Apple and Corn Datch

This week we're going to explore a different side of my heritage.

I grew up in Eastern Ohio, the land of the Pennsylvania Dutch. One of my favorite childhood treats (which I have definitely brought into adulthood) revolved around a trip out to a restaurant called Dutch Valley for the breakfast buffet. The memory of this recipe originates there.

"I should make apple fritters," I thought looking over the still massive number of apples left from apple picking.

"Anything like corn fritters?" My boyfriend asked, offering to make corn fritters.

I hadn't made either before. But somewhere in the back of my mind I remembered a combination pancake of apple and corn from days long gone by. I decided to begin the search.

The internet brought up a few apple fritters and corn fritters, but few apple & corn fritters in combination. Still, I refused to give up. Soon I came across a dish referred to as "datch" and began to wonder, could this be the long lost apple/corn pancake from the breakfast buffets of my youth? The recipes still mainly included apples or corn, but by this time I had decided to throw them together and see what stuck.

What resulted was an intriguing combination of savory and sweet that is heavenly with a little bit of butter. I'm not sure if it really counts as datch or it's the same foodstuff I remembered, but below is my attempt to recreate it.

Amy's Apple & Corn Datch

inspired by Pennsylvania Cooking and Goodreads user Valerie with adaptations by me

[ingredients]

2 apples, diced

3 ears of sweet corn

1 egg

2/3 cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

oil for frying

[What to do]

1. Dice apples and cut the kernels off the ears of corn
2. Beat together egg, flour, and salt. Then slowly stir in apples and corn. The batter will be thin. Resist the urge to add flour. [I kept trying to, but my boyfriend stopped me saying that corn fritter batter is supposed to be thin...but he's the pancake chef after all. He would know.]
3. Fry much as you would a pancake: add a spoonful to the pan, flip when edges start to bubble.
4. Serve with butter and salt (to taste)

Nonna's Applesauce Nutbread [The Cookbook]

Since the apple picking adventure, apple dishes have been unusually abundant in our kitchen. This recipe in particular intrigued me though I do not recall any one ever making it before.

According to The Cookbook, this was my grandmother's recipe and since I had plenty of freshly made apple sauce and apple butter around, I was intrigued to give something new a try.

It was pretty new. I've had apple cakes before and banana and/or zucchini breads, but never apple bread.

It turned out to be just as tasty as my madre claimed in The Cookbook, so I say "Go for it!" too.

Applesauce Nutbread

Via The Cookbook

2 c. flour, 3/4 c. sugar, 3 t. baking powder, 1 t. salt, 1/2 t. soda, 1/2 t. cinnamon, 1 c. coarse chopped nuts, 1 well beaten eggs, 1 c. medium thick unsweetened applesauce, 2 T. melted shortening

Mix sifted dry ingredients and nuts together. Combine egg, applesauce and shortening. Add to dry ingredients and stir until blended. Pour into a greased loaf pan. Bake in a 350 iver for 50 mins.

Madre adds: Grandma and mom made this recipe a lot. It was great warm out of the oven with a little bit of butter on. Go for it!

Slow Cooker Apple Butter-Sauce!

Last weekend we decided to go on an adventure:

apple picking!

It's early autumn and after a dismal crop last year, things in the area are looking up. Judging by the fact that we ended up with a full half-bushel of Macintosh apples in record time, I'd say it was a good year.

The only question was what to do with so many apples?

I scoured The Cookbook seeking apple recipes and found several, which will likely be featured over the next few weeks, but there were also a few that called for the apples to be in a little more cooked down state (apple butter or apple sauce). My mind immediately concocted a brilliant plan: instead of buying apple butter/sauce, why not make my own? Surely, I had enough apples on hand...Couldn't be too labor intensive, right?

Right on both counts!

I found the idea for making apple butter in the slow cooker on Pinterest, which was plenty exciting. Then I ran with it, creating a recipe to suit my own needs.

The hardest part for me was peeling the apples. There are amazing people on this earth who can peel an apple in one continuous loop. I am definitely not one of those people. Eventually I got all 15 apples peeled and it was easy going from there on out.

Slow Cooker Apple Butter/Sauce

Inspired by GuruToTheOutdoors  with heavy adaptations by my crazy brain

[ingredients]

15 apples (or however many you need - 15 is what filled my crockpot)

1/2 cup cane sugar

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ginger

3 tablespoons cinnamon

3 tablespoons lemon juice

[What to do]

1. Peel and core apples. Cut into cubes and add them to the crockpot.
2. Add lemon juice, stir. Then add dry ingredients, stir again.
3. Cook on low for 6 hours. Mash up with a spoon. - At this point it is thicker and more applesauce-like.
4. Continue cooking for another 2 hours. -Now we have apple butter!
5. If you like chunkier apple butter, leave as is. If you prefer a smooth consistency, blend the butter before canning.

My mixture made about 2 small and 1 regular sized jar as well as about 2 cups left over, which I intended for immediate use.

Prozia's Apple Cake [The Cookbook]

Ideally, I would have posted this last week, but I didn't get around to baking until Wednesday night. 

A few days ago, I noticed one of the trees outside my apartment had developed red leaves signifying the start of fall. Early fall is full of beautiful things, but one of my favorites is fresh apples. What better time to highlight some of the exciting apple recipes in The Cookbook. 

Since I had fresh apples, I decided to begin with an apple cake recipe, which according to The Cookbook was given to Bisnonna by her sister Celi. My Prozias (great-aunts) will likely appear a lot of this blog as I have many memories attached to their cooking as well. While I don't remember this particular cake, I can tell you that I am -glad- that I made it.

I made a slight modification to this recipe as well. The original calls for 1 3/4 cups of sugar. I substituted 1 cup of sugar and 3/4 cup honey. There's no real explanation for this choice beyond the spirit of experimentation. I also left out the powdered sugar and whipped cream, using it as more of a breakfast cake, but I imagine that it would be scrumptious as a dessert as well.

Apple Cake

Via The Cookbook

3 eggs, 1 3/4 c. sugar, 1 c. oil, 2 c. flour, 1 t. baking soda, 1 t. cinnamon, pinch salt, 4-6 diced apples, 1/2 c. nuts

Bake for 1hr. at 350 degrees or 325 if using a glass pan. Sprinkle with powder sugar, can be served with whipped cream.