Compiled, by request, by Miss Gertrude Coburn, Professor of Domestic Economy, Iowa Agricultural College, Ames, Iowa.
Chemical analysis of apples, fairly representing the average composition, indicates that the total nutriment is about fifteen per cent. of the whole weight, and consists principally of sugar, organic acid, and pectin (which gelatinizes when boiled and cooled). Although the fruit is thus shown to be but slightly nutritious, it is generally palatable and wholesome. It easily supplies variety in diet throughout the year, and it has the advantage of being suitable for any meal and combining agreeably with many other common food materials.
When ripe, and carefully selected, the uncooked apple is toothsome and healthful, either alone and between meals or as one of the table fruits. The indigestible skin and cellulose, with the water and acid, contribute to the dietetic value, in that they make the whole raw apple a laxative food, especially effective when eaten before breakfast or at night.
Cooked entire, and without any addition, the well-flavored apple is among the most perfect and economical of the subacid fruits for every-day use, and for the invalid's tray is seldom surpassed. Baked in its own juice, with sugar and additional flavoring, or boiled in syrup, it is relished equally with the breakfast mush, the dinner meat, and the supper bread and cake. Combined with cream, custard, whipped white of egg, or tapioca, which add nutriment without destroying the fruit flavor, it affords a delicate dessert, inexpensive and easily prepared. Steamed or baked, with a light covering or crust of biscuit dough or pastry, it has a variety of forms, all used for dinner, and usually made complete with sweetened cream, or in other cases with a bit of good cheese.
The skin, while not digestible, is not often injurious, and as the best flavor is contained in the surface portion of the apple, careless paring is wasteful and unnecessary, especially when the fruit is to be baked. The unbroken envelope retains the steam produced as the juice is heated, thus hastening the process of expanding and bursting the tiny cells and converting the firm pulp into a delicate sauce. This suggests that, in order to produce the desirable lightness, the oven should be sufficiently hot to change the water of the fruit into steam. If the skin is tough or for other reasons is removed, the clean, unblemished parings, with the cores, may be simmered in water until the flavor and color make it a useful addition for pudding sauce, preserves, or jelly. It is usually best to remove the core before cooking, and, when the apple (as for compote) is not to be otherwise cut after paring, it should be cored before the skin is taken off, to prevent breaking.
The various forms of boiled and steamed apples are attractive and generally liked. The requisites are: To select good fruit and wash it clean before cutting; to remove only a thin paring, all of the core, and the bruised, discolored and defective parts; to intensify rather than obscure the apple flavor, using only enough of sugar, spice, or lemon, when any is needed, to accomplish this purpose; to use granite or porcelain-lined utensils (avoiding even tin covers) and silver or wooden spoons; to retain by slow cooking and careful handling the perfect form of the fruit, or else to produce, by stirring and straining, a light, lumpless sauce; to serve the apple preparation with the same respectful and dainty care that is usually bestowed upon the rarer but not more worthy pineapple and orange.
In the summer and autumn, when the fruit is at its best, no additional flavor is needed. Toward spring, when it becomes less palatable, the deficiency may be best supplied with a little lemon juice and grated rind, a bit of pineapple or quince, a few drops of almond extract or rose water, or a few whole cloves. Sweet apples which are dry and rather tasteless may be utilized satisfactorily if stewed, canned or preserved with one-third their bulk of quince.
Apples, Raw, for Breakfast.—Select fresh, unspotted apples of good flavor, but not very sour, wash and wipe thoroughly, and arrange tastefully, alone or with other fruit. For serving, use small plates and fruit-knives, to be removed with them. Individual taste must decide whether the fruit should be eaten before or after the heavier part of the breakfast.
Apples and Cream.—A delicious breakfast dish, to be served with the cooked cereal or alone, consists of fresh, mellow, sweet apples, pared and sliced, sprinkled with fine sugar and dressed with cream.
Apples and Bread and Milk.—For a summer luncheon, a bowl of rich milk and bread may be pleasantly varied by the addition of a ripe sweet apple, pared and thinly sliced. If the fruit is not thoroughly ripe and mellow, it is improved by slow baking until quite soft.