Recipes with Julie Van Rosendaal: Apple harvest makes for delicious baking

All kinds of apples grow well in Calgary. If you or a friend have an abundance in the backyard, there are plenty of things to do with them.

Tiny, tart crabapples make fantastic jelly and are naturally high in pectin, and of course all apple varieties can be turned into applesauce to freeze.

Whether you know the variety or not, tart, flavourful apples are perfect for baking — no need to peel and core, just slice off the cheeks and chop them up, or grate them on the coarse side of your box grater and toss the core into the compost bin.

Here are some tasty apple treats that will also make your house smell delicious.

(Crab) Apple Fritters

You don't need crabapples to make apple fritters. Any tart, flavourful apple will do.

But they're a great vehicle for small, tart varieties. 

You can slice the cheeks off your apples and chop them (no need to peel) any way that works.

Ingredients

Dough:

• 1 pkg (2¼ tsp) active dry or instant yeast
• ½ cup warm water or milk
• ¼ cup sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra as needed
• 2 tbsp butter, softened
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp salt

Filling:

• a drizzle of oil, or 1-2 tbsp butter
• 2 cups (approximately) chopped crabapples (or any tart, flavourful apples)
• 2-3 tbsp brown sugar
• a shake of cinnamon

Glaze:

• 1 cup icing sugar
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 2 tbsp maple syrup or honey
• canola oil, for frying

In a large bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the water and add a pinch of sugar. Set aside for five minutes, until it gets foamy.

Add the remaining sugar, flour, butter, egg and salt and stir until the dough comes together. Knead (I use the dough hook of my stand mixer) for five minutes, or until the dough is soft and elastic but still tacky. Cover with a tea towel and set aside for an hour.

Meanwhile, cook the butter, apples, sugar and a shake of cinnamon for 3-5 minutes, until the apples are just tender. Set aside to cool completely.

• Bookmark cbc.ca/juliesrecipes to keep up with all of Julie Van Rosendaal's dishes.

Roll or pat the dough out into a large rectangle (about 8x12-inches) and spread half with the cooled apples. Fold the other half over to cover the apples, pinch to seal and roll again until it's about as thin as it originally was (don't worry about the apple pieces poking through).

Fold it over itself and cut with a knife or bench scraper into ½-inch strips in both directions, chopping the log into chunks.

Flour the board or countertop and gather the dough and apples into balls, and shape into patties about the size of your palm, sprinkling with flour as they get squishy and the apples try to escape.

They'll look messy and rough — that's OK!

Put them on a parchment-lined sheet, cover with a tea towel and let rise for an hour. They need to rise long enough to sort of puff around the apples. This will help them hold together as they cook.

To make the glaze, whisk together the icing sugar, melted butter and maple syrup.

When you're ready to cook your fritters, heat a couple inches of oil in a deep skillet or shallow pot until it's hot but not smoking. If you have a thermometer, aim for about 350 F.

Cook the fritters a few at a time, without crowding the pot, flipping with a slotted spoon as they turn deep golden.

Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to absorb any excess oil, and drizzle generously with glaze while they're still hot.

Makes: about a dozen.

Ruthie's Apple Cake

This apple cake is a classic, and popular during Rosh Hashanah.

It comes from the cookbook Friday Night Dinners by Bonnie Stern.

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• ¼ cup orange juice
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 4 to 5 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
• ½ cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
• 2 tbsp coarse sugar (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350 F.

In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar with an electric mixer until light. Beat in oil. Beat in orange and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add to egg mixture and stir until combined.

In a third bowl, combine brown sugar, cinnamon, apples and nuts.

Spread about half of the batter in a greased, parchment-lined, 9-inch springform pan.

Spoon apples on top of this batter. Drizzle remaining batter on top of the apples. The batter on the top layer may not cover the apples completely. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.

If the cake is browning too much, cover loosely with foil and reduce oven heat to 325 F.

Serves: 8 to 12.