Harvest fest apple list
This is the tentative list of apples we will be selling at Harvest Fest at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
Apple varieties
Braeburn: pies, stews, and apple cider pork
A balanced sweet-tart flavor with hints of cider and citrus. When heated, it stays firm longer than other apples and holds shape, but isn’t crunchy. A great apple for baking or simmering in a stew.
Crispin / Mutsu: salads, slaws, cheese boards, and apple cider
These apples are slow to turn brown and the flesh is strikingly white, making them extremely well suited to cheese boards, salads, and slaws. Their skin can be chewy, so they aren’t always great for baking. They also have a unique flavor that tastes like cider, sometimes with hints of anise (licorice).
Empire: kitchen workhorse and soups
This apple excel at most things. It has a traditional, balanced sweet-tart flavor that isn’t aggressive. Pair that with slow browning and it’s great for cutting up slices for kids’ snacks. The red skins and white flesh also turn into a pink apple sauce (like Ida Reds).
Empire apples are also a great option for baking, as it cooks down very tender while still holding its shape. And I’d say it’s probably the best apple for soup (like butternut squash apple soup), because it easily blends into a velvety texture and the flavor is just right. It plays a supporting role to the rest of the ingredients, adding sweet notes and a depth of flavor you can’t quite pin down because it isn’t stealing the spotlight.
Fuji: snacking
One of the sweetest varieties out there, making it a favorite with both kids and adults. Flesh holds its shape when baked, but not much apple flavor.
Golden Delicious: pies and fritters
Golden delicious is one of the best baking apples for it’s sweet, buttery flavor. The slices turn perfectly tender when baked, but the dense flesh still holds shape. Amazing in pies, fritters, and other baked goods.
Golden Russet: “Champagne of cider apples”
These are not a pretty looking apple, but they are the “Champagne of cider apples” for a reason. They have an intense, complex flavor that spicy and only slightly tart, with hints of honey, figs, and pears. They are also higher in sugar than almost all of the other varieties. This helps encourage fermentation.
Golden Russets are not good for baking. The flesh stays hard and crunchy when baked, even turning grainy. It also loses the complexity of flavor when baked.
Granny Smith: caramel apples and fresh eating
These are always tart which makes them a perfect balance for a super sweet caramel coating. They stay firm a long time once dipped in caramel, though you should always store caramel apples in the fridge. I caution using them in pie, as the flesh breaks down faster than almost all other types of apples, leading them to be overcooked. They can work in other baked goods, however they will mostly just provide tartness and not a lot of apple flavor.
Honeycrisp: fresh eating and apple fritters
The flesh is almost fizzy, making it another great snacking apple. The apple slices hold their shape when baked with good flavor. They soften perfectly with the short cooking time for apple fritters.
Ida Red: pink apple sauce, and pies
Ida Reds are related to Jonathan, with a similar flavor but larger apple. If you leave the skins on, they make a pale pink apple sauce. How? Their skin is full of red pigment and the striking white flesh lets that red color come through (where cream or yellow fleshed apples don’t). They are also high in acidity which preserves the pH needed to keep the red pigment.
They are also deeply flavored and hold their shape when baked, making them good for pies and baking. However, their skin can be on the chewier side, so you might want to peel them before baking with them.
Jonathan: caramel apples, apple sauce, and pie-enhancers
Jonathan apples are small, tart, full of apple cider flavor, and have a slightly thicker skin than most other varieties. This makes them uniquely suited for caramel apples because they can hold up to the caramel coating, and their small size gives you a more generous caramel-to-apple ratio.
They also break down quite easily when heated, almost as much as McIntosh. This, along with their excellent flavor, makes them perfect for apple sauce and apple butter. I also always recommend including just a couple of them in an apple pie so as they break down, their apple sauce texture fills in between the slices of the firmer varieties.
Liberty: pies and baking
Liberty apples are closely related to McIntosh, but hold their shape when baked (unlike McIntosh which famously turns into applesauce). Their flavor is wine-like with hints of berry.. They are wonderful for all kinds of baking, stews, and they are still great for applesauce.
Ludacrisp: fresh eating
This modern variety introduced in 2019 reminds me of the cotton candy flavored grapes that surfaced in stores. These apples are often described as having a Juicy Fruit flavor – yes, like the gum. This makes them really fun for fresh eating.
They are extremely juicy (and only moderately crisp, by the way). That juiciness is great for fresh eating and salads, but not for baking, as they can release too much water.
Northern Spy: pies, baking, and cider
Northern Spy are a Midwest favorite for pies thanks to the strong apple flavor, that’s both sweet and very tart. They bake up tender and hold their shape. They are favored for cider with their slightly pear-like flavor that comes through.
Pazazz: fresh eating & kid-favorite
These are called the “Jolly Rancher” apples with a candy apple flavor that veers on tropical. They are juicy and crisp. The slices brown quickly. These hold their shape when baked, and the flavor will either be really fun or really funny in baked goods.
Pixie Crunch: “mini Honeycrisp”
These are the ultimate kid-friendly snack. They are crisp, just like Honeycrisp, but are smaller and even sweeter, making them a kid-favorite.
RiverBelle: baking and apple sauce
These are sweet with a little acid for balance, with a flavor like a sweeter apple cider. They are also crispy and juicy, for another good snacking apple. They also work well in baking, softening but holding their shape with just enough acidity to keep things interesting. It also breaks down into a chunky applesauce that doesn’t need any added sugar.
Rome Beauty: mild, versatile, and photogenic
These are probably the prettiest looking apples with their paint splatter marks, so enjoy those Instagram posts. The flavor is mild with a flora aroma, not too strong or too tart, sometimes great for picky kids! This makes them fit into any recipe that benefits from apples but might not want too strong of an apple flavor (maybe for an apple-mustard sauce with pork).
Suncrisp: baking, cheeseboards, and salads
These apples have an intesnse flavor with a good sweet-tart balance. Because they are slow to brown and have a unique flavor, they deserve a spotlight on a cheese board or in a salad. But they also bake well, holding their shape and a good amount of flavor.
SnowSweet: Fresh eating, cheese boards, and baking
SnowSweet apples are sweeter than they are tart, with a buttery flavor. The bright white flesh is slow to brown, making them good for salads and cheese boards.
They bake up soft and tender, making them perfect for all kinds of baked goods. However, keep in mind that since they are less tart, they don’t add the acidic balance to really sweet baked goods.