Baking – Difference between cooking apples and eating apples

One of my favorite topics, having grown up close to two apple orchards...

Most likely, by "quick-cooking," the recipe intends you to use a pie or sauce apple, i.e. one that softens readily with heat.

• Sauce apples. Use these for a pie if you like VERY soft pie contents. Personally, I prefer applesauce that has some chunks in it, so I don't use "sauce apples" for sauce; however, the standard is to list for sauce those apples that practically dissolve (like McIntosh).

• Pie apples. An apple listed for pie is typically one that retains its shape but softens well (like Cortland, Mutsu, Empire, Jonagold, or Fuji).

• Consider the taste. Some apples (Gala, for example) lose a lot of flavor when cooked, and are best for eating raw. Others gain tremendous flavor when cooked (Empire).

Which apple to use is certainly a matter of preference. Some people like their pie apples to remain quite firm (using, say, Granny Smith), while others like them to be VERY soft (and thus use a "sauce" apple).

Here's some apple lists/charts ... I'd say look up the varieties readily available to you, and see which ones are listed for sauces or pies.

• http://www.baumanorchards.com/chart/index.htm
• http://www.recipegoldmine.com/kitchart/kitchart71.html

Look up the website for your local orchard - they may link to a usage chart for the apples they grow!

Looking through recipes suggests a variety of apples. Gala showed up the most, with Fuji in second, and McIntosh and Delicious tied for last.

If you want to go with the "source" of the recipe for Charoset, though, you'll want a sweet apple. The recipe has its roots in Song of Solomon/Songs, and the verse that refers to the apples reads as:

As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.

So, for authenticity, go for a sweet apple, but Gala is the most mentioned apple in recipes online.