The following methods for preparing apples are over 100 years old! (1880)
Apples Creole
Make a sirup by boiling together one and one-half cupfuls of water, one and one-half cupfuls of sugar and two cloves. Peel and core six firm tart apples and boil in the sirup until tender, about ten minutes. When the apples are tender, remove carefully from the sirup and set aside to cool. Reboil the sirup for ten minutes and pour over the apples.
Heat to the boiling point three-fourths cupful of brown sugar and one-fourth cupful of water. Cook for eight minutes or until a little of the mixture forms a firm ball when dropped into cold water. After removing from the fire add one-half cupful of pecan nuts and beat until creamy. With this mixture fill the cavities in the apples. Serve cold with whipped cream or a custard sauce.
Steamed Apple Pudding
Rub together two tablespoonfuls of butter and two cupfuls of soft bread crumbs. Add one-half cupful of finely chopped apples, one-half cupful of sugar, one-eighth teaspoonful of nutmeg, the grated rinds of one lemon and one orange, and one cupful of currants washed thoroughly. After mixing well add one tablespoonful each of lemon juice and orange juice, or two tablespoonfuls of lemon juice, and two well-beaten eggs. Pack into a greased mold, cover, and steam for two hours. Serve hot with hard sauce or fruit sauce.
Jellied Apples
Peel and quarter six large, tart, red apples. Place in a baking dish, adding two cupfuls of sugar dissolved in two cupfuls of boiling water. Cover the dish and bake in a slow oven until the apples are tender and colored a deep pink. Lift the apples carefully from the dish and place in a mold rinsed in cold water. Soak one and one-half tablespoonfuls of gelatin for five minutes in one-half cupful of cold water. Add to the hot apple juice and stir until the gelatin dissolves. Stir in the juices of one orange and one lemon and pour over the apples. Chill, turn out, and serve with soft custard or whipped cream.
Apple Gingerbread
Peel and core three large, tart apples. Cut in very thin slices and spread on the bottom of a well-greased baking dish. After melting one-third cupful of shortening in two-thirds cupful of boiling water, add one cupful of molasses and one beaten egg. Sift together two and three-fourths cupfuls of flour, one and one-half teaspoonfuls of baking soda, one-half teaspoonful of salt, one teaspoonful each of cinnamon and ginger, and one-fourth teaspoonful of cloves. Stir into the liquid mixture and beat until smooth. Pour over the apples and bake in a moderate oven for about forty minutes. Cut in squares and serve warm either plain or with a liquid sauce, hard sauce, or whipped cream.
Apple Rolls
Sift together two cupfuls of flour, one teaspoonful of salt and four teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Rub in four tablespoonfuls of shortening, adding enough milk to make a soft dough. Roll on a floured board to the thickness of one-eighth inch, keeping the dough rectangular in shape. Spread over it two tablespoonfuls of softened butter, one cupful of finely chopped raw apples and one-fourth cupful of sugar mixed with one teaspoonful of cinnamon. Roll the dough up tightly and cut into slices three-fourths inch thick. Place in a greased pan and bake in a hot oven for about fifteen minutes. Serve hot or cold.
Apple Dumplings
Sift together two cupfuls of flour, four teaspoonfuls of baking powder and one teaspoonful of salt. Rub in four tablespoonfuls of shortening, adding enough cold water or milk to make a soft dough. Roll on a floured board to the thickness of one-eighth inch, and cut in three-inch or four-inch squares. In the center of each square place an apple, cored and peeled. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon and fold the ends together. After placing the dumplings in a greased baking pan pour in two-thirds cupful of boiling water, one-third cupful of sugar and two tablesponfuls of butter. Bake for forty minutes in a moderate oven, basting every ten minutes with the liquid. Serve hot with hard sauce.
Apple Omelet
Beat to a stiff froth the whites of four eggs. Then add the yolks of four eggs and continue beating until well mixed. Add gradually two tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar. In a hot frying pan or omelet pan melt one tablespoonful of butter. Pour in the mixture and cook slowly until firm. Spread over the omelet one cupful of thick, slightly sweetened apple sauce, fold over, and place on a hot platter. Serve immediately with powdered sugar.
Apple Fritters
Sift together one and one-third cupfuls of flour, two teaspoonfuls of baking powder and one-fourth teaspoonful of salt. Add to two-thirds cupful of milk one egg beaten until light. Combine the mixtures, beating until smooth. Peel two or three large, tart apples, cut into thin slices, and stir into batter. Remove the coated slices one at a time and drop into deep fat heated to 360 degrees or until it will brown a piece of bread in sixty seconds. Drain on soft paper and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve immediately, either plain or with a well-seasoned sauce.
Apple Salad
Cut a thin slice from the tops of six large, firm, red apples. With a strong spoon scoop out the pulp and drop the apple shells into cold, slightly acidulated water until ready to use. Cut the pulp into dice and mix with popped corn and celery, allowing one-half cupful of each to each cupful of apple. Mix with cream mayonnaise dressing and stuff into the carefully drained apple shells. Garnish with celery tops and serve on lettuce.
Baked Apples and Custard
Peel and core six firm, tart apples and place in a baking dish. Fill the cavities of the apples with sugar, cover the dish and bake in a moderate oven for about twenty minutes. To two eggs slightly beaten add one-third cupful of sugar and two cupfuls of scalded milk. Pour this over the apples, cooking them uncovered in a slow oven for about twenty minutes longer or until the custard is firm and the apples tender. Serve cold. Care must be taken not to have the oven too hot or the custard will separate.
