Apple Pie

September is the month of apples—between August when the earliest apples come to market and October when they reach their peak. I’m not sure why, but this year the apples are scarcer and much more expensive. Two relatively new varieties, Zestar and SweeTango are on the market competing with Honeycrisp, but were either sold out or so expensive I only tasted the samples. So—until Haralsons reach the store, I decided to go for the cheaper apples best known for their great cooking properties.


Haralson is still my go-to apple for both munching straight from the fruit bowl or making pies, crisps and other delicious apple desserts, but it is a relatively late apple and is nowhere to be seen yet. So I opted for some Wealthys (a long-standing variety) to make some great fall desserts—including the pie-of-the-month—a good, old-fashioned apple pie. For the all-around American favorite, you just can’t beat plain apple pie with a meltingly tender, flaky crust and served warm accompanied by aged Cheddar cheese wedges or premium vanilla ice cream, sprinkled with a bit of cinnamon sugar.

I love baked apples, too, and they are a relatively low-calorie dessert if you don’t stuff them too decadently and pour heavy cream over them (yum). But a compromise between the baked apple and apple pie is a plump, steaming apple dumpling.

Finally, the best-I-ever-tasted apple walnut cake with cider sauce is a winner for any time of year, so I had to include it again in this column. So, go pick your own, or buy them at the store or farm stand and bake with apples for a great taste of fall.

Perfect Apple Pie

7-9 Wealthy apples (or other tart cooking apples)
1 cup sugar
¼ cup flour
½ tsp. cinnamon
Dash nutmeg
Dash salt
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. butter
Pastry for 2-crust 9-inch pie

Pare apples and slice thin. Combine sugar, flour, spices and salt; mix with apples. Line 9-inch pie plate with pastry. Fill with apple mixture; dot with butter. Adjust top crust, make vents in top crust and sprinkle with sugar for sparkle. Bake in hot oven (425 degrees) 50-55 minutes or until done.

Note: I always cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place unbaked pie on it; then put strips of foil on the edges of the crust. This will keep your oven clean if the pie bubbles over and keep the crust from browning too much. You can remove the foil strips 15 minutes before pie is done.

Old-Fashioned Apple Dumplings (makes 4)

2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. sugar
2/3 cup Crisco
¼ cup water
1/3 cup sugar
½ tsp. cinnamon
4 medium crisp, tart apples such as Haralson or Granny Smith, peeled and cored
2 Tbsp. butter
1 ½ cups water
2/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
¼ tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 425. Put flour, salt and ½ tsp. sugar into large bowl. Cut shortening into flour until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add ¼ cup water by tablespoonfuls, tossing with fork until mixture begins to come together. Do not handle too much. Shape into ball. Mix 1/3 cup sugar and ½ tsp. cinnamon in another small bowl. Roll dough out on floured surface to 1/8 inch thick and 14” x 14” square. Cut into four 7-inch squares. Set 1 apple in center of each square. Spoon ¼ of cinnamon-sugar into center of each apple. Cover each opening with 1/2 Tbsp butter. Lift corners of each pastry up and overlap atop apple, sealing with water. Place dumplings in a 9”x9” square dish. Set aside. Cook 1 ½ cups water, 2/3 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons butter, lemon juice and ¼ tsp. cinnamon in heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high and boil 3 minutes. Pour syrup around sides of dumplings. Bake until dumplings are golden brown and pierce easily, 40 to 45 minutes. Spoon caramel syrup over each and serve.

Apple-Walnut Cake with Cider Sauce

2 cups sugar
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
¼ cup apple cider
3 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
3 cups flour
2 large cooking apples (3 ½ cups), peeled, cored and sliced
1 ½ cups chopped walnuts

Cider Sauce

2 cups apple cider
¼ cup packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla

Heat oven to 350. Coat a 10-inch tube pan with removable tube insert with nonstick spray. Whisk first nine ingredients (through salt) in large bowl until blended. Stir in flour until blended. Stir in apples and walnuts. Scrape mixture into prepared pan. Bake 1 hour and 10-15 minutes. Let cool in pan 1 hour. Remove sides of pan. Cool completely before lifting cake off bottom of pan.

Cider Sauce: Whisk cider, brown sugar and cornstarch in saucepan until blended. Place over med-high heat and bring to a boil, whisking occasionally. Boil 1 minute or until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla; stir until butter melts. Let cool to warm until serving.