sugars and oil in a large mixing bowl. Beat in eggs one at a time. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt, and gradually add to the batter, mixing just until well blended.

Stir in apples, nuts, and vanilla, and pour into baking dish. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, around 70 minutes (begin checking after an hour). Remove from oven and cool in dish while preparing glaze.

To make glaze, melt butter in a saucepan. Add sugars, and stir until blended. Cook over medium heat for 2 minutes. Slowly pour in cream, and bring to a boil. Continue cooking for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

Using a fork, poke holes in the surface of the cake and pour warm glaze on top. Serve cake warm or at room temperature.

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ALL THE APPLES HAVE BEEN HARVESTED. Those that are not sold right away are rushed into cold storage. Between now and next summer, the apples will be packed and sold in a variety of ways. Watch this video to see how the apple gets from tree to grocery store.

GoldRush were one of the last apples picked this fall at Clarkdale Fruit Farm in Deerfield, Massachusetts

GOLDEN APPLES HAVE BEEN POTENT SYMBOLS of beauty, desire, and power over centuries in cultures around the globe. They appear in fairy tales from Bulgaria, Germany, Romania, and Russia — usually stolen from a king. In Norse mythology, golden apples grant immortal life to the gods.

Golden apples figure prominently in three Greek myths, serving in one as a catalyst for the Trojan War. Eris, the goddess of discord, was the only deity uninvited to the wedding of Peleus and the beautiful sea-nymph Thetis. Outraged, she threw a golden apple inscribed “for the fairest” before the goddesses Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera.

The three beauties argued over who should get the apple, and Zeus was loathe to decide, so he appointed a Trojan shepherd boy, Paris, to answer the question instead. The goddesses tried to bribe him. Hera, queen of Olympus, told Paris she would grant him power to rule the world. Athena, goddess of war and wisdom, said she would make him a brilliant strategist in battle.

Aphrodite, goddess of love, offered Paris the love of Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, even though Helen was married to the king of Sparta. Paris succumbed and awarded the golden apple to Aphrodite. She helped him to elope with Helen to Troy, launching the Trojan War and eventually leading to Paris’ death.

Aphrodite used golden apples again to aid the mortal Melanion, who wished to marry the brilliant athlete Atalanta. Atalanta had agreed to wed a suitor only if he managed to beat her in a foot race. With Aphrodite’s help, Melanion threw a golden apple ahead of Atalanta whenever he fell behind. Fascinated, she stopped to pick each one up, and she lost the race.

As a source of immortality, golden apples were the object of one of Hercules’ 12 labors. Hercules was commanded by Eurystheus to bring back golden apples from Hera’s Garden of Hesperides, at the edge of the world. The golden apples were guarded by a hundred-headed dragon, and by the Hesperides, the daughters of Atlas, the titan who bore the sky and the earth upon his shoulders.

After many trials, Hercules finally reached the garden, where he convinced Atlas to retrieve the apples from his daughters by agreeing to take over his burden, as Atlas was tired of holding up earth and sky. When Atlas returned with the golden apples, he told Hercules he would take them to Eurystheus himself, leaving Hercules to bear Atlas’ heavy load for eternity. Hercules agreed, but asked Atlas to take the world back for a moment while he padded his shoulders to better carry the weight. When Atlas set the apples on the ground, Hercules picked them up and ran off, carrying them back to Eurystheus.

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THE GOLDEN APPLES WE EAT TODAY may not bestow immortality, but their beauty and flavor make them divine enough to be food for the gods. Three late-season golden apples that thrive on New England soils are Golden Delicious and two of its offspring, Mutsu (also known as Crispin), and GoldRush.

Golden Delicious

While unrelated to the Red Delicious, the Golden Delicious shares its conical shape and many of its flavor characteristics. Like the Red, the Golden Delicious is a sweet, medium-to-large apple and is an excellent keeper. The Golden Delicious has a greenish-yellow skin that turns gold, and its yellow flesh is crisp and juicy. It is good in cooking, especially in pies, as its flesh holds up well when cooked. The Golden Delicious is also excellent eaten fresh and in salads.

The Golden Delicious originally was called Mullins Yellow Seedling after its discovery in West Virginia in 1890. It was renamed Golden Delicious when introduced commercially in 1916.

