Hi Everyone,
Welcome to Ten Gables Cottage! What a gorgeous day it is in South Florida---sunny and not too hot.
I got out my dehydrator this morning and peeled McIntosh apples to dry. Why bother drying apples? Well, for two reasons. One is that McIntosh apples come in season right now and they are my favorite apples for cooking and great to eat, too. The other reason is that I have my mother, and grandmothers, recipe for Old Fashioned Apple Stack Cake and I plan to make it for Christmas. You have to have dried apples for the filling, to go between from 11 to 13 thin layers of the most delicious spice cake you have ever put into your mouth!!You cannot make this cake with fresh apples or apple sauce. It is not the same. Later I will give you the recipe and show you a photo of the cake, when I make it.
It is loved by all my family and is a real Southern country recipe.
The apples are sliced thinly and swished in either water with lemon juice or water with Fruit Fresh in it. This keeps them from turning dark brown. They will become a pretty color as they dry, but just a deeper apple color. The flavor is enhanced by drying anything. For example, have you eaten sun dried tomatoes? The flavor is very, very tomatoey. (is that a word?)
The dehydrator is electric and it takes about 15 hours to dry the apples, then I freeze them for future use. They also make great fried apple pies which I bake instead of fry because it is healthier. I also dry orange slices in the dehydrator to put in homemade potpourri and to decorate with at Christmas and I have dried green beans to cook later. That is a whole other story I will share with you later. Have a special day! Egretta
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