Cooking apple
Encyclopedia
A cooking apple is an apple
that is used primarily for cooking rather than eating fresh. Cooking apples are larger, and can be tarter than eating varieties. Some varieties have a firm flesh that doesn't break down much when cooked. The British grow a large range of apples specifically for cooking, but such varieties are used worldwide, although table (dessert) apples are also used for cooking purposes. Many apples are dual-purpose.
Cultivars can be divided into apples which are cooked whole (or in large segments) in the oven and become soft and fluffy, often aromatic (e.g. Newton Wonder or Peasgood Nonesuch). Other varieties are processed, as in pies or sauce, etc., such as Bramley or Golden Noble. Bramley is by far the most popular cooking apple in the UK.
Apples can be cooked down into sauce, apple butter
or fruit preserves
, baked in an oven and served with custard
, and made into pies or apple crumble. In the UK
apples are commonly boiled and mashed and served as apple sauce with roast pork
.
A baked apple is one that has been baked
in an oven
until it has become soft. The core is usually removed and often stuffed with other fruit
s, brown sugar
, raisin
s, or cinnamon
.
Apple
The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...
that is used primarily for cooking rather than eating fresh. Cooking apples are larger, and can be tarter than eating varieties. Some varieties have a firm flesh that doesn't break down much when cooked. The British grow a large range of apples specifically for cooking, but such varieties are used worldwide, although table (dessert) apples are also used for cooking purposes. Many apples are dual-purpose.
Cultivars can be divided into apples which are cooked whole (or in large segments) in the oven and become soft and fluffy, often aromatic (e.g. Newton Wonder or Peasgood Nonesuch). Other varieties are processed, as in pies or sauce, etc., such as Bramley or Golden Noble. Bramley is by far the most popular cooking apple in the UK.
Apples can be cooked down into sauce, apple butter
Apple butter
Apple butter is a highly concentrated form of apple sauce, produced by long, slow cooking of apples with cider or water to a point where the sugar in the apples caramelizes, turning the apple butter a deep brown. The concentration of sugar gives apple butter a much longer shelf life as a preserve...
or fruit preserves
Fruit preserves
Fruit preserves are preparations of fruits and sugar, often canned or sealed for long-term storage. The preparation of fruit preserves today often involves adding commercial or natural pectin as a gelling agent, although sugar or honey may be used, as well. Prior to World War II, fruit preserve...
, baked in an oven and served with custard
Custard
Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on a cooked mixture of milk or cream and egg yolk. Depending on how much egg or thickener is used, custard may vary in consistency from a thin pouring sauce , to a thick pastry cream used to fill éclairs. The most common custards are used as...
, and made into pies or apple crumble. In the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
apples are commonly boiled and mashed and served as apple sauce with roast pork
Pork
Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....
.
A baked apple is one that has been baked
Baking
Baking is the technique of prolonged cooking of food by dry heat acting by convection, and not by radiation, normally in an oven, but also in hot ashes, or on hot stones. It is primarily used for the preparation of bread, cakes, pastries and pies, tarts, quiches, cookies and crackers. Such items...
in an oven
Oven
An oven is a thermally insulated chamber used for the heating, baking or drying of a substance. It is most commonly used for cooking. Kilns, and furnaces are special-purpose ovens...
until it has become soft. The core is usually removed and often stuffed with other fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
s, brown sugar
Brown sugar
Brown sugar is a sucrose sugar product with a distinctive brown color due to the presence of molasses. It is either an unrefined or partially refined soft sugar consisting of sugar crystals with some residual molasses content, or it is produced by the addition of molasses to refined white...
, raisin
Raisin
Raisins are dried grapes. They are produced in many regions of the world. Raisins may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking and brewing...
s, or cinnamon
Cinnamon
Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several trees from the genus Cinnamomum that is used in both sweet and savoury foods...
.
Cooking apple cultivars
- BramleyBramley (apple)Malus domestica 'Bramley's Seedling' is a cultivar of apple which is usually eaten cooked due to its sourness...
(also used as an eating apple) - Crab apple (primarily for jelly)
- Calville Blanc d'hiverCalville Blanc d'hiverThe Calville Blanc d'hiver is an apple cultivar. It originated in France in the 17th century from a chance seedling....
- Edward VII
- EmpireEmpire (apple)Empire is the name of a clonally-propagated cultivar of apple derived from a seed grown in 1945 by Lester C. Anderson, a Cornell University fruit nutritionist who conducted open pollination research on his various orchards.In 1945, under the direction of A. J...
- Golden NobleGolden NobleGolden Noble is an apple cultivar, which is especially used as a Cooking apple.It was discovered in 1820 as chance seedling in Downham, England.The fruits of this cultivar are yellow and have an acid and fruity flavor....
- Granny SmithGranny SmithThe Granny Ramsey Smith green apple is a tip-bearing apple cultivar, which originated in Australia in 1868. It is named after Maria Ann Smith, who propagated the cultivar from a chance seedling. The tree is thought to be a hybrid of Malus sylvestris, the European Wild Apple, with the domestic...
(also used as an eating apple) - GravensteinGravensteinGravenstein is a variety of apple native to Gråsten in South Jutland, Denmark. The variety was discovered in 1669 as a chance seedling, although there is some evidence that the variety originated in Italy and traveled north....
- Grenadier
- JonathanJonathan (apple)The Jonathan apple is a medium-sized sweet apple, with a strong touch of acid and a tough but smooth skin. It is closely related to the Esopus Spitzenburg apple.-History:There are two alternative theories about the origin of the Jonathan apple....
(also used as an eating apple) - James GrieveJames Grieve appleJames Grieve is an old variety of apple. It gets its name from its breeder, James Grieve, who raised the apple from pollination of a Pott's Seedling or a Cox's Orange Pippin apple in Edinburgh, Scotland some time before 1893....
(also used as an eating apple) - McIntosh (also used as an eating apple)
- Newton WonderNewton WonderMalus domestica Newton Wonder is a cultivar of apple which is usually eaten cooked due to its sourness...
- Norfolk BiffinNorfolk BiffinThe Norfolk Biffin is a local apple cultivar originating from the English county of Norfolk.'Beefing' is thought to be a corruption of biffin.-Description:...
- Northern SpyNorthern SpyThe Northern Spy apple , sometimes known as "Northern Spie" or "Northern Pie Apple" is a variety of apple native to the Northern East Coast of the United States and parts of Michigan and Ontario...
- Peasgood Nonesuch
- Pink Lady
- Rhode Island GreeningRhode Island Greening]]The Rhode Island Greening is an old, historic American apple variety and the official fruit of the state of Rhode Island.-History:The Rhode Island Greening allegedly originated around 1650 near Green’s End in Newport, Rhode Island . The first Greenings were allegedly grown by a Mr. Green who...