I envy those living in apple growing country. To be able to walk among the rows of trees in an orchard, their boughs laden with ripe fruit, sounds utterly perfect and magical. I have to make do with what I find at the grocery store since locally our climate isn’t the greatest for apples. And this time of year, the selection is full of heirlooms and lesser known varieties with fanciful names and sometimes unusual appearances. Step aside gala, I want ginger golds, pink pearls, and northern spies.
If you’ve never had the pleasure of meeting a pink pearl apple, I would highly recommend finding one immediately. Their skin is a rather unassuming shade of pale yellow with a pinkish tint. That skin gives way to a mottled rosy flesh that is utterly beautiful. It’s so striking in color that it becomes hard to believe it’s real. And even better than the color is the taste. It’s the perfect balance of sweet and tart with floral undertones. If it’s not obvious already, I’ve fallen a little in love with this apple variety.
I decided to use my small hoard of these beauties this past weekend to make an apple pie situation. What you see in the recipe below is the result of what happened organically in the kitchen as I set my hands to work. No preconceptions and no real plans other than something akin to a pie. So here you have it, mini rose apple pies.
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My grandmother absolutely loved when the leaves changed colors in the fall. Granted it takes a lot longer down here in Texas for that to happen, but she made a sort of I spy game of pointing out the first scarlet-hued leaves when the change began. It was an activity she thoroughly enjoyed and one that she passed down to me. I always search for a few red leaves at the start of the season to bring inside as both an honor to her and a reminder of the cyclical nature of life.
