Apple slab pie (and muffins and fritters, oh my)

annie1992

12 years ago

We're having an outstanding year for apples here, the last I heard the state harvest was estimated to be 28 million bushels or something equally astounding. My Red Delicious trees bore 5 bushels, the big old Wolf River gave me 6 bushels, the Gala in the back gave me a couple of bushels. I don't spray or prune the Gala or Wolf River at all, and do minimal pruning and upkeep on the Delicious, so the apples are seldom perfect, but they're darned good. The Wolf River are big and juicy and make a great baking apple:

They aren't perfect, but the imperfections all nearly all cosmetic. Many people would pass these up as "bad":

But you can see they are not marred at all internally, only the outside is marked:

The smallest and most misshapen go into the cider press but the rest get made into sauce and pie filling and goodies like this apple "slab":

I needed goodies to take to the farm while the kids pressed cider, so I made Ann T's apple fritter rings. They were delicious hot from the fryer, but not so much the next day, the moisture from the apple rings made them soggy, even some time in the oven didn't help much. The kids ate them anyway, LOL.

And so I decided that I had a hot fryer, I'd make apple doughnuts:

And some applesauce muffins:

Oh, and I canned apple sauce and apple butter and apple pie filling with the help of my trusty apple peeler/slicer:

I have apples in jars and apples wrapped in paper in the root cellar and still have apples on the trees. Maybe I'll make some more sauce.....

Annie

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Comments (26)

Islay_Corbel
12 years ago
Will you adopt me please?
booberry85
12 years ago
Hurray for apple season! I'm a little jealous of your trees, Annie. I tried growing them a number of years ago, but the bunnies, deer and caterpillars ganged up against me. It's been long enough though where I've been thinking about trying to grow apple trees again. We are fortunate to have some great orchards nearby.

That apple slab looks fantastic! I made an easy apple tart the other week. It went over big with the company and the tart was very easy to make.

Enjoy apple season everyone!

Becky

Here is a link that might be useful: Easy Apple Tart
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Nancy
12 years ago
Apples here were the best they have ever been. I just have red & yellow delicious, wish I had a gala or Granny Smith & may have to add one. I don't spray either & do little upkeep. Like yours, the apples didn't all look perfect, but only skin deep. I've had lots of problems with insects in previous year. I'm kinda curious why, we had a mild winter & everyone predicted lots of insects. But I'm not complaining!
You've been busier than I have, though! Your goodies look terrific, I'm so hungry right now, gotta go.
sally2_gw
12 years ago
Oh, I hope some of that apple boom makes its way down to our grocery stores. I'm still seeing apples from New Zealand for Pete's sake. What's up with that?! I'm so ready for good apples grown here in the U.S. picked this Fall, not months ago or shipped across the world.

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triciae
12 years ago
Annie, the goodies look fantastic especially that slab apple pie. I'm going to have to make one of those for the freezer soon. Your apples look pretty much like the organic apples I buy. Here our problem is scab but since it's mostly just surface I don't care. Great apple crop here this year also. Last year, not so much so I'm glad to see them available. We're going to the farmer's market Sunday for another 20 lbs. I love apple season (also love the winter squash starting to come in!).

/tricia
cbadcali
12 years ago
Annie that's just cruel. When we get mushy mealy apples that I know have to be last seasons leftovers. Im so jealous. It all looks delicious. What I wouldn't give for a really crisp, juicy apple. Is apple slab a local dish? It looks wonderful , too.
Mary
Solsthumper
12 years ago
The 'apple slab' is what drew me in. And it looks and sounds like something I could roll around in.

AnnieB, I'm a little green of your apple trees.
We have a single apple tree in our woods, which yields about 3 apples every fall.
I think I'll pick them 'all' this year, and throw'em at you.

Sol
bcskye
12 years ago
Oh, Annie, you can just bring all those imperfect apples to me and I'll "put up" with them. You are so fortunate. Do you just make a pie crust for the bottom of your apple slab, slice apples over it, bake then top with ?.
Lars
12 years ago
How wonderful that you have so many apples and are able to use them! I only have one tree (Fuji), and I will barely get enough apples this year to make two pies. In the past we have had a huge crop, and so I do not know what went wrong this year. The apples I do get are fantastic - just not so many this year.

I like the idea of canning apple pie filling. When I get another good crop, I will be asking for instructions on how to make it. I think I have all the equipment to do it, and I do appreciate my apple peeler-corer-slicer.

