Apples, with their juicy, crunchy, and sweet nature, are a popular fruit and a versatile ingredient for various desserts. From my grandmother’s orchard, I recall the ideas that sparked when the apples appeared, showcasing their potential for culinary creativity.
Apples are a delicious treat with numerous health benefits. They are an intelligent choice for your well-being. The saying ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’ holds true, making apples a guilt-free addition to your dessert recipes.
Choosing the right apple variety or combination is the key to creating delicious desserts, whether you’re making a classic apple pie, a crisp, or another apple dessert or using apple filling to enhance crepes or funnel cake. The right choice can elevate the flavors and textures of your dessert, making it a delightful treat.
What Are the Best Apples For Dessert?
I enjoy apples and desserts, so I have tried almost everyone available. Depending on what I’m making, I have my favorites for the best kind of apple to use.
There are two main things to remember when selecting a suitable apple variety for making delicious desserts.
First, choose apples so that the composition of flavors blends appropriately. For example, sour and sweet-and-sour apples are suitable for apple pie filling because the crust is usually sweet, balancing the filling and crust.
There is also a magical fruit, lemon, that can help balance the apple’s sweetness and help the apples keep their structure, but more on that later.
The second important rule is how apples behave during baking. Some varieties keep their shape, and I like using these versions. Other varieties make a mush; although I avoid them, some people prefer using these apples. Everyone is different, so choosing a type of apple when baking really comes down to personal preference.
Here are some of the best apples for baking and dessert recipes, each known for their unique flavors and textures:
Granny Smith
Everyone knows these apples. Because of their typical sour taste, Granny Smith apples are often recommended for desserts, especially apple pies. These apples have their advantages because they hold their structure during baking. However, you will use too much sugar if they are too sour.
There are currently better varieties for the perfect apple pie that maintain the balance between sweet and sour.
Honeycrisp
As the name suggests, Honeycrisp apples have a honey aftertaste, are firm, and are suitable for apple desserts because they hold their shape during baking.
These apples have the perfect balance of sweetness and slight tartness, so I recommend them for baked goods with apples in the lead role.
Golden Delicious
These are sweet apples with a butter and honey flavor, but they are more delicate in taste than their predecessors. Most culinary experts recommend them for baking, and even Julia Child recommends them in her book.
Although I love Julia Child’s advice, Golden Delicious apples get too soft for me when baking cakes, but I find they are perfect for sauces.
Braeburn
Braeburn apples are supposedly sweet but also slightly sour, crunchy, and juicy. It is very popular in Great Britain for apple pies because they keep their shape, and you don’t have to overbake them before filling the pie.
Fuji
Fuji are lovely and crunchy apples. Because of their taste, I recommend them for salads and apple snacks.
Jonagold
Similar in taste to Golden Delicious, Jonagold apples may be more sour than sweet. The structure after cooking is also ideal for baking, but like Golden Delicious, I prefer not to use them for baking because I have to use too much sugar to get the right combination of sweetness and sourness. However, they can work well in cakes where the percentage of apples is not as high as in apple pies.
Gala
Gala is sweet, and I like these apples as a snack. However, they get soft after baking and fall apart quickly. Use them for apple cakes or muffins with mixed apples in the middle.
Pink Lady (Cripps Pink)
Pink Lady apples are perfect for pie and other desserts. They keep their shape when baked. The taste is sweet but not overly so because a delicate tartness surrounds it.
McIntosh
These apples have a sweet, candy-like taste and are soft, so they are perfect for children’s food. However, due to their soft structure, I do not recommend them for baking cakes; they should be used for sauces.
Cortland
They are sour apples with a delicate note of sweetness. They are firm and retain shape when baked but quickly turn brown after peeling. Overall, I did not like these apples’ taste or texture.
Use a Variety of Apples
You can also combine apple varieties in your desserts, which will undoubtedly improve their flavor and texture.
For example, mixing a tart apple like Granny Smith with a sweeter variety like Honeycrisp or Fuji can create a more complex and balanced type of flavor that you can’t get with just one variety.
You can control apples’ taste and acidity in desserts by adding the wonderful fruit lemon. Lemon and lime will not only give the creations acidity but they are created so that these solutions, which do not stick to your structure very much, will retain them in part. You can make most desserts from any apple, but it is good to know what type of fruit you are dealing with when using this magical fruit.
Apple Pie Filling: The Main Ingredient of Most Apple Desserts
These delicious fruits can be used to make many things, from pancakes to baked apples or the famous Halloween dessert, caramel apples.
The most famous dessert, however, is apple pie. This cake is popular worldwide, from the US to Europe, where these fruits are naturally available all year round.
What are the perfect additions to apple pie filling?
Raisins, nuts, or a combination of both are perfect additions to apple filling. I also like to add dried cranberries, which have more health properties than popular raisins.
My favorite nuts for this filling are pecans and walnuts. Pecans have an exceptionally buttery flavor and complement apples perfectly.
Apple pie filling also goes perfectly with raspberries. You can add them to the bottom of an apple pie and put the apple filling on top.
What can apple pie filling be used for?
Apple pie filling is suitable for more than just apple pie. My favorite set is a funnel cake with apple pie filling and ice cream on top.
This filling can also be used to fill crepes instead of jam, and it goes perfectly with ice cream or without; my family just eats it from jars.
Other Ideas For Apple Desserts
There are many ideas for desserts with apples because there are many types of apple pies, apple cakes, upside-down apple cakes, and caramel apples. However, separating the apples from the jars and turning them into everyday delicacies is ideal for consuming these healthy fruits daily. Enjoy!
This article originally appeared on Pink When.
Author: Daria Szlachetka
Daria is the founder of mytastywall.com and is passionate about good food. She enjoys experimenting with cuisines worldwide, drawing inspiration from her travels and cookbooks that have been with her since childhood. She believes every type of food, even healthy options, can be delicious and exciting. Daria likes to combine unusual flavors in her recipes, and you’ll find inspiration from cuisines worldwide in her cooking.