Looking for an outstanding apple bread recipe

[Wendy DeBord]

So here I am a professional pastry chef.........and I thought I made a very good apple bread, until last year when a neighbors apple bread wowed the socks off my husband (and me too). We've both asked her for the recipe multiple times, but she's not parting with her recipe...even though she's never been rude about it, just avoids ever writing hers down.

SOoooo I need to make tons of apple bread as an item in our Thanksgiving food package at work and now I'm embarassed to use my old recipe knowing theres better out there.

I'm searching for 'the BEST Knock your socks off' apple bread recipe in the world! Anyone own that one incredible recipe? If so, would you please share it with me?

[JeanneCake]

I really like the apple cake recipe in Payard's dessert book - in a side bar he tells how his father sold hundreds of them every week. It's made in a loaf pan, with some apple slices layered in it and I remember brushing it with some apricoture just to gild the lily. Do you have the book? If not, I'll hunt mine up and can tell you what my notes were on it. I haven't made it in a few years, but it's really good.

[Wendy DeBord]

Thank-you, yes I do have his book. I did make that recipe years ago...........

I was thinking more American in style......maybe I need to dig thru my Amish cookbooks.....

[Fernwood]

Wendy,

I had very enthusiastic responses in the past to a recipe I got from Penzey's (spice vendor, for those not familiar with them). However, I know they published it several years ago and it does not appear to be currently available on their website.

I MIGHT be able to find it at home, but I can't promise that I can even do a thorough search before the weekend. So I hope you get some other responses.

How frustrating that your neighbor has not been forthcoming!

Fern

[ludja]

...

I was thinking more American in style......maybe I need to dig thru my Amish cookbooks.....

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What is apple bread like? Similar to a banana bread but with apples? What is the form of the apples usally? applesauce, grated?

[JeanneCake]

There are a few different styles of apple cake or bread; the Payard recipe was the only one I'd tried that I liked. It was the layers of apple slices that made it moist and delicious - and different from a recipe that called for applesauce or grated apples. Maida Heatter has some in her New Book of Great Desserts - both types in fact. Her applesauce cake is very nice but I didn't think it was anything special; I can find that recipe and post my adaptation of it if you're interested. I still haven't found my Payard book, though.

Wendy, what was your neighbor's bread like? Moist, wet, dry, cinnamon-y, could you tell whether it had grated apple or applesauce in it?

[ludja]

Thanks JeanneCake. I guess I was asking b/c "apple bread" makes me think of something made in a loaf pan and I had not really heard of that much.

I do have a great rustic apple cake recipe; it's baked in a springform pan and is a layer of buttery cake topped with a thick layer of thinly sliced, lemon scented apples. It's an Italian recipe.

[Woods]

So here I am a professional pastry chef.........and I thought I made a very good apple bread, until last year when a neighbors apple bread wowed the socks off my husband (and me too). We've both asked her for the recipe multiple times, but she's not parting with her recipe...even though she's never been rude about it, just avoids ever writing hers down.

SOoooo I need to make tons of apple bread as an item in our Thanksgiving food package at work and now I'm embarassed to use my old recipe knowing theres better out there.

I'm searching for 'the BEST Knock your socks off' apple bread recipe in the world! Anyone own that one incredible recipe? If so, would you please share it with me?

←

I have a recipe from Raymond Calvel's Le Gout du Pain that is excellent. It is not, however, a sweet bread.

Woods

[Steven Blaski]

Wendy, I found one in my "Mennonite Community Cookbook" (1950). I haven't tried it, but other baked goods from the book have turned out well. It doesn't look very sweet, but you could always add more sugar if you wanted.

DUTCH APPLE BREAD

2 c. flour

3 tsp. baking powder

2 TB sugar + extra for sprinkling

cinnamon (to taste)

1 tsp. salt

2 TB butter

1 egg

1 c. milk

5 tart apples, pared & sliced

Sift 2x together dry ingredients.