I harvested two pineapples yesterday from small plants that I got at Trader Joes, and I was not impressed. I have a larger plant that is putting out a large pineapple, and so maybe it will be better. The pineapple plants are putting out side shoots, and so that is encouraging.

Thanks for the photos!

Lars
annie1992
Original Author
12 years ago
Islay, consider yourself adopted, any time!

Mary, apple "slab" (or any other fruit "slab") is something done here for potlucks, family reunions, times you need more than a pie. It's basically a two crust piece of pie pastry, rolled out and put into a half sheet pan. Fill it with whatever you like to fill a pie with. You can add a top crust or a glaze or a streusel topping, mine had a maple glaze. I don't know if it's a regional Midwest thing or not, I've always seen them here but haven't noticed if they are elsewhere.

Madonna, come on up, that old Wolf River still has a couple of bushels on it that I haven't figured out yet how to reach. They're about 30 feet up there, LOL.

Dad and I planted the Delicious trees, but the Gala and the Wolf River I "inherited". The Wolf River tree is about 30 feet tall, it would be better pruned because I can't get the ones at the top. The tree is older than I am, I'm thinking I need to get a "start" or plant seeds and see if I can grow another tree.

Sol, I'd feel badly except that I know there's a nice cider mill right over by you, so you can probably get your hands on some good apples. The reason you probably don't get many apples is that you have a single tree. It needs a pollinator. Plant a Whitney Crab Apple or another apple tree and you'll be rolling in apples. Maybe. I can't guarantee that Mother Nature will cooperate, she seldom does anymore. (grin)

Lars, apple trees are actually bi-annual, so you'll get a smaller yield alternate years, that might be a problem or maybe your pollinators aren't happy or any of a number of things. As for the pie filling, it's easy. I even got ClearJel because the girls like pie filling ready to use. I prefer to just can the apple slices and then I can use them for different things, it's more versatile that way. I'd be happy to help any way I can.

I feel fortunate when I get an apple crop like this one. Of course, now I have three sticky traps covered with Tanglefoot that I need to clean up, so that'll make me feel less fortunate, LOL. I don't like to spray, so I made do with some Tanglefoot, some pheromone traps and fly predators. It didn't help with the small amount of scab and cedar rust I have here, but that's such a small problem that I don't pay much attention. Now, if I could figure out what to do to eradicate the coddling moth and the plum curculio, I'd be set. Apples just have so many pests...

Annie
stuartwanda
12 years ago
"Oh my" is right! I just got a sugar rush!
Your Apple Slab Pie, I have a recipe for a "Grandma Carters Apple pie which is like yours but with a top crust! Wish I had that Apple peeler.
pkramer60
12 years ago
It's all your fault Annie. After seeing this, we went to an apple orchard today and loaded up. Courtland, Gala, Macs, and more. And cider, cider doughnuts and a pie. Now I get to play with my apple peeler too.

It must a good year for Michigan, the markets are selling them for .39/pound here.

Stuart, if you have a Menards near you, they have the peeler. Mine was advertised at $5, but at check out it rang up as $2.
annie1992
Original Author
12 years ago
Peppi, it's an amazing year here for apples, the trees are loaded every where you look. A local orchard is selling Cortland and Macs for $6.50 a half bushel, big wooden bins, you pick out the ones you want, fill a bag and put the money in a coffee can.

I got my peeler at the local grocery store several years ago for $10.00, I thought that was a good price but $2.00 is a much better deal, snap one up if you can find it for that price, grab a couple for gifts too, Ashley used to love to peel and slice an apple to eat, I think she just wanted to play with the peeler but she ate a lot of apples that way. Elery had one too, his grandson was so enamored with it that he just left it there, hoping the grandkids would eat more apples too.

Annie
sally2_gw
12 years ago
Annie, I apologize, I forgot to comment about your wonderful photos of your even better apple dishes. I was blinded by jealousy. Shame on me. All the work you do, just hearing about it, makes me exhausted!

Sally
beachlily z9a
12 years ago
Hi Annie! I've been to the farmers market and such and found wonderful prices for fresh apples! At the farmers market it was $1/lb for #1 apples--Pink Lady and Gala. At the permanent veggie market, it was 49 cents/lb for apples like yours--some large, some small, some marked and when cut they were beautiful! They had 6 different kinds of apples. Bargain hunting really pays off because the local grocery store gets $1.69/lb for #1's. They have 4 kinds of apples. I know apples have to travel a long way, but they are really, really good! Very few apples growing in FL.
sally2_gw
12 years ago
Wow, apples here are $2.69 and up, with many priced at $3.99 per pound. That's for organic, but I am strict about buying organic apples. Even the non-organic are over $2.00 per pound around here.

