A Bushel of Apple Recipes for National Apple Month

October is National Apple Month. I can’t think of any fruit more versatile than apples. You can use them to make beverages, as an accompaniment to main dishes, in bread and of course in a multitude of desserts.

The Apple Tree

My dad is an excellent gardener and we had many different kinds of fruit trees in our yard growing up. The most popular one was the apple tree on the street corner. It would be laden with apples every fall and people would often sneak an apple as they walked by. They were perfect apples, crisp and not too sweet but lots of apple flavor. They were terrific to eat straight off the tree, in pies or applesauce.

Applesauce

My mother canned a lot of applesauce. Store bought applesauce can’t compare to homemade applesauce. The texture, the color, and the taste are far superior. It would appear on the dinner table almost nightly in a glass bowl with a sprinkle of cinnamon on top. My favorite applesauce recipe is Applesauce Cake. I don’t consider it a cake, it is more of a quick bread. I like it warmed up for breakfast with some butter on it.

Applesauce Cake

1/2 c. butter or margarine
1 c. applesauce
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
2 c. flour

Cream together butter and sugar. Add baking soda to applesauce and stir. Add to butter mixture. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix well. Pour into buttered, floured loaf pan.
Bake 40 minutes at 350 degrees or until toothpick comes out clean. Let sit for 10 minutes before removing from the pan.

Apple Pie

Apple pie is the most requested apple dessert in my house. I don’t have a go-to apple pie recipe but I made this beautiful slab pie from Smitten Kitchen for Thanksgiving last year. It was surprisingly easy, tasted delicious and left plenty of leftovers.

I made the first apple pie of season a few weeks ago. This is what happens when you set the pie too close to the edge of the counter and the dog is curious.