Blame the erratic weather gods, but this year’s apple harvest is smaller than usual and shorter than expected. If you haven’t eaten your fair share of the fresh farm stand apples this year, you have a limited time left to get the choice fruit before you are destined to mowing the much lesser quality grocery store versions. Although your farmer’s markets should still have a wide variety of apples through November, this weekend and the next are likely your last quality pickin’ times of 2012. I always like to get a grab bag of varieties for eating, and have my own taste testing. Aptly named, the so-hot-right-now honey crisp is our winner for eating, with its sweeter than thou juices, and crunchy and crisp bite. As for baking, a pie or crisp in particular, mixing and matching numerous best baking apples is the way to go to create an interesting texture and a more complex flavor.
To make the most of the scarce last days of our favorite fruit season, let’s brush up on our knowledge, because all apples are not created equal.
In order of early to mid to late season crops:
Gingergold – an eating apple, standardly sweet, flavorful, and crisp
Gala – the common eating apple
Paula Red – mildly tangy but best for cooking and sauces
McIntosh – the new england apple, great for applesauce, sweet and tangy
Greening – crisp, sharp and tart for a pie baker
Honey Crisp – the trendy apple, sweet like candy, a touch of tartness, and crunchy with juice galore
Cortland – semi-sweet and mild, with a beautiful color and texture for cooking
Empire – Juicy with a crisp, clean flavor, this apple is the jack of all trades – eat it, bake it, love it
Macoun – it’s semi sweet, crisp and juicy, just what we like to eat
Jonagold – a hybrid of the Golden Delicious, giving it a touch of sweet, and the Jonathan, adding its tarte bite
Red Delicious – less crisp than most, best to bake it
Ida Red – an all purpose goodie but best for sauces
Northern Spy - semi tart crisp, its great for baking especially when mixed with a sweeter variety
Golden Delicious – an all purpose apple with a semi sweet and mellow flavor; gives a pie a great apple-y taste
Mutsu – sweet and juicy, long lasting and all purpose
Rome – on the tart end so bake it
Braeburn- a superb, late in the season, eating apple (if the honey crisp are all out, wink wink)
Russet- one of baking’s best for its balance between tart and sweet. Named after russeting, a “blemish” that can happen to the skin of apples, making it appear rough and leathery
Photo Credit: Zoe Schaeffer for I’m In The Kitchen
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