Gedeckter Apfelkuchen
My dear Swiss mother was a marvelous cook. Gravenstein apple trees in her garden gave us bushels of apples each fall and we always had fun cooking up delectable pastries.
I hope to plant some apple trees on our mountain property by the port-a-hut. With bears and an elevation of 9,000 feet, this will be challenging. Our local nursery carries Haralson trees, an apple variety developed in 1920 by the University of Minnesota to flourish in their long cold winters and hot dry summers. Rated for zone 3, which goes to 40 degrees below, they may grow well on our plot.
Apples require cross pollination, so we’d have to buy at least two trees. At $75 each it gets a bit pricey. They’re on sale at the moment, and what girl can resist picking up a few items at bargain prices? 20% off barely shaves enough to convince Lou it’s a deal. Perhaps an Apfelkuchen with a little whipped cream will give him enough calories to dig out his wallet. I’ll make one of my childhood favorites.
Gedeckter Apfelkuchen, covered apple cake
Dough
2.5 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup margarine
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
2 teaspoons milk
Apple filling
4 apples
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Core, peel and finely slice four apples. An apple peeler quickly gets this step done.
Partially cook apples, adding raisins if apples are tart. Season apples with spices and brown sugar. Add lemon juice if apples are dry or too sweet.
Mix dough ingredients to form a soft ball. My favorite tool for this is a food processor. It forms a ball without over mixing. Divide in two portions, with one slightly larger. Roll out slightly larger half to 13" round. A plastic pie sleeve makes rolling out the dough incredibly easy.
Place in bottom of lightly greased 10 inch spring form. Make a one inch rim.
Roll out other half for top to 10 inches in diameter, just wide enough in diameter to cover.
Place dough on top, pressing down on rim to seal. Bake about 45 minutes, 350 degrees. Check midway and cover with foil if top is browning too quickly. Finished caked will have a golden brown crust. En Guete!!
You can whip this out in a jiffy with the right tools. Here are a few that I find indispensable:
Set of 2 – Easy Pie Crust Maker Bag, 11″ and 14″
Kaiser Bakeware Basic Tinplate Nested Springform Pans, Set of 3
Victorio VKP1011 Apple and Potato Peeler, Clamp Base
Cuisinart DLC-10S Pro Classic 7-Cup Food Processor, White
9 comments
That looks delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe. And just make sure Lou keeps his chain saw away from the apple trees.
Good point, Scott! Lou may be more of a threat than the bears.
Which nursery carries the hardy apple trees? I need a few too.
Hi George,
According to my research, zone 3 rated plants will survive Marble, and apple trees need cross pollination from a different variety
Eagle Crest Nursery in El Jebel carries Honeycrisp, Sweet Sixteen and Haralred, all zoned 3. Honeycrisp and Sweet Sixteen would be my picks.
Eagle Crest also has plum trees rated for zone 3, and you need to plant two different varieties for cross pollination. Pipestone Plum and Toka are rated zone 3. Plums sure make yummy tortes! 🙂
A sale starts at Eagle Crest today. I believe trees are buy one, get one free. Container plants are 40% off.
Planted Earth, Carbondale, carries Haralson apple trees rated for zone 3. I don’t know if they have any other varieties rated for zone 3. Their trees are 20% off.
The smaller, 5 gallon trees are priced at about $65 each before sale discounts.
Planted Earth also has raspberries that are rated for zone 3. Boyne is one variety, and I believe they have others that would survive zone 3 too.
A couple of folks at Planted Earth live in Marble and they gave me helpful advice about what would work.
Hope that helps!
Lisa
Swiss mothers are the best 🙂 I’d go with one honeycrisp for sure, my favorite apple and rated for zone 3.
Your above Marble I believe. The trees will make it for awhile until we have a bout of 22 below for a few days then ouch.
On your Mountain High Apple Cake, a little brown sugar with dollops of butter will cause the crust to brown nicely. Lveryl Daily tip.
Cathy sent me here soon after we were married and she also said iron your own shirts. grrrrrrrrrrrr! and as Lou would say Grin.
http://www.houstoncooking.com/index.htm
LIKE!
Glenn,
Zone 3 trees are rated for -30F. If temps go to 22 below, will the trees die or just the crop lost?
Nice!
The green apple does not look like a gravensteiner!
😀
Regards from switzerland!
Michael
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