I may not have much of a choice here in Fla, but if I did what kind of apples should I get for my apple pie?

-- Elizabeth (ekfla@aol.com), August 25, 2001

Answers

Golden Delicious!

-- Cindy in NY (cjpopeck@worldnet.att.net), August 25, 2001.

Thanks Cindy, for your quick response. I was just on my way to the store to get some apples for a test pie tonight. Can't risk a failed first attempt at YB's house! Wish me luck.

-- Elizabeth (ekfla@aol.com), August 25, 2001.

I use Granny Smith or another really tart apple--in my opinion Golden Delicious are a bit bland.

-- Elizabeth in E TX (kimprice@peoplescom.net), August 25, 2001.

I use Cortlands, Macintoshs, Gravensteins, or Spys. Then again I will also use whatevers on hand in a pinch but I do agree that the so called dessert apples are a tad bland for cooking with. In such an instance you could use a bit of lemon juice on the slices of apples.

-- Alison in N.S. (aproteau@istar.ca), August 25, 2001.

I love Golden Delicious apples in my pies (my family says I like the cinnamon and sugar and the soggy apples second) where my husband preferrs the Granny Smiths since they are tart and crisp. After you have figured out the apples, have you tried just peeling the apples and then grating them on your cheese grater? You then wring them in a towel and then continue with the sugar and cinnamom, mixed into the apples and dot with butter, adjust the top crust, or better yet make the crumbly topping with flour, sugar and butter. Juicy and wonderful! Low cal also :) Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), August 25, 2001.

A tip from an expert grower of dessert apples. Whichever strain you use for your pies use non-diluted Tree Top Applejuice in them instead of some of the sugar.

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), August 25, 2001.

Hm -- if you have to buy them from the store or a market, I like either Empire or MacIntosh myself. I precook chunky slices of them in a frying pan in a simple sugar syrup made with half white and half brown sugar. On the other hand, being from Wisconsin, my real preference is to cook them in maple syrup! As they cook tender, I take them out of the pan and cool them on a cookie sheet. When they are done, I lay them into the bottom crust, sprinkle in raisins as I go (craisins -- dried cranberries are great too), a little freshly ground nutmeg, a sprinkling of cinnamon (OR, freshly ground cardamom instead of the cinnamon!!! That is REALLy living!). If you precook the apples like this, you can nestle them together without any airspace, and when it cooks in the oven, the top crust doesn't stay way up over top of the filling, the whole thing is solid.

You can use a rolled-out crust on top that way and it looks like an advertisement, or do the crumbled topping like Vicki suggested, that's great too (another possibility is to add ground up pecans or almonds into the crumble...whatever you like! I've even made rolled crusts with grated cheddar cheese in that were pretty tasty too)

-- julie f. (rumplefrogskin@excite.com), August 26, 2001.

To save on the amount of sugar that you use, dust about a tsp of baking soda into the flour/sugar mix that you toss the apples in before putting them into the shell. Be sure that the BS is mixed into the dry ingredients thoroughly. The BS cuts the acidity of the apples when they cook and therefore you need much less sugar to get the same sweetness.

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), August 26, 2001.

I like an apple with some taste and tartness, Empire or Jonathans are my favorites!

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), August 26, 2001.