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Thursday 27 September 2012

Apples anyone?

Apple Tree

I like apples, but like all things in small doses. The problem is that I have had my apple tree for the last ten years. At the beginning there were no apples, but in the third year I did a happy dance when I got ten apples from the tree. At last my own fruit orchard. Unfortunately my family got smaller over the years and the apple tree grew and produced more apples each year. Over the last few years I have exhausted every apple cake/pudding/pie recipe you can imagine. I am getting to the end of the list and the apples keep coming, starting in September through to beginning November, and there are a lot of apples (roughly 200 per year).

I used to give some to my neighbour. She had two small boys and they were glad for the apples. Unfortunately our neighbour built their own house and moved away a month ago. They now have a large garden, so will probably be planting their own apple trees.

I remember when my apple tree first saw me and I saw him or her. It was in the local supermarket, apple tree seedling for only 29 Swiss Francs. Mr. Swiss was a bit worried, imaging that it would grow to a height competing with Jack and the Beanstalk. Of course I prune it back every year in Spring to make room for more apples every year. It is a wonderful sight when flowering. If we have a good year, with not so much rain, the apples develop and develop and develop. This year we thought it would reach about 100 apples, but that mark  has already been overtaken and the apple cooking/eating marathon as now begun again. The type of apple is known as Fiorina, which probably means big, juicy, fleshy and fruitful in reproduction. 

Today I attacked a few apples and made sort of apple fritters. I did not fritter them, to much smelly oil in the kitchen. No, I have a special cooking form that looks like this.



Apple ring  form

The idea is you peel the apples, remove the core and cut them in rings. You put the rings in each copartment. You then make a thick liquid with one  eggyolk, three spoons of melted butter, and 70 grammes of plain flour with a pinch of baking powder. Mix it and then whip the egg white until stiff and fold into the mixture. Pour the mixture over the apple rings and bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 200° C. OK, simple enough. When they are baked you lift the baked fritter apple rings out of the form and turn them in a mixture of cinammon and sugar. This is the result.



Apple Rings

As can be seen not every apple is identical to the other. Not all so perfect, but I was not competing for a winning place in master chef, just wanted to dispose of the apple glut. Anyhow it was a success. No, I did not make a vanilla sauce to go with them. I had to clean my kitchen after this cooking effort. It was whipped cream from the canister, but it was a unanimous decision in the family that I can make them again - am thinking it over. I spent five minutes cleaning the stone tiles on the kitchen floor afterwards as a mixture of sugar and cinammon tends to get sticky when falling on the floor. 

Of course I could demolish the tree and replace it with a non producing fruit tree, but the bees woud be homeless next year and I would have less photo subjects in the garden. My youngest son was visiting this week and I asked if he would like some apples to take home. "How many" he asked with a suspicious look. I told him a plastic bag full but he felt he would not have the time to eat them all, being a working man and travelling around in the world now and again. I gave up. We have now deposited a glass with vineager and washing liquid on the table in the kitchen to keep the fruit flies at a minimum (we also have grapes, but not ours, from the supermarket).

I think I have written a blog about this stupid fruit producing machine every year. Looking at my photographic records, it is a very photogenic tree.

4 comments:

  1. Oh that looks so delicious. I have a spiral apple peeler that removes the core. It's do cool. I think your treats look delicious. Happy baking :). Apples are expensive here right now. It was a hard year on the crops. I do enjoy autumn orchard trips.

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  2. YUMMY!!!

    Can you sell them at your gate Pat, or give them to a hospital, or someting like that???

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  3. Those fritter-things look really delicious!! I agree with Shayna. Surely there is somewhere local you could sell them to, or even donate to?

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  4. Great post Pat I love apples I grow my own as well only about 30 this year a bad crop lets hope next year is better LOL;)

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