tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170237.post4267015080248393604..comments2024-03-24T01:15:08.693+10:00Comments on The Old Foodie: Drinking and Eating Apple Jack.The Old Foodiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00766403052971301718noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170237.post-80437387657038130492007-09-04T16:55:00.000+10:002007-09-04T16:55:00.000+10:00Hi -- I just found this food blog (thankyou, thank...Hi -- I just found this food blog (thankyou, thankyou I love it.) Must point out that cider in the USA means apple juice. It's not alcoholic. At least it wasn't when I was growing up there.<BR/><BR/>Betsey BristerAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170237.post-90656710641629300482007-09-01T16:23:00.000+10:002007-09-01T16:23:00.000+10:00Hi Julie - do please send me the recipe! Or would ...Hi Julie - do please send me the recipe! Or would you like to do a Guest Post on it? That might be fun.The Old Foodiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00766403052971301718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170237.post-11281019693996462922007-09-01T03:34:00.000+10:002007-09-01T03:34:00.000+10:00I'm not sure if I've got a recipe or not. When my ...I'm not sure if I've got a recipe or not. When my mother died I made off with all her cook books, which included all my grandmother's cook books (plus recipe files, which is probably even better). I've got them near to hand and will take a quick flip through them to see what turns up. <BR/><BR/>I DO have my grandmother's prize-winning (literally) apple dumpling recipe if you're interested, but it doesn't use apple-jack. Let me know. JTheaker@sc.rr.comJuliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11710658334966849773noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170237.post-44915218433735657792007-08-31T16:16:00.000+10:002007-08-31T16:16:00.000+10:00Hi Julie; do you perchance have a recipe for one o...Hi Julie; do you perchance have a recipe for one of those prize winning apple-jack cakes!The Old Foodiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00766403052971301718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170237.post-74780462305270370002007-08-31T02:54:00.000+10:002007-08-31T02:54:00.000+10:00M has it right, on the distillation by freezing. (...M has it right, on the distillation by freezing. (I understand chemists have a fancy word for that, but darn if I remember what it is.) I grew up in NE Ohio, near the Great Lakes, and folks in the area made apple jack every year. <BR/><BR/>To make apple jack, we would first make cider, then allow it to get 'hard' or ferment, then allow it to freeze. This was a very low-effort thing, because we lived far enough north that the seasons took care of it for us. There was usually just enough time between the apple harvest and the first freeze for perfect fermentation. After it was frozen, we would break up the ice and drain off the bits of liquid - which was alcohol, of course, that froze at a much lower temperature. The easiest way to do this, was to simply take gallon jugs of unpasturized cider at harvest, and leave them in a shed or garage for the next month or two until they froze, then cut open the gallon jugs and break up the ice. I suspect part of the popularity of it is due to the simplicity of it all. <BR/><BR/>No one I knew drank it straight, or admitted it. They either made mixed drinks with it (adding it to fresh cider was a fave), or they baked with it, mostly in apple pies and cakes. Apple Jack was often the secret ingredient in prize-winning apple cake recipes.Juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11710658334966849773noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24170237.post-88885319862824078132007-08-30T16:55:00.000+10:002007-08-30T16:55:00.000+10:00Here in Normandy we have several variations on app...Here in Normandy we have several variations on apple alcohol, starting with the cider, moving on to a halfway house called pommeau, a sweet concoction used as an aperitif or sometimes for dessert which is made from spirit distilled from apples then diluted with apple juice and extra sugar and finally Calvados, a very strong spirit that comes in a range of ages which usually denotes its quality. The older the better as a rule. This is distilled from cider in much the same way that whisky is distilled from a malted ferment and carries its own local appellation (no pun there!) for authenticity.<BR/><BR/>As I understand it apple jack is distilled by a freezing process in places where it's possible to freeze large quantities of liquids by application of the local weather and this produces a much more crude form of alcohol full of the byproducts that make for uncomfortable hangovers and next day sicknesses.<BR/><BR/>Naturally this never happens in Normandy, oh dear me no.Catofstripeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08626451503696948747noreply@blogger.com