Apple season is upon us! The cozy and yummy smell of cinnamon-apply goodness permeating throughout the house as we make our favorite apple desserts, and the crisp & freshness of apples in our dishes, is a sweet time of year that everyone loves.
Our apple varieties in Southern California all have the perfect place, so we wanted to give you a guide to which of our apples are good for which plates. Wanna know the best pie apples? The best eating apples? The best apples for applesauce? Here’s our handy dandy guide.
Eating Apples:
Gala
Macintosh
Fuji & Aztec Fuji
Empire
Honeycrisp
Baking & Pie Apples. Use firm apples, and a combo of firm sweet and firm tart makes for a really flavorful pie or crisp.
Firm-Tart Apples:
Granny Smith
Cameo
Cortland
Baldwin
Idara
Firm-Sweet Apples:
Golden Delicious
Pink Lady
Winesap
Jonagold
Jazz
Best Applesauce Apples. You can use your favorite apples for applesauce, but we find these to be the varieties that make the best texture and flavor combination:
Braeburn
Liberty
Ida Red
Rome
Crispin
Making applesauce can be easy! Here’s a quick recipe.
First,use a corer/peeler to get rid of all of the peels and core. Next, chop your apples.
Cook in a pot with a ratio of 3/4 cup water for every 4 apples, or put all of your apples in a slow cooker and you don’t need to add any water at all.
Add 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 cup granulated sugar for every 4 apples. Combine all ingredients, and cook until easy to mash. 15-20 minutes in the pot, or about 4 hours in the slow cooker.
Use a potato masher or a fork, mash well-as chunky or smooth as you’d like, and you now have fresh, delicious, and 100x better than store-bought applesauce! Chill in the fridge and it’ll last up to 10 days.
If you’re looking for a healthy and just as delicious apple dessert, head on over to this fantastic recipe for no sugar added baked apples!
However you like to enjoy your apples, there’s no better way to start than local and organic, so keep an eye out for the newsletter and even more apple recipes as we celebrate America’s favorite traditional fruit!