National Apple Dumpling Day

September 17th is National Apple Dumpling Day. I love apple dishes, and apple dumplings are one of my favorites. The first apple dumpling I remember eating was years ago at the Old Salem Tavern in the historic Moravian village of Old Salem in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. I've been in love with them ever since. After I eat one, I always feel as if I'd had a special treat.

No one knows how long the apple dumpling has been around, but the term was first used in print in the 1500s. Some historians believe the food may have originated in England and spread from there across Europe and then elsewhere. It became a tradition of the Amish in Pennsylvania during the colonial period.

The dish is made by coring and peeling a baking apple, adding sugar, spices, and butter, and wrapping it in a crust. A sugary syrup can also be added. It's often eaten for breakfast as well as for desserts. As with apple pie, some people like it served with vanilla ice cream.

Here is one recipe:

2 c. all purpose flour
3/4 c. butter or margarine
4 T. cold water
6 med. baking apples
3 c. light brown sugar
1 1/4 c. water
2 T. butter
3 T. chopped nuts (optional)
3 T. raisins (optional)
dash cinnamon

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Place flour in a mixing bowl and cut in cold butter until the size of small peas. Mix in cold water one tablespoon at a time until all is barely moist. Press into a rectangle and roll out to the thickness of pie crust, sprinkling with a little extra flour if necessary. Cut into 6 equal squares.

Core and peel apples. Place an apple on each of the 6 crusts. Mix together nuts, raisins, 1/2 c. sugar, and cinnamon. Stuff empty core cavities with mixture. Pull up each corner of a crust to wrap around the apple and press together at the top, moistening, with a little water if necessary. In a saucepan, put 1 1/4 c. water, 2 T. butter, and 2 1/2 c. sugar and stir until melted to a syrup. Pour over apple dumplings. Bake about 45 minutes or until apples are tender when poked and crust is a delicate brown.

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