Cut butter into dry ingredients as for pastry.

Add beaten egg & milk.

Beat thoroughly till well blended.

Spread in a greased, shallow pan, 8 x 12 inches.

Press apple slices over the top & sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Serve with milk. (!)

--Mrs. P. L. Buckwalter, Atglen, PA

Edited November 9, 2005 by Steven Blaski (log)

[Wendy DeBord]

The type of apple bread I'm seeking would have small chunks of apple and nut through-out the batter and be similar to say a zuccini bread or a banana bread in texture. It could have apple sauce in the batter plus apple chunks. It would be different then a cake in that it would be denser, not as refined..........definately baked in a small loaf pan for support.

I normally use a struesel on top of my apple bread, but my neighbor used cinnamon sugar and it was perfect. The bread wasn't super sweet and the cinnamon sugar just made the whole thing pop!

I do have Maida's and Payards books. I have tons of books that I could pick a recipe out of.........I was just hoping someone had a really good one that didn't require me searching and testing..................

[Swisskaese]

It sounds like you are look for a quick bread recipe Wendy, but just in case, here is a very good apple challah recipe:

Apple Challah

Note: I use 1/4 cup of sugar in the Apple mixture.

Edited November 9, 2005 by Swisskaese (log)

[jgm]

Wendy, here is a recipe from the Airport Hilton in Wichita, Kansas. They've been giving out this recipe for years... the last time I made it was in the late 80's. If I remember correctly, it's excellent when spread with a slightly sweetened cream cheese. It doesn't have chunks of apple, but given your expertise, I'm sure you can find a way to make that adjustment.

Apple Bread

Baking temperature: 325 degrees

Grease and flour a loaf pan

Combine:

½ cup shredded carrots, packed

1 cup canned sweetened applesauce

½ cup vegetable oil

1 t vanilla

2 eggs, beaten

3/4 cup sugar

Mix above ingredients well.

Separately, combine:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 t baking powder (double-acting)

½ t baking soda

½ t salt

1 t cinnamon

½ t nutmeg

½ cup chopped walnuts

Combine dry ingredients, and stir into wet ingredients. Mix only until blended; do not overmix. Pour into greased & floured loaf pan, and spread evenly.

Combine:

5T sugar + ½ t cinnamon

Sprinkle mixture over batter

bake 1 hour or until wooden pick inserted near center, comes out clean

This recipe is available for pick-up at the front desk in the Legends Restaurant at the Hilton. A lovely woman indulged my request to read the ingredients off to me. I have made this before and it's excellent. Hope it's at least close to what you're looking for!

[Wendy DeBord]

Thank-you, I'll give it a try.

[JeAnneS]

Wendy I have a recipe for apple bread that is from Woman's Day of all places. It's fantastic, but the consistency is more like a pound cake than a quick bread. It also has a streusel layer and topping. Chunky apples, but no applesauce. Let me know if you wish me to post.

JeAnne

[Fernwood]

Google and you shall find.

Penzey's Apple Bread

Here it is on a different site

It's posted several other places as well. I'm pretty sure this is the one I used. It's a moist quick bread with pieces of apple and a streusel topping. No surprises, but yummy. Sorry I didn't do the Googling the other day.

Fern

[Wendy DeBord]

Strange happening, but I'm going to stay with the first recipe I tried. Thanks everyone for your help.

[Rehovot]

Strange happening, but I'm going to stay with the first recipe I tried. Thanks everyone for your help.

←

I'm curious why... Did you find flaws in the Penzey's recipe, or another one? I'm dying to try it, but I was hoping this thread would determine a clear winner before I had to go restock on home baking supplies...

[Wendy DeBord]

I didn't find flaws in any recipe I tried. I've got a decent baking library at home and I desided to try out a little book I've had for years and never baked out of. I don't have the book near me to get the title correct, but it's a book on quick breads written by Beatrice Ojakangas.

