Here’s How the Right Bakeware can Help You Make Delicious Apple Desserts

Know Your Apples

Canada boasts over 40 varieties of apples. Choose the sweetness, tartness, and texture that best suits your taste and recipe:

Honeycrisp Apples have a shatteringly crisp texture that stays firm: use them for anything from apple dumplings to tarts
Royal Gala Apples have a distinctive juicy crunch and a very sweet taste
Ambrosia Apples have a refreshing, slightly floral taste and a nice crisp texture: they are excellent in apple pies, tarts, cake, and muffins
Granny Smith Apples have a tartness that lends balance to sweet apple pies and apple strudel
Pink Lady Apples balance sweetness and tartness which makes them great for apple cake

Preparing Your Apples

Preparing your apples for baking goes a lot quicker with the right tools. Here’s what to have on hand:

Most recipes call for slices or cubes. A good kitchen knife or paring knife will do the trick.
A task-specific apple slicer will cut your slices even nicer
An apple corer works great for punching out the core of your apples
A hand-cranked apple peeler can do all three jobs—peel, core and slice an apple in about five seconds.
A hand-held potato peeler can also peel an apple effectively
Remember to put your finished slices into a lemon and water bath for a few minutes to prevent browning.

Pies, Tarts & Tortes

Apple pie is a perennial favourite. The top and bottom crust pairs beautifully with whipped cream or ice cream, and you can mix your apples with other fruits for different flavour combinations. An apple tart is open-faced over a pastry base, though it can also feature criss-crossed pastry strips on top. An apple torte is a multi-layered cake that can include fruits and cream along with the cake layers. The well-equipped baker’s kitchen will need a variety of tools for these delicious desserts:

Baking Pans & Dishes: Pies require shallow metal baking pans or ceramic baking dishes. They may be smooth with a lip or wavy-edged with no lip. Cakes need a deeper metal cake pan, sometimes with a removable bottom. Cupcakes and muffins are best cooked in a divided muffin pan that makes a dozen at a time
Glass Pie Plates: A popular choice for bakers because they heat at a slow and steady rate, producing consistency in baking and browning.
Pastry Blender: Used to mix butter or shortening into dry ingredients.
Stand Mixer: Does the same job as a pastry blender, but faster and easier.
Pastry Mat: Prevents pastry from sticking to the mat.
Rolling Pin: An essential pie tool that comes in a variety of styles, including engraved or embossed patterns for creating designs on your crust.
Pastry Cutter: Features smooth or fluted edges for making decorative pastry strips.
Pastry Brush: Ideal for adding an egg yolk coating to your pie.

Crisps, Crumbles & Cobblers

Crunchy apple cobbler consists of a fruit filling poured into an oven-proof bowl and topped with a batter, biscuit or dumpling before being baked. Apple crisps and apple crumbles are similar, the main difference being that crisps include whole oats and crumbles do not. All three are easy to prepare using similar baking containers:

Mixing Bowls: Essential for prepping the fruit and the topping, your material options include glass, plastic, and metal.
Baking Dishes: Glass or ceramic dishes are ideal because they are available in deeper styles.

Apple Fritters

For a special super-sweet treat, whip up a batch of apple fritters. All you have to do is mix up a batter, add chopped apples and drop large spoonfulls into the hot oil until brown and scrumptious. Choose your favourite cooking method from the tools below:

Frying Pan: Look for a non-stick, deep-sided pan that can hold a lot of oil.
Dutch Oven: The heavy cast iron maintains heat well.
Deep Fryer: The latest models are easy to use and easy to clean.
Air Fryer: Uses little or no oil to achieve a great taste and texture.