There is a chill in the air and it is raining again. I am standing opposite the sports hall at Ampleforth College, the Benedictine Monastery and school next to the entrance of the two hectare orchard waiting to meet Cameron Smith who looks after its two and a half thousand trees. The first thing he says to me when we meet is 'it has been a very bad year for the apples. The bees have not been flying it has been too cold and damp. Many of the trees were not pollinated and the yield from the orchard is 85% down on last year.' That's a staggering decrease and not at all what I want to know because I am here to see the legendary Ampleforth apples.
I can see what Cameron means though as I look along the neat, low rows of trees stretching like tramlines before us, only a few trees are bearing fruit. A row of Lord Derby, a cooking apple, looks promising; Blenheim Orange a dual purpose variety and Orlean's Reinette have also managed to bear some fruit, just about all the other fifty varieties are in the doldrums. Suntan, Ingrid Marie, Fiesta, Jester, Crispin, Lord Lambourne, Greensleaves and Egremont Russet have had it for this year, their leaves have curled and a black blight, caused by damp, has made the trees look old before their time. To top it all 'the rabbits have also found their way into the orchard and nibbled the base of the trees' Cameron adds.
Apples have been grown at Ampleforth, the country's northern-most commercial orchard, for over one hundred years to provide pupils and local children with their favourite fruit. The orchard is stocked with almost fifty varieties of apples. Some have a truly Yorkshire pedigree including Ribston Pippin, originating from a tree grown locally at Ribston Hall in the 17th century and the parent of the famous Cox's Orange Pippin, one of my favourites. Cameron tells me there are 22 true Yorkshire varieties grown in the orchard.
The first apples to ripen are Discovery in July and the last are Wagner in November. Later ripening apples are firmer and store well into spring.
Apples are sold to visitors, juiced or used in the production of Ampleforth Abbey Cider and Ampleforth Cider Brandy. The cider mill also allows people to bring their own apples to be juiced.The news is not good either for the Ampleforth Amber Liqueur, another product made at the Abbey. The liqueur is made from the deep red juice of the Sparton apple. There are so few Sparton apples that production will be right down for 2012.
So why grow so many different varieties of apples? The truth is individual varieties are suited to different dishes and cooking styles. S
trong-flavoured pork goes well with a powerful-tasting apple, but the delicate loin needs a subtler-flavoured apple like Crispin.
'James Grieve', an eating apple with a good acidity that keeps well and holds its shape and makes a lovely pairing with rabbit.
At the beginning of the season in July apples tend to be scented but not well flavoured.
Varieties include 'Discovery', 'Irish Peach' and 'Beauty of Bath'.
They can be cooked, but will lose much of their scent. Their mild flavour is easily overwhelmed so they are best used with delicate meats or in a chutney.
Later in the season apples
include 'Lord Lambourne', 'Miller's Seedling' and 'Epicure' which are good multipurpose apples and can be fried with pork chops and parsnips.
Russets taste rather like a pear and work well with fish and creamy dishes.
October brings the full-flavoured apples. Newer varieties include 'Kidd's Orange Red', 'Kent' and 'Suntan', which are sweet enough to eat straight off the tree but don't improve with storage.
Cookers are apples that have too coarse a texture and sharper flavour to be good raw. They turn to pulp (or fall) when they are cooked. Cooking varieties
include the Prince Albert, the Grenadier and the Bramley. The milder flavoured Howgate Wonder is a cooker but one that does not fall and can be mixed with the rather the mushy Bramley in pies and crumbles.
The older varieties such as 'Ribston Pippin', 'Blenheim Orange' and 'Orleans Reinette', are somewhat sharp eaten straight off the tree, but mellow in storage, and are dual purpose which means they can be used as cookers and eaters. Both kinds deliver a big hit of rich apple flavour, retaining some of the freshness of earlier apples. They are ultimate apple for tarts and cakes.
Later apples like 'Belle de Boskoop', are popular for baking in Belgium and Germany.
How to make heavenly apple cake
For this cake I have used a mixture of windfalls collected from the Ampleforth orchard. Its a simple all in one cake and can be made in one bowl. I have crushed and stirred cobnuts into the cake batter to add texture. They add a delicious seasonal touch to this moist, spicy apple cake and can be foraged from hedgerows at this time of the year.
Ingredients
Makes ten generous slices
4 eggs
150g caster sugar
2tbsp lemon juice
1tbsp grated lemon zest
250ml sunflower oil
250g plain flour, sifted
2tsp baking powder
1tsp mixed spice
1tsp cardamom seeds, crushed (optional)
1tsp vanilla essence
100g sultanas
500g tart apples, peeled cored, sliced and stored in acidulated cold water*
For the topping
50g hazelnuts or cobnuts, roughly crushed
50g Demerara sugar
A few crab apples and vanilla sugar to garnish (optional)
Method
Preheat oven to 170C/Gas mark 3
Beat the eggs and 50g caster sugar with an electric beater for 5 min until the mixture is pale and foamy. You should be able to make a trail in the mixture. Mix the lemon juice, lemon zest with the remaining 100g of caster sugar and gradually beat this into the foamy egg and sugar mixture. Dribble the sunflower oil into the foam and continue to beat. Sift the baking powder and spices into the flour and fold into the mixture which now resembles thick batter. Stir the sultanas into this mix.
Scrape half the batter into a deep-sided 23cm greased and lined baking tin and scatter with half the sliced apples. Spoon in remaining batter, cover with the rest of the apples, and scatter with a mixture of crushed hazelnuts and Demerara sugar. Bake for 1 hour, turn off heat, partly open the door, and leave the cake to cool in the oven. Garnish with three crab apples and a dusting of vanilla sugar
*Water to which a few drops of lemon juice has been added
Ampleforth Orchard. 2012 was not the best year for apples.
...but a few were beautiful. This one is Spartan I think?