Apples Shine in Cool-Weather Desserts, From Pies to Cakes

When the weather turns cool, apples are a natural choice for desserts. According to Bon Appétit, apples need only a little butter, cinnamon sugar, and heat to shine in desserts.

The Bon Appétit collection includes classic apple pie, buttery crisps, flaky pastries, and glazed apple fritters. Pink Lady, Honeycrisp, and Braeburn are cited as favorite apples for baking.

Firm apples hold up well in pies, crisps, and cakes. Mixing sweet and tart apples can add complexity to baked goods.

Bakers can also choose whether to keep the skins on. Leaving apple skins on adds color and texture to a filling, while removing them gives a softer, more uniform filling.

For a richer flavor, reducing fresh cider and apple juices to a syrupy consistency concentrates flavor in one mile-high pie. A little cream cheese can also make pie dough more malleable.

Claire Saffitz uses a melon baller to scoop out apple cores for her upside-down apple cake. Hasselback apple cake uses thin, parallel cuts so the apple quarters fan out while staying intact.

Tarte Tatin is a French classic with caramelized apples, buttery pastry, and a dramatic flip. One version uses cranberries to turn the filling a rosy pink.

A German Christmas apple cake holds a sweet-tart fruit filling and finishes with a lemon glaze. Fresh cranberries replace the usual raisins in this cake. A frozen puff pastry apple dessert uses fresh apples and nut butter, and Edna Lewis's recipe uses dried apples rehydrated in apple cider for the filling.