A is for Autumn, Apples, and Apple Coffeecake
Several weeks ago, on a cool, sparklingly clear day, my son and I took my grandchildren to a pick-your-own apple orchard. It was a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the sun and gorgeous blue sky, get a little fresh air, and remind six-year-old Charlie and four-year-old Lizzie that fruit actually comes from trees, not supermarkets.
The outing was a great success. The children liked talking about and trying the various kinds of fresh, juicy apples. They could readily see from the pretty pink blush why the Pink Lady apples were called that. And they enjoyed learning that the greenish Golden Delicious apples would turn golden yellow as they ripened.
I also mentioned that many apples today are descended from older kinds, noting that one of the “parents” of the Golden Delicious was called the Grimes Golden. I told them that this apple was first discovered more than a hundred years ago in West Virginia by the Grimes family. I explained that I knew about the Grimes Golden because I grew up picking and eating this succulent, sweet-tasting variety from a tree on my family’s Maryland farm.
The trees in the orchard we visited were all a convenient, made-for-picking dwarf size, and many limbs were heavy and drooping with fruit. This meant that there were plenty of apples hanging low enough for the children to reach. My son was able to pick from even the highest branches, and I concentrated on the middle sections, so we made a very efficient team.
The good news is that in less than an hour we’d harvested a generous quantity. The bad news is that just as our baskets were brimming with Braeburn and Sun Crisp apples, I discovered that there was another whole section of orchard, and that it contained two of my favorites from childhood, sweet-tart Jonathans and crisp Staymans.
By the time I finished gathering a goodly supply of these and we made it to the checkout counter, we’d amassed three bushels of apples. The end result is that two weeks, multiple baked apple dishes, and four apple cakes later, I still haven’t made a dent in my cache!
Considering the huge part apples play not only in our cuisine but our culture (the expressions “American as apple pie,” and “the apple of my eye,” immediately leap to mind), it’s amazing to realize that, except for a few kinds of crabapples, these trees aren’t native here. But from the earliest days of the Colonies, newcomers brought apples seeds and cuttings with them from Europe and Asia, and many of their plantings thrived.
Later, in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, itinerant nurseryman John Chapman—better known as Johnny Appleseed—helped spread apples across the heartland by supplying plants and seeds to the waves of westward-moving settlers. This led to a massive but totally random hybridization that resulted in literally hundreds of uniquely American varieties (like the Stayman, Jonathan, and Grimes Golden) popping up in the last several centuries. Even now the hybridization continues, though under more controlled conditions: The Fortune is a cross between Northern Spy and Empire; the Cortland a cross of McIntosh and Ben Davis; the Jonamac—need I even say?—a cross of Jonathan and McIntosh.
Like many other farm families I remember, mine had a selection of apple trees in the yard and depended on them to satisfy most of our apple needs. The custom dates back to the time when many homes were in remote areas and people had to be self-sustaining. Apple trees flourished without a lot of tending and provided not only fresh fruit in fall, but a vital supply of dried and cold-stored apples to help hungry households make it through the lean winter months. Dried apple pies were once a staple cold-weather dish on the American frontier, even for breakfast, primarily because there was little else to eat.
Though apple pies and puddings were commonplace, for some reason, apple cakes didn’t turn up often in American cookbooks until the nineteenth century. Even when they were simple and homespun (like the heirloom recipe in the sidebar), they were never called coffeecakes. This term for quick, fuss-free cakes is likely borrowed from the “Kaffee Kuchen” baked by immigrant German-American cooks and traditionally served with afternoon coffee. It didn’t come into wide use until the twentieth century.
Roasted Apple Coffeecake (printable)
This is a homey, relatively healthful, easy-to-make cake suitable for a simple family dessert, brunch, or not-too-sweet snack. Once the apples were roasted, my granddaughter climbed up on a chair beside me and helped measure out and stir together the ingredients. Noticing that we didn’t add coffee, she asked why it was called a coffeecake—which I thought was a very good question! When she saw the photograph for this article, she proudly announced, “I helped make that cake!”
Tip: Don’t skip the apple roasting, as it’s essential for success. It evaporates the excess juice and intensives the apple flavor, plus it partly cooks the apples so they will be fully baked and tender when the batter is done.
3 1/2 cups peeled and diced (1/3-inch) Jonathan, Golden Delicious, Honey Crisp, Stayman, Sun Crisp or other flavorful sweet-tart cooking apples
3/4 cup, plus 6 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup dried, sweetened cranberries or 3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
2 cups all-purpose white flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (or 1 8-ounce carton) low-fat or regular vanilla or caramel-flavored yogurt
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon combined with 1 tablespoon granulated sugar for garnish
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Generously grease a 9-inch square pan or a 9-inch springform pan. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Stir the apples, 6 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon together on the foil, then spread out evenly. Roast 12 to 15 minutes, stirring once or twice, or until the juices mostly evaporate and begin to brown. Stir the cranberries (or nuts) into the apples. Set aside.
In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter on 50 percent power, stopping and stirring every 30 seconds just until mostly melted. (Alternatively, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat until mostly melted.) Let the residual heat finish the melting. Cool to warm.
Meanwhile, thoroughly stir together the flour, 3/4 cup sugar, the baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Using a fork, beat the yogurt, then eggs into the butter until well blended. Add the butter mixture and apples to the dry ingredients, stirring just until evenly blended; for the tenderest crumb, don't
overmix.
Evenly spread the batter in the baking pan. Sprinkle the top evenly with the cinnamon-sugar garnish.
Reduce the heat to 375 degrees F. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack at least 15 minutes and preferably longer before cutting into servings. Serve with dollops of whipped cream, if desired. The cake keeps, covered and at room temperature, for 3 or 4 days.
Makes 8 to 10 servings.
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