Country Kitchen:
Enjoy Apple Cider Time
By Mary Emma Allen
Apple cider as a beverage and cooking ingredient has been popular in New
England since colonial days. Next to water, cider was the most abundant
and cheapest beverage, especially at apple harvest time.
Homemakers served cider at meals and offered it to guests. Apple cider
was used for barter, as noted in an early 1800 diary, "one-half barrel of
cider for Mary's schooling."
According to newspaperman Horace Greeley, cider was very abundant and
cheap in New Hampshire when he lived there. It often sold for one dollar
a barrel.
The Cider Age
Colonial days sometimes were called the "cider age" in American history.
It's said that during this era more applejack (hard cider) than corn
whiskey was available for the frontiersman.
When the temperance movement flourished in America in the 1830s,
teetotalers were determined to stamp out the evils of hard cider. It's
said they took up their axes and whacked away at whole orchards, with
little thought of the delicious apple pies, baked apples, and applesauce
they also were eliminating.
Various Groups Used Cider
The Pennsylvania Dutch favored apple cider for their own consumption, to
sell, and for making vinegar and apple butter.
The Shakers, that communal religious sect of the 1800s, also made
delicious cider which they used in their communities and sold to
outsiders. These perfectionists made cider only from the best apples, not
from the culls, drops or bruised ones. This perhaps made their cider so
outstanding.
Their cider was made from the crushed apples, then passed through a straw
sieve and allowed to run off into barrels. The barrels then were placed
in a cool cellar.
After the Shakers advocated total abstinence from alcoholic beverages,
they pasteurized their sweet cider to prevent fermentation.
Cider in Cooking
Cider doesn't need to be used only as a beverage. Many recipes developed
during the cider era called for this liquid as one of the ingredients.
Variation of these recipes have been adapted for modern cooks.
CIDER SAUCE for puddings - Blend 1 tablespoon butter with 3/4 tablespoon
flour over low heat. Add 1 1/2 cups boiled down cider, stirring until
smooth. Add 2 tablespoons sugar and boil 5 minutes. Serve hot over
pudding or cake.
APPLE CIDER UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE - Pare and core 3 medium apples. Slice thin.
Simmer apples in 1 cup apple cider about 5 minutes or until just tender.
Drain the apples and reserve the cider.
Combine 2 tablespoons hot cider with 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar and
1/3 cup butter or margarine in 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan. Set the pan in a 350
degree F. oven for five minutes. Remove when butter has melted.
Prepare one package spice cake mix according to directions. Arrange apple
slices on the brown sugar in the baking pan. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup
chopped walnuts or pecans, if desired. Cover with spice cake batter.
Bake at 350 degrees F. until cake tests done...see directions on cake mix
box. Invert cake and let stand a few minutes before removing the pan.
Serve warm or cold with whipped topping or vanilla ice cream.
(C) 2002 Mary Emma Allen
For more apple cider recipes Click Here
About the Author
Mary Emma Allen has been writing her "Cooking Column" for newspapers
and online publications for 30 years and
has compiled a family cookbook. She’s currently compiling a
cookbook/story book,
"Tales From a Country Kitchen." Visit her web site for more cooking
articles. Contact her at me.allen@juno.com
