Old-fashioned Baked Apple Roll

Fall is the season for apples, and the perfect time to make apple desserts. I recently found a lovely hundred-year-old recipe for Baked Apple Roll; however, it has one quirky characteristic. The recipe does not call for any cinnamon.

The Baked Apple Roll is smothered in a very simple sugar, water, and butter sauce. The roll looked beautiful, but (since I’m so used to apple dishes being spiced with cinnamon), the roll tasted bland to me. If I made this recipe again, I might add some cinnamon – though I recognize that wouldn’t hold true to the old recipe.

Here’s the original recipe:

When I made the recipe, I halved it, and still had a large roll that made 4-5 servings. Here is the recipe updated for modern cooks.

Baked Apple Roll

Servings: 4 - 5
Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon butter (softened) + 1/4 cup butter

1 cup milk

3 cups chopped apples (about 2-3 large apples) (peel and core before chopping)

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups water

Preheat oven to 325° F. In a bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder, and 1 tablespoon butter. Add milk, and mix using a fork until dough starts to cling together. If it is excessively sticky, add additional flour. Turn onto a well-floured prepared surface, and roll dough into an approximate 11-inch square that is 1/4 inch thick. Evenly spread chopped apples on the rolled dough to within 1/2 inch of the edges. Start at one side and roll. Seal edges by pressing together to help prevent the juice from running out. Place in an oblong baking dish (approximately 7 inches by 12 inches or larger) with the “seam” at the top.

In a bowl, combine the sugar and water. Carefully pour the sugar mixture into the edge of the baking dish. Do not pour it over the top of the roll. Cut the 1/4 cup butter into small pieces, then “dot” the sugar/water mixture with the butter pieces. This will turn into a syrup as it cooks. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove from oven and baste the roll with the hot sugar syrup. Return to oven and bake an additional 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven. The roll can be cut into slices, and served hot or cold with the syrup drizzled around the slices.

Unbaked apple roll in baking dish with sugar, water, and pats of butter

Old-fashioned Date and Apple Salad

Simple, tasty, attractive salads are the best. I recently found a hundred-year-old recipe that fits the bill. Date and Apple Salad has a light lemon and oil dressing. The apples and dates are cut into “match-stick” pieces which makes a lovely presentation; and the tart, crunchiness of the apples combines beautifully with the sweet, chewy dates. This recipe is a keeper.

Here is the original recipe:sh

Source: American Cookery (January, 1918)

And, here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Date and Apple Salad

Servings: 4 - 5
Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: easy
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8 ounces pitted dates

2 apples

juice from 1 lemon

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I used olive oil.)

lettuce leaves, optional

Cut dates into lengthwise into “match-stick” pieces, and put into a bowl. Peel and core apples, then cut into match-stick pieces. Dip apple pieces in lemon juice, then place in the bowl with the dates. Add salt and oil; then gently toss. If desired, serve on lettuce leaves.

The hundred-year-old recipe called for six tablespoons of oil. This seemed excessive, so I used two tablespoons of oil.

Old-Time Baked Apples with Sauce

Baked apples are one of my Fall comfort foods, so I was thrilled to find a delightful hundred-year-old recipe for them. The recipe had a new (old?) twist – serve the apples with a custard sauce.

Here’s the original recipe:

Source: Larkin Housewives Cook Book (1917)

And, here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Baked Apples with Sauce

Servings: 6
Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: moderate
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3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

6 apples (Use an apple variety that keeps its shape when cooked – Rome, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Braeburn, etc.)

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons corn starch

1 1/2 cups milk

1 egg. beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350° F. In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon and sugar. Set aside.

Core apples, and place in a baking dish. (The baking dish will be easier to clean if it is lined with foil.) Spoon sugar and cinnamon mixture into the center of the apples. (Depending upon the size of the apples, there may be some left-over cinnamon and sugar.) Drizzle a small amount of water over each apple. Place in oven and bake until tender (about 35 – 45 minutes).

In the meantime, make the sauce by putting the sugar and corn starch in a saucepan; stir to combine. Slowly stir in the milk, then put on the stove and bring to a boil using medium heat. Remove from heat and place a small amount (approximately 1 – 2 tablespoons) of hot mixture into dish with the beaten egg, stir quickly. Add the egg mixture to the hot liquid in the saucepan and return to heat. Cook for 1 minute while constantly stirring. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

To serve, spoon sauce over the baked apples. Serve warm.

Old-fashioned Apple Custard Pie

Custard pies were very popular a hundred years ago. One of the old-time fall favorites is Apple Custard Pie. The delicate custard taste mingles with the apples and a hint of cinnamon to create a truly special pie.