I used her recipe for pear bread subbing in apples in place of the pears. I thought it was fabulous!.........just what I wanted.

B. Ojankangas is an incrediable baker............if only she got the glossy photo laden books other authors get...........everyone would be more familar with her work. She's the author of the famous danish dough recipe everyone uses that was published in Baking With Julia.

[ruthcooks]

Years ago I found a recipe for Caramel Apple Bread. It got lost, and I'm still hoping to run across it. I feel like I'm calling, "Come Back, Little Sheba." Has anyone run across a recipe like this?

[KMPickard]

Wendy - now that you've found the apple bread you were seeking would you be so kind to post the recipe. I've yet to find just the apple cake I'm looking for and it may be that what I've actually wanted is apple bread.

Thanks,

Kathy

[Steven Blaski]

Years ago I found a recipe for Caramel Apple Bread.  It got lost, and I'm still hoping to run across it.  I feel like I'm calling, "Come Back, Little Sheba."  Has anyone run across a recipe like this?

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Ruth, I Googled: <"caramel apple bread" -pudding> and more than 500 pages came up -- could you be more specific -- a source, if you remember it, or any other pertinent information?

[ruthcooks]

Thanks, Steven, I hadn't looked anywhere else, still hoping to find the one I had handwritten on a scrap of paper years ago. It was so long ago I don't even remember if I even tasted it or just dreamed about it. Sometimes I think I saw it in a bakery/restaurant, but then how did I get the recipe?

As for theGoogle info, I'll search and see if anything looks yummy to me. Thanks again.

[Wendy DeBord]

Here's the recipe I liked so much from B. O..

Cinnamon Pear Tea Bread, page 26.

Streusel topping:

2 tbsp. butter

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 c. br. sugar

1/2 c. chopped nuts (I used pecans)

Basicly, just combine the ingedients together, until it's a moist sandy consistancy. Place on top of the bread before baking.

Bread recipe: (I used apples instead of pears)

1/4 c. butter

1/2 c. sugar

1 egg

1 c. ap flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. sour cream

1 1/2 c. peeled, chopped apple in 1/2 dice or less

Mix as you would any quick bread. Bake at 350F. It makes 3 small loaf pans aprox. 3" x 5".

It's very moist and handling is difficult the first day it's baked............but well worth it.

[takomabaker]

I've never noticed them before, but ever since I've been reading this topic I've starting noticing apple bread recipes in my cookbooks as I've been looking them over for Thanksgiving. I haven't tried this one, but I ran across it in "Four Star Desserts" and Emily Luchetti has NEVER done me wrong (she rules). This is, OF COURSE, a paraphrase of the recipe instructions:

Morning Apple Cake

Four Star Desserts

5 apples, peeled, cored and coarsely grated

1-2/3 cups AP flour

2/3 cup WW flour

pinch of ground cloves

1 tsp. cinnamon

pinch of mace

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 lb. unsalted butter (softened)

1-2/3 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup (4 oz.) toasted and chopped walnuts

1 9" buttered and floured bundt pan

Sift together flours (WW and AP), spices, baking soda and salt.

In electric mixer using paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light. Add eggs and extract. Lower speed of mixer and add dry ingredients. Stir in walnuts and apples.

Pour batter into pan. Bake about 1 hour or until skewer inserted in middle is clean. Let cool in pan before unmolding. Can be made a day in advance.

[sugarbuzz]

I was going through my recipes & came across an apple bread recipe..I don't remember ever making it or where I copied it down from. This is a sweet yeasted bread with apple chunks in it & then rolled out & spread with a cinnamon sugar filling & rolled & baked in a loaf pan. Kind of a cinnamon swirl bread with apple chunks in the batter. I'll make a loaf today & see if it's any good.

So that recipe I had was really ..bleh. Not worth making again

Edited November 16, 2005 by sugarbuzz (log)