Finding new and a-peel-ing ways to use apples: Jasmine Mangalaseril

With cooler temperatures and leaves turning gold and copper, apple harvest season is well underway. 

While many of us might be ready to crunch into them or bake them in pies or fritters, apple butter and hard apple cider are having a moment as people discover – or rediscover – this "new" food and drink.

You can do more with them than spread apple butter on toast or sip a cider on the back deck. Chef Nick Benninger and Chef Cecelia Johnston have tasty and easy kitchen inspirations and tips to help you make the most of these tasty fall treats.

Buttering up to apples

A staple in many Waterloo region kitchens, apple butter was brought over by Pennsylvania Dutch settlers and is part of the "seven-sweets-seven-sours" that are traditionally part of their meals.

It's easy to make, but time intensive. Apples – peels, flesh, and sometimes cores – are cooked, pureed, and cooked again (uncovered) with spices, sugars, and vinegar or lemon juice, until it's thick with a rich, deep colour.

"When we make our apple butter, we generally cook it for about 10 to 15 hours," said Chef Cecelia Johnston, of Waterloo's Ce Food Experience & The Bakery. "We just let it cook down and it goes from white to a rich golden dark brown."

Johnston's apple butters are lighter in colour and looser than some. And she infuses hers with flavours like Earl Grey Tea or Masala Chai. 

Meanwhile, Stratford's Bruce Hotel's events and tourism director, chef Nick Benninger, likes to use apple butters in savoury dishes

"The awesome thing about apple butter is it's got umami," explained Benninger. "It's loaded with this indescribable flavour that's not necessarily apples because it's so concentrated and cooked down." 

Something savoury:

• In a brine: Add 15 ml (1 tablespoon) for every litre of water to add caramelized flavours.
• In a glaze for pork or chicken.
• As creative condiments: combine it with hot sauce or chilli flakes, use it in barbecue sauce, or mix it with mayonnaise.
• A ketchup substitute: excellent on grilled cheese with caramelised onions

Johnston suggested spooning it on over easy eggs: "The fattiness of that yolk and the nice sharpness of that apple butter. It's such a beautiful balance and then just a little bit of balsamic glaze on top."

Something sweet:

• An ice cream topping
• A spread between cake layers
• A doughnut filling
• Smear it instead of sugar paste before rolling up cinnamon buns

Easy ways to use hard ciders

Tariq Ahmed's Revel Cider is one of a handful of local cideries. An internship at Manorun Organic Farm sparked his interest in fermentation and, while still in university, led him to found his Guelph-based company.

He works exclusively with Ontario fruit producers, using apples ranging from grocery store favourites to classic cider varieties like Stoke Red and Tremlett's Bitter. 

"We will press the apples in the fall [and] let that ferment. It's actually the following summer, when strawberries and cherries are available, when we'll put those fruits into that cider," said Ahmed.

The initial fermentation can last up to a few months. And, like wine, they can be aged for up to three years.

Hard cider brings a nice acidity to dishes without the bitterness you might get from beers.

"Depending on the type of apple cider you're dealing with, it's just such a pure flavour.  As you cook it down, it concentrates so nicely," said Ahmed. "Usually the alcohol percentage is quite low so you don't have to worry about that cooking off as much."

Savoury ideas:

• In a brine: mix 1:1 hard cider and water, add enough salt so that it's salty (but not overpoweringly so), and, if you want, add dry-toasted cracked black pepper, bay leaves, cloves, and cinnamon.
• Braise autumn veg like pumpkin, carrots, and turnips.
• In a glaze: spiced with masala chai's warm spices, for chicken or pork.

Sweet ideas:

• Shake (or stir) it up in a martini or kombucha.
• Macerate dried fruit in cider, for light fruitcakes.
• Poach apples or pears.

Johnston recommended replacing 25 to 30 per cent of a baking recipe's dairy or coconut milk with cider to give cakes some tang and extra lift: "Baking with it, you can do an upside-down apple-pie cake. You could definitely do a hard apple cider scone, with really large chunks of apples. It'll help really hold the texture and the flavour of it."