By Barbara Beltrami

Eden. A garden. Adam and Eve. That apple. Not a pear or a persimmon or a pineapple, mind you. An apple whose invitational impact launched one of the biggest, if not the biggest, succession of events ever. I don’t know what variety that first apple was, but we descendants have more varieties to choose from that you can shake a candy apple on a stick at, and many of them are grown right here in our own state. So here we are eons later still tempted by that apple and turning it into everything from sauce to pie to chutney to cake to cider and that’s the short list. If you think it was easy deciding what apple recipes to share, guess again. Anyway, here’s how I’ve narrowed that selection.

Apple Coffee Cake

YIELD: Makes 8 to 10 servings

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups peeled, cored and sliced

Granny Smith apples (about 6)

5 tablespoons + 2 cups sugar

4 teaspoons cinnamon

3 cups flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

Scant teaspoon salt

1 cup vegetable or corn oil

4 eggs

¼ cup apple juice

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease a 9- or 10-inch tube pan. In a medium bowl combine the apple slices, five tablespoons sugar and cinnamon. Set aside. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and remaining 2 cups sugar into a medium bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in oil, eggs, apple juice and vanilla. Beat with a wooden spoon until well blended. Drain the reserved apple mixture of excess liquid. Spoon one-third of the batter into prepared pan. Arrange half the apple mixture in a circle on top of the batter. (Make sure no apples touch the side of the pan.)

Repeat procedure with another third of the batter, then the remaining apple mixture and finally the last third of the batter. Bake for 1 to 1¹/₄ hours, until cake tester inserted in middle of circle comes out clean. If top browns too much before inside is done, cover with aluminum foil. Cool to lukewarm; invert onto serving plate. Serve with whipped cream and steaming mugs of coffee or tea.

Deep Dish Apple Pie

YIELD: Makes 6 to 8 servings

INGREDIENTS:

6 to 8 slightly tart apples

1 cup sugar

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons butter

1 pie crust (10 inches or more)

2 to 3 tablespoons milk

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 425 F. Peel, core and cut apples into thin slices; place in baking dish or deep pie dish. In a small bowl combine sugar, salt, spices and flour; sprinkle mixture evenly over apples. Dot with butter. Gently place pastry on top, fold edges under and press them against rim of dish with fingers or fork tines. Brush crust with milk. Bake 40 minutes or until crust is golden and apples are tender. Serve with vanilla ice cream or cheddar cheese.

Crispy Baked Apples

YIELD: Makes 6 servings

INGREDIENTS:

6 tart apples, cored, then peeled halfway down

3 tablespoons melted butter

2 tablespoons flour

½ cup brown sugar

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 425 F. Place apples, peeled side up, in a baking dish. Combine the butter, flour and sugar and pat it onto tops of apples. Bake at 425 F until crust is set; lower oven to 350 F and continue to bake until apples are tender (about 30 minutes). Serve with unwhipped heavy cream.