What are the best apples for baking?

[Mambwe]

I'm going to be baking an apple crumb cake and this will be my first shot at baking. The recipe calls for tart apples. What apples are tart and good for baking? I have seen many apple pies cut open and there are 2 inches of liquid in the pie.

What apples are tart and also won't give me a liquidy mess?

[iriee]

granny smith are great for cooking.

[feedmec00kies]

A list I came up with when I googled "baking apples":

Excellent: Cameo, Cortland, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Jonagold, Jonathan, Rome

Good: Braeburn, Empire, Fuji, Gala, Ginger Gold, HoneyCrisp, Newton Pippin, Pink Lady

Those aren't all tart though; Golden Delicious is probably too sweet to use in a pie. I've used Granny Smiths and Jonagolds before.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong (I don't really bake so much), but I don't know if there are varieties of apples that won't run liquid at least a little. All the recipes I've seen 1. call for some flour for thickening the juices that run, and 2. tell you to let it sit for a bit before serving.

Might also help to bake the crust a bit before putting in some filling (covering the edges so they don't brown too quickly, and with some sort of weight in the middle) so the dough on the bottom doesn't cook to a kind of gooey consistency.

Anyone with better knowledge? Please correct me if I'm wrong!

Edited November 20, 2007 by feedmec00kies (log)

[emilyr]

Empires have been on sale around here for the ast few weeks, so i've made a couple of apple crisps and cakes with them. They work great and are a bit too tart to eat straight out, but perfect for baked goods. The price for them has been between $.99 and $1.19 per pound, so they're a great deal too!

[devlin]

I try to use a combination of apples in desserts that call for apples. Granny Smith for the really tart aspect, and then honey crisp, pink lady (those are both super good, crisp eating apples as well), and jonathan or jonagold. I've heard wonderful things about pippins, but we don't get them here.

[DCP]

Good: Braeburn, Empire, Fuji, Gala, Ginger Gold, HoneyCrisp, Newton Pippin, Pink Lady

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I tend to think of Honeycrisp and Pink Lady (to a lesser extend, Fuji and Gala) as apples for eating out of hand. Honeycrisp has amazing sweetness and crispness - I might substitute it for a McIntosh/Golden Delicious combination, but would otherwise think it too sweet/pricey/subtle for baking. Same for Pink Lady with that delightful subtle cinnamon flavor.

Of course, I may be wrong - has anyone found that apples with subtle nuances bake well and retain their qualities?

[LindaK]

I like Jonathan's but they can be hard to find. You can usually cut back on the sugar in a recipe if the apples you buy taste more sweet than tart.

[devlin]

Good: Braeburn, Empire, Fuji, Gala, Ginger Gold, HoneyCrisp, Newton Pippin, Pink Lady

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I tend to think of Honeycrisp and Pink Lady (to a lesser extend, Fuji and Gala) as apples for eating out of hand. Honeycrisp has amazing sweetness and crispness - I might substitute it for a McIntosh/Golden Delicious combination, but would otherwise think it too sweet/pricey/subtle for baking. Same for Pink Lady with that delightful subtle cinnamon flavor.

Of course, I may be wrong - has anyone found that apples with subtle nuances bake well and retain their qualities?

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Well, that's why I use a blend of apples. For me, granny smiths alone are too tart and sort of one note. And so I use other apples, such as pink lady and honey crisp or jonathans and so forth together with granny smiths.

[rlibkind]

The tart apple that's most readily available would be the Granny Smith. However, should you find yourself at the rare farm stand or orchard that has them, try the Northern Spy or any of the Greenings.

[Mambwe]

I went with GrannySmith apples. We'll see how it comes out. This is my first try at an apple crumble pie.

[janeer]

There's a long discussion here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...ples+for+baking

[baroness]

The tart apple that's most readily available would be the Granny Smith. However, should you find yourself at the rare farm stand or orchard that has them, try the Northern Spy or any of the Greenings.

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Northern Spy and Prairie Spy, available at Greenmarkets and orchards, are wonderful for baking as well as eating raw.

[eskay]

I went with GrannySmith apples. We'll see how it comes out. This is my first try at an apple crumble pie.

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How'd it go?