Mutsu, or Crispin

Mutsu, or Crispin, is an excellent dessert apple and good in salads, but it excels in pies and baking, with a sweet, light flavor when cooked, and holding its shape well. Mutsu can grow quite large (a pie made with them may require as few as three apples). Its flesh is white to pale yellow.

Mutsu has its origins in Japan, developed in 1930 from a Golden Delicious crossed with an Indo, a Japanese seedling. It was introduced in the United States in 1948.

GoldRush apple

GoldRush is a good dessert apple, juicy and honey-flavored like its Golden Delicious parent.

Golden Delicious is GoldRush’s seed parent, with crosses from several other research varieties including Siberian Crab Apple, Winesap, Melrose, and Rome Beauty. Its development began in 1945, but it took until 1973 for the first seedling to be planted at Purdue University by the cooperative breeding program of the Indiana, Illinois, and New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Stations. It was released commercially in 1993.

If you are planning a home orchard, GoldRush is considered a good choice due to its heavy bearing, disease resistance, winter hardiness, and ease of growing.

* * *

IF YOU ARE NOT QUITE READY TO BAKE YOUR THANKSGIVING PIES, here is a recipe that you can try this weekend, using any of these golden varieties. Easy to make, it should make a delicious dessert all winter.

Apple Bread Pudding

4 slices of whole-grain bread

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1-2/3 c milk

1 t vanilla

3 New England apples, cored and thinly sliced, such as Golden Delicious, Mutsu, or GoldRush

1/4 c each white and brown sugars

1 t cinnamon

1/4 c butter, in chunks

In a medium size bowl, coarsely crumble the bread. In a small bowl, beat together eggs, milk, and vanilla. Pour milk mixture over the bread crumbs and set aside. Meanwhile, combine sliced apples, sugars, and cinnamon in an 8″ square buttered baking dish. Pour soaked bread crumbs over the apples. Dot with butter. Bake at 325° for 50 minutes or until apples are tender.

Serve warm with ice cream, hard sauce, frozen yogurt, or whipped cream.

Find Fujis at Averill Farm in Washington Depot, Connecticut.

ONE OF THE WAYS AMERICANS HAVE MADE THE APPLE distinctly our own is in the kitchen. Of course there is the Waldorf Salad, introduced at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City in 1893. The original recipe of maître d’hôtel Oscar Tschirky comprised diced red-skinned apples, celery, and mayonnaise. Eventually, chopped walnuts were added to the mix, and today a wide variety of apples of any color can be used to make this unique salad.

Then there are a trio of desserts that share simple crusts and colorful names: Apple Brown Betty,  Apple Cobbler, and  Apple Pandowdy. All were favorites in early New England for their economy and ease of preparation, and, of course, their rich apple flavor.

Apple cobbler has a thick, biscuit-like crust over a deep-dish filling. In some versions, the crust encloses the filling like a pie, in others the batter is dropped in spoonfuls on the top. While popular in New England, cobblers may have originated in Europe, deriving their name from their uneven crust resembling cobblestone streets.

Apple Brown Betty is a pudding-like dish featuring apples baked between layers of buttered breadcrumbs. Betties also have European roots, originating in England and closely related to the French Apple Charlotte. This was a popular dish during Colonial times, although the name Apple Brown Betty only dates back to the mid-19th century.

Pandowdy is another deep-dish apple dessert, spiced and sweetened with maple syrup, molasses, or brown sugar. Pandowdy differs from cobbler in that its biscuit-y topping gets pushed down into the fruit as it bakes, allowing the apple juices to bubble up through. Apple Pandowdy has been traced to the early 1800s, but the origin of its name is unclear. It may refer to its simplicity and dowdy look.

* * *

ONE DEFINITION OF “COBBLE” is “to mend or patch coarsely.” We cobbled together our recipe from several cookbooks and sources, starting with a whole-wheat dough adapted from Joy of Cooking. For apples, we chose two Fujis, one Honeycrisp, and one Macoun, all good sized (most recipes called for six apples). We used less butter and sugar than most recipes called for, and the result was a delicious cobbler brimming with apple flavor, with a touch of lemon and cinnamon.

Cobblers are best eaten while still warm from the oven, topped with vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt, whipped cream, or even a dollop of tapioca pudding.

