September 19, 2021

HERITAGE RECIPE: Apple Delight


Since I didn't post a heritage recipe yesterday, I decided to find something simple from the heritage book to make today (with ingredients I already had on hand). The name "Apple Delight" sounded kind of retro and it looked simple enough.

It wasn't until just now, as I'm writing this post, that I realized I'd posted one of this woman's recipes recently. I typed her name into Google, and when the results popped up, I saw the first link was an ancestry site that had been clicked on (you know how they show up in a different color when you've already visited the links?).

Then I noticed that the second result on Google was "Creamed Ham, Asparagus, and Mushrooms (in a noodle ring!)" I thought, "Hey, I just made that... how funny."

THEN it hit me: "Waiiiiit a second.... that's my blog post!"

This recipe was submitted by Jean Eagal in memory of her mother, Elizabeth LaBo. I wrote a little about them in the post for Creamed Ham, Asparagus, and Mushrooms. Unfortunately, I couldn't find much--but I did post a couple of photos of them (both have passed away).

As I started making the recipe for Apple Delight, I started having some hesitations (which I'll note below). As always for the heritage recipes, I did not substitute ingredients or alter the recipe at all and I prepared it to the best of my understanding from the recipe. In the "printer friendly version", I've rewritten it with my notes included for clarification.

Here is a printer-friendly version!

Here is the recipe exactly as written in the heritage cookbook:

Apple Delight

Beat 2 eggs till lemon color and stiff. Add 1 cup sugar, slowly. Add 2 tablespoons flour, sifted, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 cup chopped nuts, 1 diced apple (more if you want) and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Pour into baking dish. Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes. Crust will rise up into a beautiful brown, then will fall. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.


My Notes:

I got out the ingredients and as soon as I started prepping, I had a question: to peel the apple or not to peel? I really wanted to peel it first, because I just felt like that would be better in this case, but I left the peel intact because the recipe did not say to peel it.

It didn't say how small to chop the apples, but because the nuts are chopped, I assumed the apples should be on the small side as well. 

What size baking dish? This was totally up in the air. A pie plate? An 8x8? 9x9? 9x13? Based on the amount of batter, I guessed a smaller dish. Rather than choosing between square or round, I chose a 1.5-quart oval CorningWare dish.

And the biggest question of all: Do I grease the dish? Every instinct in my body was telling me to grease it! There was no butter or lard of any kind in the dish (the only fat came from the eggs--which stick to everything--and the nuts). But I don't have "baker's instincts". I have amateur cook's instincts. So, in the spirit of following the recipe instructions to the best of my ability, I did not grease the dish.


I put it in the oven and set the timer for 30 minutes, hoping that I wasn't going to be scraping egg off a baking dish for an hour tonight. (Ask me how I know how much work that is! Haha)

While it was baking, I made some whipped cream. I didn't have any ice cream, but I wanted to serve it how the directions specified. So I just whipped 1 cup of heavy whipping cream and 2 Tbsp. sugar until I had a delicious whipped cream.

When I pulled the dish out of the oven, it was indeed a beautiful brown color and it was puffed up high.


As it cooled, though, the center wasn't sinking. I gently touched the top with my finger, expecting it to be spongy, but it broke apart and I could see it was hollow underneath. (The top was like meringue.)




That's when I noticed that the center didn't appear to be cooked. I turned the oven back on, even though I knew that would probably mess it up, but I wanted to at least try to get it right.

After 10 more minutes, the center no longer looked like the yellow-ish brown batter. This "Apple Delight" isn't cake-like. I'm not really sure how to describe it. There are chunks of nuts and apples with a REALLY good meringue holding it together. But it's not something you slice; it was something to be scooped out. I scooped it out onto a plate and topped with the fresh whipped cream.


HOLY SMOKES. I was absolutely shocked that 1) I managed not to screw this up and 2) It was SO good! There was definitely no need to peel the apples--I didn't even notice the peel at all. The pecans gave most of the flavor--they were perfectly toasted. And with the sugar, it was basically like eating candied pecans with warm apples and a meringue crust--with freshly whipped cream!

"Delightful" is an understatement. I thought for sure when I read through the recipe that it was missing cinnamon or something, but after tasting it exactly as-written, I don't think it needs any changes whatsoever. It didn't even stick to the baking dish! This is a very light dessert (in the sense that it doesn't sit heavy in your stomach or make you feel sick after eating it). I definitely think that the choice of nuts will make all the difference. I don't think I'd like this as much with walnuts or almonds. The pecans were perfect.

This is going to be my go-to when I need to make a dessert. Clearly, it's fool-proof because it worked out for me even after I underbaked it at first. I bet it would be amazing with ice cream, too; but ice cream doesn't last more than 30 minutes in this house. However, I think the whipped cream complimented it really well.

Definitely make this if you're looking for a light but delicious dessert--it's amazing! (Jerry and Eli loved it; Noah said it was good, but he doesn't really like apple desserts, so it's not his favorite.) I will absolutely be making this again!

1 comment:

  1. Ouuu! Anything with apples and pecans gets my vote. YUM!

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