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Leite's Culinaria

The Apples Are In. Let's Make Everything. 🍎

Published about 7 hours agoΒ β€’Β 3 min read

Hi Reader,

There are two kinds of people during apple season.
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One kind comes home from the orchard with a sensible five-pound bag.
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And the other staggers through the front door looking like a contestant in an apple-smuggling competition.
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Guess which one I am?
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Every year, I swear I'll exercise restraint. I'll buy just enough for a pie and maybe a snack. Then I spot a Honeycrisp the size of a softball. Next thing I know, I'm hauling home enough fruit to keep a cider mill in business.
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Apples are until Thanksgiving. Everyone has made their peace with it.
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The funny thing is, I'm never sorry. An apple does more jobs than any other fruit in the kitchen. It goes into a buttery cake, a pie, a muffin, and a crisp, and it belongs in all four. And unlike a peach, which ripens precisely the week you're out of town, an apple will still be there when you get to it.
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To me, that first basket of apples is the unofficial opening ceremony of fall. The windows finally stay open. The oven goes back on full time. And the house begins to smell the way I'd like September to smell forever: butter, cinnamon, and apples softening in the heat.

Choose the Right Apple Adventure

  • Pick the recipe before you pick the apples. Some varieties hold their shape beautifully in pie, while others practically melt into cakes and crisps. A little planning saves a lot of mush.
  • Look past the pie. Coffee cakes, muffins, pull-apart bread, and simple tea cakes give you everything apple pie gives you without the lattice.
  • Bring home more than one variety. A bag of one apple makes one kind of dessert. A bag of three kinds gives you tart for the pie, soft for the cake, and one to eat standing over the sink.
  • Peel a few extra. Apples shrink in the oven, and leftover pie makes a perfectly respectable breakfast. (Don't argue. I've done the research.) Bake something this week while the first of them are still coming in.

WHAT'S INSIDE...

​Caramel Apple Pie​

This caramel apple pie takes classic apple pie to the next level. For this beloved autumn dessert, warmly spiced apples are embraced in a nutty whole wheat pie crust and baked until golden. A lacquer of sweet caramel to finish takes this pie over the top.
β€‹β˜ž ​Try this recipe​

​Caramel Apple Slab Pie​

Slab pies are perfect for feeding a crowd--or a small group of people who just really, really love pie. My take on the American favorite includes caramel-coated apples and raisins, covered with a nutty crumble topping.
β€‹β˜ž ​Try this recipe​

​Apple Rose Tart​

Sweet, flash-poached apples crown this stunning apple rose tart. Because the apples aren't baked, their fresh bite of sugar and citrus shines through, and the creamy apple-butter custard adds a luscious mouthfeel.
β€‹β˜ž ​Try this recipe​

​Apple Spice Cake With Caramel Sauce​

This apple spice cake with caramel sauce is a moist and tender three-layer cake laden with apple, sour cream, and spices and finished with chopped pecans and a caramel drizzle. Go on, impress your friends.
β€‹β˜ž ​Try this recipe​

​Apple Cake With Caramel Glaze​

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.82 from 11 votes

This apple cake with caramel glaze from Edna Lewis is pudding-like and laden with apples, pecans, and spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg.
β€‹β˜ž ​Try this recipe​

​Apple Coffee Cake​

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.88 from 24 votes

Apple coffee cake made with sour cream, cinnamon, streusel, and an apple glaze in a Bundt pan is a guaranteed crowd pleaser. Provided, natch, that you're willing to share.
β€‹β˜ž ​Try this recipe​

​Apple Tea Cake​

This apple tea cake is made with layers of apples and cinnamon encased in sweet cake and topped with a tart lemon drizzle. We're happily indulging at any time of the day.
β€‹β˜ž ​Try this recipe​

​Apple Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread​

This gooey pull-apart bread is stuffed with apples, butter, cinnamon, and sugar and topped with the creamiest maple cream cheese frosting. Make this bread irresistible by frosting it while it’s still warm.
β€‹β˜ž ​Try this recipe​

​Apple Cinnamon Muffins​

These plump muffins pack a wallop of apple flavor due to apple chunks sautΓ©ed in butter and brown sugar. A sprinkle of cinnamon sugar crowns these breakfast jewels.
β€‹β˜ž ​Try this recipe​

​Apple Cranberry Crisp​

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.77 from 13 votes

Apple cranberry crisp is a warm, comforting, and cozy autumn dessert. Perfect for dinner guests and leftovers make a terrific breakfast the next morning.
β€‹β˜ž ​Try this recipe​

Leite's Culinaria

David Leite

Why, hello! Leite's Culinaria is the James Beard Award-winning site that helps home cooks and bakers put dinner on the table and laughs in the kitchen. Hungry for more? Join 40,000 food lovers and subscribe.

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