Tag: Apple
Spice Up Your Fall Pie Choices With Some of These Great Wine Selections
In a mundane world, we would normally drink a delicious, piping-hot cup of coffee or tea along with our slice of seasonal Pumpkin or Apple pie. Fortunately, we do not live in a mundane world, and while it is fitting, as always, to have a cup of coffee or tea with your slice of pie, with the uproaring of societal trends, we are introduced to a new wave of seasonal pie flavor-enhancing means, that is we can enjoy our slice of pie with a fine glass of wine. Believe it or not, wine genuinely enhanced the flavors sealed within the pie and vice-versa. It truly is yet another marriage of flavors as both work in tandem, producing a one-of-a-kind, incredible flavor.
With that in mind, let’s dive into the world of “Wine and Fall Pie” pairings and examine the plethora of options to choose from… enough to fancy our hearts and our tastebuds…
APPLE PIE
Albeit, apple pie comes in a variety of different styles and tastes, when marrying it off with a wine, the Boundary Break Harvest Riesling takes home the cake… I mean pie, see what I did there? This riesling is an exemplary choice because it exponentiates the fruit-based flavors as oppose to the spice-heavy flavors of apple pie. The wine itself, upon initial taste, brings out the fabulous intensity of stone fruits and honey and a follow-up sip of wine enhances the pie’s fruit intensity, in this case, apple.
PUMPKIN PIE
To go along with a delicious, hearty slice of pumpkin pie, try a glass of Suideriut Sauterne. The remarkable sweetness of the wine lends the perfect touch to the richness of pumpkin pie. As a measure of additional flavor, try an aged version of this Sauterne, as it presents an added flavor of light honey.
PECAN PIE
Pecan Pie is a pie with some serious intentions, therefor, it’s best to be paired with a wine of serious intentions. A great wine for this pairing would be The New York Malmsey has a Madeira that should be implemented into every dessert menu and table across America. What makes The Malmsey exceptional is its explosion of incredible aromatic blend of coffee and toffee. Its sternness compliments the nutty richness of a pecan pie.
CHERRY PIE
Let’s travel into the world of exceptionalism. This occurs with the pairing of cherry pie and a glass of Velenosi Visciole, a cherry wine composed of 30% cherries. This flavor intense wine is made by soaking sour cherries in sugar before going through fermentation. As you drink a glass of this, alongside cherry pie, the taste of fresh cherries and blueberries will illuminate your tastebuds.
CHOCOLATE PIE
With any sweet pie or dessert in general, a Port is the quintessentially, complimentary beverage. With its bright, rich, fruity body, a glass of Quinta de la Rosa Ruby Port 601 is the essential pairing for creamy, chocolate pie. Having a black-cherry and chocolate masking flavor, this Port, without question, is the drink of choice for chocolate pie.
Apple Butter: A Delightful Marriage of Sweet and Delicious
Apple butter is essentially a thicker and spicier version of applesauce, traditionally made by slow-cooking sliced or pureed apples in copper kettles for up to 12 hours or more. The apples are constantly stirred with long paddles. The heat causes the fruit’s natural sugars to caramelize, thus giving apple butter its distinctive deep brown color.
The spicy flavor of this spread comes from the addition of traditional apple pie spices such as nutmeg, cloves and especially cinnamon. Commercially produced apple butter is generally available in grocery stores, but the traditional homemade variety is usually canned in jars for personal consumption or sold at local farmers’ markets, craft shows and festivals.
Apple butter does not contain any dairy products, but derives its name from the buttery texture of the finished apple preserves. In fact, some people use it as a condiment or spread for sandwiches, in the same way others might use mayonnaise or mustard. The preserves are said to be especially good on ham or pork sandwiches, since many traditional Pennsylvania Dutch or German recipes combine apples and pork-based meats. Even if it is not used specifically as a sandwich spread, it is also popular as a topping for pancakes, biscuits and buttered toast.
The tradition of apple butter is thought to have been brought to the United States by Germans who settled in Pennsylvania. The so-called “Pennsylvania Dutch”, a corruption of Deutsch, or German, were very pragmatic by nature, and realized they needed a way to preserve their food during the winter months. Since apples were plentiful during the fall season, they first began preserving the fruit as apple jam or applesauce. The canned applesauce did not have the shelf life they had hoped for, however, so a slow-cooking process was developed. The extra cooking time turned the applesauce into a more stable product, and the added spices also aided in the preservation process.
Duplicating the traditional apple butter making process today has proven to be a challenge, however. Some historical societies and other traditionalists still hold sessions where it is made, using volunteers to stir the pots in shifts and also maintain the fires to provide the heat. Decent apple preserves can also be made in an electric slow cooker at home. Applesauce blended to a very fine consistency can be placed in a slow cooker along with the traditional cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice and cloves. This mixture should be allowed to reduce for at least 12 hours, with a slight gap in the lid to allow steam to escape. Specific recipes for converting applesauce into butter are available in a number of cookbooks and cooking websites.
Stop by Shisler’s Cheese House and pick up a jar of your own Apple Butter and let the sweet and delicious creations begin in your kitchen!