Apple Cobbler

4-6 extra juicy New England apples, like Fuji, Cortland, or Golden Delicious

1/2 c sugar

1/2 t cinnamon

3 T lemon juice

1 t lemon zest

* * *

1 T apple cider vinegar

about 1 c milk

* * *

1 c whole wheat flour

3/4 c white flour

2 t sugar

2 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

3/4 t salt

1/3 c butter

Preheat oven to 425°. Core and slice apples. Mix with sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice, and zest, coating slices. Place in 3-quart casserole or baking dish.

Put vinegar in measuring cup and add enough milk to make one cup. Set aside.

Mix dry ingredients in bowl. Cut in butter with knives or pastry blender until crumbly. Add milk mixture and mix with a fork until it forms a soft dough. Knead 8-10 times on lightly floured surface, and roll out by hand to about 1/2” thick. Shape to fit baking dish, and place over apples. Make several inch-long cuts in dough to allow steam to escape. Cook for 50 minutes, or until apples are soft and crust is brown.

* * *

Fuji apple

FUJI IS A GOOD LATE-SEASON APPLE that can be found in more and more New England orchards. It has a dense, firm flesh but is very juicy, with a sweet flavor owing primarily to its Red Delicious parent (Fuji’s other parent, the Virginia heirloom Ralls Janet, is a good eating apple known for its late bloom, making the variety less susceptible to frost damage.).

Fuji is a medium to large-sized apple, excellent for fresh eating, baking, and drying. Fuji is a great keeper, maintaining its quality for several weeks left in a fruit bowl or for up to a year refrigerated.

Fuji was developed in Japan in 1939, and was named in 1962, after Japan’s tallest and most sacred mountain.

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IN OCTOBER WE PUBLISHED a post, Seek No Further, expressing our interest in locating the heirloom apple Westfield Seek-No-Further. A reader responded with one possible source, Bear Path Farm in Whately, Massachusetts. We visited the small orchard, but the Seek-No-Furthers had already been picked.

A little later we received an email and photographs from a grower, Walter Curtis of Honey Hill Farm in Fayette, Maine. Imagine our surprise this week when a box of beautiful Westfield Seek-No-Furthers arrived in the mail from Walter! We are deeply indebted.

Westfield Seek-No-Further

We’re happy to say that, thanks to Walter, Westfield Seek-No-Further will soon appear on our New England Apples website (among the 30 new varieties we will be adding later this fall to the more than 100 already photographed and described).

Westfield Seek-No-Furthers are a sweet, aromatic apple with a slightly nutty, almost buttery flavor. Primarily a dessert apple, they are not generally recommended for cooking. Seek-No-Furthers have a creamy yellow, firm, crisp flesh. Their skin has a smooth, deep yellow or greenish base, and can be streaked red, with some russeting around the stem.

Westfield Seek-No-Furthers originated in Westfield, Massachusetts, in the 1700s, and were a popular New England variety in the 1800s, especially in Connecticut, New York, and the Midwest.

Crabapple-sized Wicksons ready for pressing at Poverty Lane Orchards in Lebanon, New Hampshire

APPLE CIDER IS AS VARIED AND VERSATILE as the fruit from which it is pressed. It can be frozen or fermented, guzzled fresh or used in cooking, pasteurized (or not), made from almost any apple variety (usually a blend), in almost any condition (dings and dents welcome). Cider was America’s drink from Colonial days until well into mid-19th century, when it fell victim to several factors, including the migration to cities and the rise in popularity of beer.

But cider is experiencing a revival, from large commercial producers to small orchards and cider mills that make unique blends, to people who are experimenting with small batches made in their homes. There are a number of ciders, from the sweet, unfermented drink we commonly know now, to several types (and strengths) of “hard,” or alcoholic, cider, which can be as strong as wine. Distilled further, cider can be made into applejack or apple brandy.

Many orchards press their own cider, and there are a growing number of cider mills and passionate artisan cider makers that are reviving the art of finding and pressing rare apples that are virtually inedible, but lend a richness and complexity to their cider.

You could write a book about cider. In fact, several people have. Two that we recommend are Cider, Hard and Sweet, by Ben Watson, and Cider: Making, Using & Enjoying Sweet & Hard Cider, by Lew Nichols and Annie Proulx, author of the acclaimed novel Shipping News. Both give detailed instruction on cider-making; Watson’s book includes a global history of cider, fun facts, and descriptions of varieties favored by seasoned makers.

