By Angela Denstad
Time and again we’re rushed along through shopping seasons from one marketing milestone to the next in a seemingly endless state of anticipation – or is it agitation? – or is that just me? While I tend to be generally content, goal-oriented, and excited to have something to look forward to, as each year passes, it seem that so much of the seasonal hype is simply expediting life, and not, as it were, finding true contentment within the gift of each present moment. It’s a continual searching for what’s next instead of appreciating what’s now.
Take now, for instance. The days are getting shorter, no doubt, but we’re far from true sweater weather. And yet, for weeks already, it’s been all fall menus and pumpkin spice. As if we all put down our poolside umbrella drinks and immediately set to work raking leaves.
There is a perfect transitional season the nation increasingly overlooks, one we do well to celebrate locally. I’m referring, of course, to apple season, now at its peak. With pumpkins rolling in ever earlier, and apples seeming ubiquitous, found in every grocery store all year, it’s understandable that some people might not realize their seasonality or even first bring to mind that apples are fruit. The namesake of computers, apps, and other tech – and a famous record label before that – many of us now walk around with eponymous fruit-branded hardware, software, and/or classic hits in our ears. New this season, you can pick a foldable phone, to fit more Apple in your pocket, ostensibly filling the space where the money it costs once was. (Though that is rather old-fashioned, putting money in one’s pockets; so much more convenient to just tap Apple Pay.)
Still, apples themselves occupy an enormous space in our language and culture. The symbol of early fall, and even the fall from grace, apples are the classic back-to-school token for the teacher, a symbol of learning and discovery (Newton’s apple), the metaphor behind the dearest terms of endearment, or the similarity of parents and offspring, and the basis of practical health advice. Whether wholesome as apple pie or rotten to the core, apples are everywhere in helping inform our understanding of the world around us. Likewise, there’s no part of a menu an apple hasn’t touched: from salads to soups, sweet or savory sides, stuffings for sausages or roasts, garnishes, beverages, and all manner of desserts. I could easily pick an apple recipe for each meal of every day in the month and still not have exhausted my reserves. But because I must make a choice, here you can really appreciate each of these little dumplings and, if it’s too much, stow some of them away, unbaked, in the freezer until you have need of them.
But the ultimate apple recipe is simply this: Seek out a tree. Especially here in Minnesota, where the best varieties thrive. Ask permission; pay if you have to. Pick an apple. Now. When it’s ready for you. Notice the scent, the texture, the breeze on your face. Take a bite, hear the snap, taste the sweet juice, and pause long enough to know that this apple and this day are unique. And they belong to you.
Savor what’s now; what’s next will be here soon enough.
Baked Apple Dumplings with Cherry Butter
Cherry Butter
½ cup dried tart cherries
1 cup boiling water
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
⅓ cup light brown sugar
Pastry
3 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ tablespoons sugar
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt (reduce by half if using salted butter)
3 sticks (12 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup ice water
Dumplings
6 large, firm baking apples, peeled, cut in half and cored
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon cream
¼ cup turbinado sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
To make the cherry butter, heat a cup of water to boiling in a small saucepan. Turn off the heat and add the dried cherries; let soak until the water cools and the fruit is plumped. Drain the cherries, lightly pressing out excess water, and finely chop them. In a small mixing bowl, cream the softened butter and brown sugar with a stiff spatula or wooden spoon until light and fluffy. Fold in the cherries until well blended and refrigerate until needed.
For the pastry, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add butter pieces and, using a pastry cutter or food processor, blend until the mixture resembles small peas. Add the water and combine just until a dough forms. Knead together a few times until the pastry comes together; don’t overwork the dough. Form into 3 equal sized disks and refrigerate until chilled.
When ready to make the dumplings, preheat the oven to 400°. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Peel the apples, cut each in half, and use a melon baller to scoop out the core of each apple half. Fill the holes with the cherry butter.
On a lightly floured surface, roll each pastry disk out into a 12-inch square, trimming the edges. Reserve the scraps and cut each square into quarters, forming four 6-inch squares.
Working with 4 at a time, lightly brush the pastry squares with water. For each dumpling, set an apple half, cut side down, in the center of a square. Bring one edge of the pastry up and over the apple, pleating and overlapping the pastry as you work your way around all the edges, pressing lightly to seal. Transfer the dumplings to the prepared baking sheet. Reroll the pastry scraps and, using a leaf-shaped or other small cookie cutter, stamp out shapes for decoration. Brush the pastry leaves with water and press onto the top of each dumpling.
Combine the egg yolk and cream; brush the dumplings with the egg wash. Mix the sugar with the cinnamon; sprinkle a teaspoon over each dumpling. Bake for about 40 minutes or until the pastry is golden and the apples are tender. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Recipe adapted from Food & Wine Magazine, November 2001.
Leave a Reply