Sally
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
12 years ago
I am envious of your apples.

Here in New York, the Apple State, and New York City, the Big Apple, actually I can't find very good apples.

My quick apple fix:

Cut apples and core seeds out, microwave for a few minutes with some cinnamon, and sometimes with cream cheese. Enjoy!

dcarch
Tracey_OH
12 years ago
Gorgeous! I love apples and that slab pie looks awesome. I bought a few apples at the farmers market a few weeks ago but yours look so much better. Galas are one of my absolute favorite!

Tracey
trudy_gw
12 years ago
Bought apples at the Iowa Farm Crawl yesterday. Jonathans to be exact. Annie is the recipe posted for your apple slab somewhere?
It looks so good. I still have a phobia on the pie crust! Even though it turned out great last time.
ci_lantro
12 years ago
If apples grow in your area, you might check Craigslist. I bought Golden Delicious & Honeycrisp for $4.50 per 5 gallon bucket from an individual who had just two trees but loads of apples. I prefer MacIntosh but the price was right on these so we got 5 buckets, 3 for us and 2 for the neighbor.
caminnc
12 years ago
Yummmm, I work for food, lol!!!
minnie_tx
12 years ago
new to this forum ?? why what is a slab?? why use that term ?? Thanks in advance
annie1992
Original Author
12 years ago
I use that term because it's what we always used. It may be regional as I'm in Michigan.

A "slab" is a big flat piece of something, anything. It could be a slab of wood or a slab of granite. In this case it's a slab of pie, pie baked in a large sheet pan instead of a pie pan. so it's a big flat pie, a "slab". It's easy to pick up and eat, serves a lot of people and can be made with a top crust or not, depending on your whim.

Annie
mare_wbpa
12 years ago
Annie, I came over from the KT forum, where someone posted about your Apple Slab and gave a link to this forum. Would it be possible for you to post the recipe for your Slab with the Maple Glaze. It looks awesome. TIA Mare
annie1992
Original Author
12 years ago
Trudy, the beauty of only a bottom crust is that if it looks ugly or tears or whatever, you patch it and cover it with apples. If you want a top crust and it doesn't go well, just cut circles or diamonds or strips or little apples or whatever and put them on top and pretend you meant to do that! Those tiny cookie cutters are finally good for something, LOL.

mare, thank you. It did taste as good as it looks and didn't last as long as I thought it would. (grin)

I did post the recipe for Trudy on another thread but I'd be happy to post it again. I made it from this recipe, but skipped the top crust and instead of the powdered sugar/milk glaze made a maple glaze from powdered sugar, maple syrup and some maple extract (to taste). I also left out the cornflakes as I didn't have any and usually don't have any. It's good with or without them. The extra crust makes a second slab, or a top crust, your choice. It keeps for a couple of days in the fridge. Mine became a second apple "slab" as the first one was so good.
The original recipe, I think, came from Midwest Living.

Apple Slab

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup shortening
1 egg yolk
Milk
1 cup cornflakes
8 -10 tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced (8 cups)
3/4-1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 cup powdered sugar
3 -4 teaspoons milk

In a large bowl combine flour and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a liquid measuring cup, beat egg yolk lightly. Add enough milk to make 2/3 cup liquid. Stir well to combine. Stir milk mixture into flour mixture with a fork until combined (dough will be slightly sticky). Divide mixture in half.

On a well-floured surface, roll half of the dough to a 17x12-inch rectangle. Fold dough crosswise into thirds. Transfer to a 15x10x1-inch baking pan and unfold dough, pressing to fit into the bottom and sides of the pan. Sprinkle with cornflakes. Top evenly with apples. In a small bowl combine granulated sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle mixture over apples. Roll remaining dough to a 15x10-inch rectangle. Fold dough crosswise into thirds. Place atop apples and unfold dough. Crimp edges or use the tines of a fork to seal. Cut slits in the top. Brush top with beaten egg white.
Bake in a 375 degrees F oven for 50 minutes or until golden and apples are tender, covering with foil after the first 25 minutes of baking time to prevent overbrowning.

In a small bowl combine powdered sugar and 2 to 3 teaspoons milk to make a drizzling consistency. Drizzle over warm bars. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Makes 32 bars.

Annie
mare_wbpa
12 years ago
Thank you very much Annie.

Mare

Apple slab pie (and muffins and fritters, oh my)

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