We are often asked the difference between apple juice and cider. Both drinks are made from apples, but apple juice is clear, invariably sweet, and keeps longer than cider. The primary reason is filtration; all of the pulp found in cider is strained out of the juice, giving it a lighter color and extending its shelf life.

While making true hard cider requires some special equipment and a number of steps, fermenting cider into something fizzy and slightly alcoholic couldn’t be easier. Just take a jug of cider and leave it alone, and once past the expiration date the fermentation begins.

Be careful, though; we heard last week of a woman who carefully cleaned her refrigerator and then, against her better judgment, put back in an old jug of cider that her husband was saving. The cider had begun to ferment, and soon the resulting gases built up so much pressure on the plastic cap that there was an explosion.

We are happy to report that her husband at least cleaned up after his own mess.

About freezing cider: it is a perfectly good way to store cider for the long-term if you don’t want it to get fizzy in the fridge. Just remember to remove a little liquid first (at least one-quarter cup for a gallon jug), or it will pop the cap as it expands.

* * *

AN EARLY, HEAVY SNOW blankets much of New England. It’s hard to think that just one month ago we were cleaning our sticky booth at the Big E (the Eastern States Exposition), closing it up for another year. The occasional cider spill is inevitable, but this year it was coupled with smoothie spills. More on that in a minute.

First, think back to a post last month on Dings and Dents. We gave that a lot of thought at the fair because the apples with small blemishes didn’t seem to sell as fast. We got to putting these slightly imperfect apples into the door of the fridge, saving them for smoothies.

With the help of a commercial-grade blender, a few Macs from the Ding & Dent Department, fresh cider, and a little spice, we produced our very own Apple Pie Smoothie that we’d like to share with you, just in time for Franklin County CiderDays this weekend.

It’s quick and easy, inexpensive, healthy (sugar-free), and delicious!

Apple Pie Smoothie

Apple Pie Smoothie

Add to your blender:

1 New England apple, like McIntosh or Cortland, cored and chopped

1-1/4 c fresh cider

1/2 t apple pie spice (or 1/4 t cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg and allspice)

Blend until the apple peel is in small flecks. Garnish with a cinnamon stick (optional). Then enjoy your apple-a-day the easy way!

Quick cleanup: refill carafe part way with hot, soapy water, and blend for 15 seconds. Rinse and dry.

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Ben Watson will be one of the featured cider aficionados from throughout the Northeast at this weekend’s 17th Annual Franklin County CiderDays. Some of the events are free, others require fees and reservations, but the two-day event offers a wide range of cider-related activities and workshops in the towns of Colrain, Deerfield, Greenfield, and Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts.  A schedule can be downloaded from the CiderDays website.

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Here is a video about how sweet cider is made by one of New England’s largest commercial producers, Carlson Orchards in Harvard, Massachusetts:

Mount Kearsarge looms in the distance at Gould Hill Farm in Contoocook, New Hampshire

THE BIG WINNER at Mount Wachusett AppleFest’s second annual apple pie contest October 15? The Cortland. It was the only variety used by both winners: Julie Piragis of Athol, Massachusetts, in the “apple only” category, and Elinor Ives of Sturbridge, Massachusetts, whose pie was chosen as the best “apple and other” pie.

Both winning pies had outstanding crusts, were nicely spiced, and beautifully presented. Their selection affirms what chefs have known for more than a century: Cortlands make an outstanding pie. While experimenting with several apple varieties can result in unusual textures and flavors, Julie and Elinor demonstrated that a single variety of high-quality apples can carry a pie as well.

The key is to start off with the best fruit. A week after the AppleFest contest, we sampled four apple pies also made with single varieties, including Cortland. They were so good that it was hard to choose among them. But in our informal taste test, Cortlands finished last, behind McIntosh, Mutsu, and Empire (even by Gerri Griswold, who made them)!

Apples can vary from place to place, and season to season. Always begin with firm, fresh apples when making a pie, and taste them first to ensure that they are at peak flavor. Applesauce is forgiving of a less-than-perfect apple. But if you are going to the trouble of making a pie, choose the best textured, and most flavorful, apples you can find.

Cortland

CORTLANDS, OBVIOUSLY, MAKE AN EXCELLENT CHOICE. If you think only in red or green when it comes to apples, consult a Cortland to see a stunning example of something in between. A large, beautiful apple, it comes in shades of deep red with green and yellow streaks. Its sweet-tart flavor is similar to its McIntosh parent, but a little less tangy. It is less juicy than a Mac as well, and it retains its shape better when cooked.

