Apples for Use in Making Desserts

A List of the Best Varieties for Apple Pie and Other Pastries

Oct 9, 2009

To ensure apple pies and other desserts live up to expectations, the right apple varieties must be used. This list will help avoid potential culinary fiascos.

Just as predictably as apples ripen in autumn, so does the inevitable question arise: Which apples are best for pies or other pastries? Many publications, especially those that come out during apple season with varietal lists and recommendations for use, are not always helpful. The information can be conflicting, and it is often hard to find validation for the varieties in question, as the varieties have little overlap among the publications. Since there are ~2,500 varieties in the United States, this is no surprise.

Importance of Using the Right Apple in Making Apple Desserts

Using the wrong kind of apple could mean apple pie becomes applesauce pie, or a baked apple becomes an ugly apple meltdown. Thankfully, many varieties of apples can be used for multiple purposes, so those who have gotten away with not doing much research before making tasty creations can thank their lucky stars their probability for success was pretty good. But it would be better not to tempt fate.

How the List of Apple Varieties was Derived

To compile a core list of apples (pun intended) suitable for pies and pastry, the cookbooks in the sources named below, newspaper articles from the New York Times and the Boston Globe, along with recommendations from the U.S. Apple Association were perused to determine which varieties they had listed, and where apple merits were agreed on.

To be included in the list, a variety had to be recommended by at least three publications. There were some judgment calls, as sometimes the terms cooking and baking had unclear meanings. If one publication had information at odds with three or more of the others, its input was ignored. Sometimes it was obvious that a particular apple did not have all its appropriate uses included. That was not grounds for considering it in conflict with the others.

Whatever the case, any apple that could end up as mush was not included. The list is by no means exhaustive, but there should be enough varieties on it that anybody in any part of the U.S. should be able to find what they need in their grocery stores or farmers’ markets.

Bittman, Mark. How to Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food. New York: Macmillan, 1998.

Davidson, Alan. The Oxford Companion to Food. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Herbst, Sharon Tyler. Food Lover’s Companion: Comprehensive Definitions of Nearly 6000 Food, Drink, and Culinary Terms, 3rd Ed., New York: Barron’s Educational Series, Inc., 2001.

Rombauer, Irma S., Marion Rombauer Becker; and Ethan Becker. Joy of Cooking. New York: Scribner, 2006.

The copyright of the article Apples for Use in Making Desserts in Baking & Desserts is owned by Barbara Jezior. Permission to republish Apples for Use in Making Desserts in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.