Pink Lady® Apples | Ultimate Apple Crumble Recipe [Our Best Ever… (2024)

FAQs

Are pink ladies apples good for baking? ›

Pink Lady^® apples are a perfect accompaniment for pies as they hold their shape and don't disintegrate when baked, creating beautiful layers within your pie. Slightly el dente and naturally sweet when baked make them the perfect pie partner.

How do you prevent apples going mushy in crumble? Bramley apples (also known as cooking apples) will cook down and become beautifully soft and fluffy. If you prefer more distinct apple pieces, use eating apples and reduce the sugar quantity a little (as they are naturally sweeter than Bramley apples).

This sweet-tart apple has high sugars and high acids with a crisp bite and effervescent finish. It tends to fall more towards the tart side than sweet but is oh so refreshing! It has a beautiful, bright white flesh that is slow to oxidize (in other words, slow to brown) making it a wonderful apple to entertain with.

Why is Pink Lady® often more expensive than other apples ? Growing Pink Lady® requires more time and more trained technicians than other varieties. Pink Lady® is the first apple to blossom and the last to be harvested. This long ripening process requires the producer to be at hand at all times.

Why Are Pink Lady^® Apples Good for Baking? Pink Lady^® apples make such great baked apples because of the natural sweetness you get in every apple. The juicy fizz you get from Pink Lady^® apples is intensified when baked, giving you delicious results every time.

In the kitchen

They have a sweet, crisp crunch and juicy burst of flavour in every bite, but Pink Lady® apples are more than just the perfect snack, and they're perfect for cooking too.

Tips for making the perfect crumble

Mark Bowerman says: "Rub the butter in fairly quickly, and not too perfectly – a fine, dusty texture at this stage spoils the fun. Use a shallowish dish if you've got a wet fruit mixture, otherwise the crumble will start to dissolve before it's baked. Custard. Yum."

The main reason your crumble topping isn't crunchy is probably because you haven't used Demerara sugar. Although, it could also be that you've got your topping ingredient quantities wrong: either too much or not enough flour and butter alongside the sugar.

Not enough butter, and your topping will be a dry, floury mess. Too much butter and your topping will become a greasy blob or disappointingly soggy. Some recipes will ask you to cut in cold butter along with your dry ingredients, resulting in pea-size pieces that are sprinkled across the hot fruit filling.

If you're looking for a tart apple to snack on, you may choose the Pink Lady^® or Rave^® apple. If you want something to satisfy your sugar cravings, you may want to snack on a sweet Honeycrisp or Gala apple.

What two apples make a Pink Lady? ›

The Cripps Pink apple and Pink Lady apple are a cross between a Golden Delicious apple and a Lady Williams apple.

Pink Lady® is a trademark, the actual variety name is Cripps Pink. In order to preserve the premium appeal of Pink Lady®, about 65% of the production which does not meet the standards required for Pink Lady® is sold as Cripps Pink instead.

Let them Chill

Pink Lady® apples will maintain their freshness for longer when stored in the crisper section of your refrigerator. Ideally, there should be a bit of space left between apples to prevent potential bruising.

Certain varieties (like Pink Lady apples) are resistant to browning simply because of higher acid levels that slow oxidation. Though many kids enjoy a kid-sized apple whole in their lunch, some prefer the apple sliced.

The key to storing apples is to store them in a cool area with relatively high humidity. If you store them in the refrigerator, the temperature should be around 32 degrees F. (0 C.). The relative humidity should be about 90 to 95% to keep the fruit from shriveling.

For the best pies, crisps, and other baked treats, apples need to be firm enough to hold their own during the cooking process. We call these apples “baking apples” and to namedrop, they include Braeburn, Cortland, Honey Gold, Jonathan, Fuji, Gala, Granny Smith, Haralson, and Newtown Pippin.

While there is an extremely wide variety of apples, all with varying flavors, the sweetest-tasting apple is fuji, followed by gala, honeycrisp, and Red Delicious apples. These apples are great for snacking and eating as is. Granny Smith, McIntosh, and Pink Lady fall on the tart end of the spectrum.

The flesh is firm, crisp, effervescent, and yellow-white, with a tangy and sweet flavor.