In addition to being a great baking apple, Cortlands are excellent for fresh eating. They are famous in salads, too, as their white flesh browns slowly after slicing.

While Cortlands owe much of their great flavor to the McIntosh, their firm texture, striping, and size are attributes of their other parent, Ben Davis. The skin of Cortlands can become waxy over time, another feature of Ben Davis. Cortlands were developed at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, New York, in 1898.

Here is the winning apple pie entry from Julie Piragis:

Julie Piragis' winning apple pie

Apple Pie

Crust

2 c flour

2/3 c butter-flavored Crisco

1 t salt

7 T ice-cold water

Filling

Enough Cortland apples to fill 9-inch pie plate (heaping)

¾ c sugar

1 t salt

1 t cinnamon

dash of nutmeg

dash of salt

2 T flour

Put 2 T butter on top of apples and add top crust.

Mix one egg with 2 T Half n’ Half coffee creamer and brush finished pie. Sprinkle with sugar and bake at 350° for one hour or until crust is golden brown and apples are tender.

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The winning recipe in the “Apple and Other” category, from Elinor Ives:

Harvest Apple Pie with Oat-Nut Crust and Cinnamon Pecan Crumble

Elinor Ives's winning apple pie

Filling

1/2 c butter

3 T flour

1/4 c water

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c packed brown sugar

1/4 t cinnamon

8 Cortland apples, peeled, cored, and sliced

Crust

3/4 c flour

1/2 c quick-cooking oats

1/4 c chopped pecans

1/4 c chopped walnuts

1 T dark brown sugar

1 T white sugar

1/2 c butter, melted 

Cinnamon Pecan Crumble

3 T granulated sugar

1 c plus 2 T flour

1/4 c plus 2 T packed dark brown sugar

1/4 t cinnamon

1/2 c butter, chilled and cut into chunks

1 c pecans

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. To make filling, melt butter in an electric skillet or a saucepan large enough to hold all the apples. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature, add apples, and let simmer until apples are cooked.
3. To make the crust, mix all crust ingredients together in a bowl and press into a pie plate.
4. Bake crust for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.
5. To make Cinnamon Pecan Crumble, combine all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor until crumbly, then bake on a cookie sheet at 400°F for 10 minutes.
6. When crust is cool, spoon filling into crust and top with Cinnamon Pecan Crumble.

7. * * *

    To learn more about apples, visit our New England Apples website.

The lone Red Spy apple tree at Hackett's Orchard in South Hero, Vermont, is ripe for picking.

PEARS PLAY A SUPPORTING ROLE to apples in New England. You never hear of a pear orchard with a few apple trees; it’s always the other way around. Several apple varieties are described as having a pear-like flavor, notably Gala and Hudson’s Golden Gem. The mellow taste of pears works well with apples in many desserts as well.

It’s one of the many virtues of apples that they combine so well with other foods. When you consider the wide range of apple flavors from sweet to tart, it means that an imaginative cook can achieve a wide range of tastes.

We recently added an Asian pear and a handful of cranberries to Grandmother’s Apple Crisp, after starting with six different varieties of apples. The result was colorful and delicious, with plenty of sweet and tart highlights.

The apples span a century of horticultural development and, while none of them are native to our region, today they are widely cultivated in New England’s orchards: Macoun (Canada, early 1900s), Hudson’s Golden Gem (Oregon, 1931), Gala (New Zealand, 1934), Empire (New York, 1945), Honeycrisp (Minnesota, 1960s), and Shamrock (Canada, 1992).

The Gala and Hudson’s Golden Gem gave the apple crisp its sweetness, and they augmented the pear flavor; the Shamrock added tartness. Hudson’s Golden Gem and Honeycrisp supplied ample juice, and the Empire and Macoun imparted spice and aroma to the crisp.

We have previously written this fall about Empire, Gala, and Macoun, so the emphasis here will be on the three remaining apples:

Honeycrisp

For good reason, Honeycrisp has become a prized apple in New England in just 20 years since it was first released commercially. It is an exceptionally juicy and crunchy apple, with just enough tartness to give it a distinctive bite. It has become as sought-after for fresh eating as Macoun, is excellent in salads, and is a good addition to many baked desserts.