Old-Fashioned Apple Custard Pie

2 1/2 cups apples (cored, peeled and sliced)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons water

4 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups milk

1 10-inch (large) pie shell

Combine apples, cinnamon, and water in a saucepan. Using medium heat, bring to a boil and then reduce heat; stir occasionally. If needed to prevent scorching on bottom of pan, add a small amount of additional water. Continue to simmer gently until the apples are soft (approximately 10-15 minutes). Cool slightly; then strain the apple mixture. Keep the cooked apples and discard the liquid. Set aside.

Heat oven to 425 degrees. In a bowl, beat eggs slightly. Add sugar, salt, and milk. Beat until blended. Stir in the cooked apples. If the apples are still hot, use care to stir while pouring them into the custard mixture to ensure that none of the egg coagulates from the heat. Pour into the pie shell, then bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees, and bake an additional 1 – 1 1/2 hours or until knife inserted into center pie comes out clean.

This pie takes a long time to bake. If the top looks like it might start to burn before the center of the pie is solid, reduce heat to 325 degrees.

For this recipe, I used apples from a tree in my yard that, when cooked, get soft and do not hold their shape particularly well. I like how the cooked apples are widely dispersed in the custard; though, if preferred, firmer varieties may be used.

Old-fashioned Apple Relish Recipe

Since I love to try interesting meat toppers and relishes, I was excited to see a hundred-year-old Apple Relish recipe in a 1915 Ladies Home Journal.

This recipe is a winner. The Apple Relish was easy to make, and is one of the best tasting relishes I’ve ever eaten. Its sweet-sour, spicy, fruitiness perfectly complements grilled or roasted beef or pork.

Apple Relish

7 cups apples, peeled and chopped

2 cup raisins

1 cup vinegar

3 1/2 cups sugar

1 orange, peeled and chopped

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a large pan. Bring to a boil, then stir occasionally and boil steadily for half an hour.

Ladle into hot half-pint or pint jars. Wipe jar rim, and adjust lids. Process in boiling water bath for 15 minutes.

Makes approximately 8 half-pints (4 pints)

Adapted from Recipe in Ladies Home Journal (September, 1915)

Green Tomato Mincemeat Pie Recipe

Tomatoes, tomatoes everywhere. The tomato plants are heavily laden with tomatoes–many still green.

When I wake up in the mornings I’m starting to feel a slight chill in the air. It won’t be long until there is frost. It’s time to make Green Tomato Mincemeat.

This traditional “mock” mincemeat has been made by frugal cooks for countless years. And, no wonder–it tastes as good, if not better, than real mincemeat and make the perfect mincemeat pie.

For my husband and me, Green Tomato Mincemeat Pie is an Autumn comfort food. We remember our mothers’ and grandmothers’ (and the church ladies) making this scrumptious pleasantly sweet, yet tart, traditional pie with its tangy blend of spices.

Green Tomato Mincemeat

6 cups green tomatoes

2 cups tart apples

1 cup raisins

2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed

1 cup strong coffee

1 lemon (grated peel and juice)

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon allspice

Core and quarter tomatoes and apples; put through food processor or chopper. Combine all ingredients in large saucepan. Simmer 2 hours, stirring occasionally. May be canned or frozen.

Amount: This recipe makes enough mincemeat for 2 9-inch pies.

Green Tomato Mincemeat Pie

1 quart (approx. 4 cups) green tomato mincemeat

1/4 cup flour

9-inch double-crust pie shell

milk (optional)

sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Stir the flour into the mincemeat; place in pastry-lined pie pan. Cover with top crust. Seal and crimp. Cut slits in top crust (or poke top crust several times with a fork). If desired, brush with a small amount of milk; sprinkle with sugar. Bake in oven for 10 minutes; then reduce heat to 350 degrees. Bake an additional 20 to 30 minutes or until crust is browned and juice just begins to bubble through slits in crust.

Old-Fashioned Apple Cookie Recipe

18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Saturday, September 6, 1913: I made some cookies this morning—and fortunately we all have pretty good teeth.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Hmm—I wonder what kind of cookies Grandma made, and what went wrong.

Maybe Grandma made Apple Cookies. They’re wonderfully moist—and a little chewy (but I don’t think that they’d require good teeth to eat.) 🙂

Old-fashioned Apple Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 egg

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 cup milk

1 cup walnuts, chopped

1 cup unpared apples, chopped

1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cream sugar and butter, then add egg. Stir in remaining ingredients except nuts and fruit. Add walnuts, apples, and raisins. Drop by teaspoonful on greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.

Yield: approximately 48 cookies