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The Golden Delicious is one of the most popular varieties in the Blue Ridge Region, yet I have several issues with it.
This large apple is gorgeous in appearance with, appropriately enough, a fetching golden skin when fully ripe and occasionally a light red blush. The mildly sweet white flesh is equally attractive and juicy.
My problem is that this apple’s popularity has caused the Grimes Golden to dramatically decrease over the decades. Ironically, the Grimes is likely one of the parents of the Golden Delicious’ but the former is smaller and not as flashy as its offspring. And because of that, the Grimes is often hard to find whereas the Golden is omni-present.
Nevertheless, the Golden boasts a fascinating history, appearing on an Anderson Mullin’s Clay County, West Virginia, farm in 1912. The original Golden tree was found growing near some Golden Reinettes, which apparently had had Grimes Goldens pollen carried to them which produced a natural cross.
That first Golden Delicious tree produced such beautiful and fairly tasty fruit that Stark Brothers learned of the new variety and commissioned an individual to proffer Mullins $5,000 for it. Mullins accepted the offer and soon descendants of the tree were appearing all over the Blue Ridge and beyond. The rest, as is often said, is history, as the Golden Delicious’ fame spread quickly and soon was being grown over not only in this region, but also in much of the East.
Indeed, when Elaine and I first moved to Botetourt County, the first trees we planted were a pair of Golden Delicious. From mid-September to mid-October the trees produced extremely well, and my wife used the apples in pies, sauces and, of course, a variety of stovetop and oven creations. Unfortunately, one summer, a horde of periodic cicadas arrived and that was the end of our trees. And knowing more about heritage apple trees then than when we first moved to the country, we planted a Grimes Golden to replace the pair. Here is one of Elaine’s recipes for the Golden Delicious.
Golden Delicious Croissants
Ingredients:
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
- 1 pound Golden Delicious apples, peeled and cubed (about 3 medium apples)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons white granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons King Arthur Pie Filling Enhancer (to thicken)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Grease 6 cups in large muffin pan (I used a hamburger-bun pan, which has jumbo cups.)
- Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat.
- Add apples and sugar. Stir to combine.
- Add cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon juice.
- Reduce heat, cover and cook for 10-12 minutes until apples start to become tender.
- While apples cook, roll puff pastry thinner. Cut into 6 equal rectangles and place one in each muffin cup.
- Once apples are tender, remove from heat. Stir in pie filling enhancer and vanilla.
- Spoon apple mixture evenly over pastry. Fold pastry dough slightly over apple mixture.
- Bake at 400 degrees F for 25 minutes.
Bruce and Elaine Ingram are authors of Living the Locavore Lifestyle, a book about living off the land. For more information, contact them at bruceingramoutdoors@gmail.com.