It was originally believed that Honeycrisp was a cross of Macoun and Honeygold. But DNA testing has since shown that the records of the University of Minnesota’s Horticultural Research Center, where the original seedling was planted in 1962, were inaccurate. Honeycrisp’s parentage is unknown. That has not stopped Honeycrisp’s meteoric rise since it was introduced commercially in 1991.

Hudson's Golden Gem

Hudson’s Golden Gem was introduced by the Hudson Wholesale Nurseries of Tangent, Oregon, in 1931. It is a very juicy apple, and some consider its sweet, nutty, pear-like flavor superior to Gala. Despite these desirable traits, Hudson’s Golden Gem popularity has languished, perhaps as a result of the heavy russeting on its greenish skin. You may prefer a smooth, shiny skin on your apple, but if you enjoy a sweet apple with lots of juice, Hudson’s will not disappoint.

Shamrock apple

Shamrock is a new apple, originating in British Columbia in 1992. To date, it has not been as well-received as Honeycrisp. But we predict a bright future for this green apple with a pink blush, as an East Coast alternative to Granny Smith, which requires too long a growing season to be widely cultivated in New England.

The main reason for our optimism is Shamrock’s highly unusual flavor: tart and crisp, with strong hints of butterscotch. Its flesh is a creamy light green. Good for both fresh eating and cooking, Shamrock is an outstanding choice to include with other varieties in pies, crisp, and sauce.

Shamrock is the result of a Spur McIntosh crossed with a Spur Golden Delicious. (Spurs are slow-growing leafy shoots. On spur-type apples, the fruit spurs and leaf buds are more closely spaced than on non-spur strains. The tree grows about 25 percent smaller than the standard variety.)

Bartletts, Boscs, and Asian pears are the varieties most commonly grown in New England. Any of them will work well in this recipe.

Clockwise, from front left: Asian pear, Empire, Hudson's Golden Gem, Macoun, Honeycrisp, and Shamrock, with Gala in the middle.

Apple Pear Cranberry Crisp

Use a mix of 6 New England apples, like Hudson’s Golden Gem, Honeycrisp, and Shamrock

1 pear, like Asian, Bosc, or Bartlett

1/4 c whole cranberries

1 T lemon juice

1 t cinnamon

1/4 t nutmeg

1/2 t salt

Topping:


3/4 c whole wheat flour

1/4 c old-fashioned oats

1/4 c brown sugar or 1/3 c maple syrup

5 T butter

Preheat oven to 350˚. Core and slice apples and pear into a buttered 8” square pan. Sprinkle cranberries, lemon juice, and spices over the apples.
Combine topping ingredients to cover the apples.
Bake for 45 minutes or until apples have softened.

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THIS WEEKEND PRESENTS SEVERAL OPPORTUNITIES to sample New England apples around the region, old and new. Here are three; check your local orchards for other tastings.

October 22-23: Mount Wachusett in Princeton, Massachusetts, hosts its 28th annual AppleFest, where a number of varieties provided by Red Apple Farm in Phillipston will be available for sampling.

October 22-23: An heirloom apple tasting event will be held at Alyson’s Orchard in Walpole, New Hampshire, from noon to 3 p.m. They have a good supply of Hudson’s Golden Gem, among many others.

October 22: Russell Powell and Bar Weeks of the New England Apple Association will make a presentation about the region’s apples at the White Memorial Conservation Center in Litchfield, Connecticut, at 2 p.m. Refreshments will include apple pie and cider.

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ANOTHER WAY TO LEARN ABOUT APPLE VARIETIES grown in New England is to view our three-part series describing them, featuring Chuck and Diane Souther of Apple Hill Farm in Concord, New Hampshire.

One of the videos is below; the others can be accessed at New England apple varieties. In addition to the videos, you will find photographs and descriptions of more than 100 varieties grown in the region.

Some of the entries waiting to be sampled at Applefest's second annual apple pie contest

THIRTY-FIVE APPLE PIES in less than two hours. I paced myself this year, taking two bites from each — just enough to feel confident to rate the pies on appearance, presentation, crust, texture, and flavor. My stomach was full at the end and I felt mildly uncomfortable for the next few hours, but it was worth it. I tasted some exceptional apple pie.

The pies were entered at the second annual Apple Pie Contest at AppleFest, a two-weekend festival featuring food, crafts, music, and other entertainment (and of course lots of apples), at Mount Wachusett in the north-central Massachusetts town of Princeton. The 2011 fair, which continues today from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and again next weekend, is the 28th annual.

There were five other judges besides me: Rose Arruda and Bonita Oehlke from the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, Jon Clements, a tree fruit specialist from University of Massachusetts Extension, food editor Amy Traverso of Yankee Magazine, and a local business owner named Bernie (whose last name escapes me).

It rained for the first 20 minutes or so of the judging, and the day was breezy and cool, in the mid-50s. A crowd gathered anyway, many of them the (mostly) women and men who had entered pies, and their families. Some stood beneath an adjacent tent that housed the afternoon’s main entertainment, a polka band that played loudly and exuberantly in the background the whole time we sampled pies.

Event organizer Audra Lissell and emcee Greg Byrne of local radio station WSRS-FM introduced and served the pies, walking each one in front of the judges so we could take in its appearance.

Some of the pies were true works of art, decorated with sculpted pastry apples, maple leaves, and flowers, arranged in baskets or amid a tableau of evergreens and dark red apples taken from a tree in the cook’s back yard, or with beautifully fluted edges sealing perfect-looking crusts.

There were two main categories: “apple only,” and “apple and other,” for pies that added to the apples ingredients like cranberries, raisins, raspberries, pears, and pecans (one pie even had meat in it).

There were crumb tops and traditional pie pastries, and some that were almost the consistency of shortbread. Some pies had stunning woven or lattice-work tops. There were crusts decorated with faces and apple-skin coils and symmetrical vents. Some were dark or light, shiny with egg wash or sprinkled with sugar.

There was even an entrant that had a layer of apples between a cake-like base and crumb top served side-less, like a tart. Many were simply classic, unadorned traditional-looking apple pies.

We did not know the varieties of apples we were eating. Some pies were piled high (Cortland? Mutsu? Northern Spy?), while in others the filling had settled beneath a cavernous top crust (Macoun, McIntosh?). Some were sweeter, some more tart, but these were the only clues to the apples’ identity. Some pies clearly used a single variety, others a mix.

The textures were widely variable, partly a result of the varieties used, but also a determination by the bakers to have their apples firm, tender, or soft. Spicing, too, was as varied as you might expect coming from 35 cooks. This proved to be the most challenging aspect of pie-making.

SPICING AN APPLE PIE IS A DELICATE BUSINESS. You need to have just the right blend to accent the apple flavor, rather than overpower it. Most of the traditional choices to spice an apple pie — cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, allspice — have intense flavors that can easily overwhelm. They must be applied lightly, and mixing them properly takes a special skill. The spice that left the strongest taste from Saturday’s contest was nutmeg, which lingered in my mouth for an hour or more after the event.

Despite the challenge of making a consistently flaky crust, there were some excellent entries, and only a few that were either too hard, thick, or gummy. Several tasted as if they contained some whole wheat flour, giving them a boldness and complexity to match the apple filling.

I LIKE A PIE THAT RISKS ALMOST EVERYTHING on the strength of its apple flavor, contained by a flaky, buttery crust that cuts easily with a fork and contrasts in texture and sweetness. A good crumb topping lends a pleasing finish to tasting, especially if it is garnished with nuts, chopped fine or whole.

First and foremost, I want to taste apple, so too much sugar and spice can eliminate a pie from exalted status (despite the apple’s natural sugars, most cooks err on the side of sweetness). Other fruits, though, can add interest to the pie, giving it a more complex flavor, texture, and color.

Tasting an apple pie meeting these various criteria — and there were several yesterday — is sublime.

Last year I ate too much from the early entries, and by around the tenth pie I was so full that each new one became a sensory blur. But this year, despite the fact that there were twice as many pies to taste as a year ago, my two-bite system worked, and I was able to give each entry the attention it deserved.

It was truly impressive. There was not a bad pie in the bunch, and there were some exceptional ones that made me wish I could take them home with me. It was moving to look out at the expectant faces as the pie chefs and their loved ones nervously watched us sample their wares, and an awesome responsibility.

Pie preference is subjective, and despite the consistent rating categories, our scores varied widely. Still, there were clear winners in both categories and some close runners-up when we tabulated the judging.

We’ll be featuring the winning recipes later this week.

L to R: judges Bonita Oehlke, Jon Clements, Bernie, Russell Powell, Rose Arruda, Amy Traverso