Apple Season
Recipes, love spells and folklore
Hello!
Well, that was an unexpected little mini-summer wasn’t it. I actually planned to send this post out last week, but I decided that no one - including me - was going to be in an apple-crumble mindset in the middle of a heatwave so I postponed it so we could all enjoy one last week of sunshine, ice creams and paddling pools.
But, with the cooler weather starting to return, I’m settling back into a September mindset again and am getting ready to celebrate all things Autumnal, including… drumroll… Apple Season! Ah, I’m so excited about this one.
Apple crumble, apple pie, spiced-apple cake, apple juice… who else is keen? It will come as no surprise to learn that this is one of my favourite times of the year - my Autumn-loving heart was made for it.
But I do think this season has something for everyone, packed as it is with folklore, mythology, delicious recipes and even a dedicated festival day in the UK.
Apple harvests traditionally take place in September and October and there’s just something very wholesome about this time of year. I’m picturing a busy orchard in the warm Autumn sunshine - crates of apples carefully being stacked for the winter, a drift of woodsmoke on the air and an apple pie baking in a warm kitchen. Cottagecore dreams.
Apples are absolutely full of magical symbolism too - they crop up in so many ancient myths and folk tales, from Arthurian legends to witchy love spells. Some of which I’ll be exploring below.
Right, that’s enough romanticising; who wants to come apple picking with me?
Below we’ll look at the most delicious apple recipes, dive into some apple folklore, test out a love spell, and discover some tasty ideas for celebrating Apple Day.
Apple Folklore
There is so much folklore and superstition surrounding this fruit - in many cultures the apple is seen as sacred or magical and it crops up in myths, fairytales and legends right across the world.
Here are a few pieces of Old English folklore for you to impress, surprise or completely baffle someone at the appropriate moment.
Apples have long been a symbol of witchcraft and if you cut one open across the middle, rather than straight down, the pips inside form a perfect five-point pentagram star. Spooky. Or beautiful, however you want to see it. (Refer to the first photo in this post to see what I mean)
Picking apples? Be careful how many times you go back to an apple orchard. Cornish folklore says that once you’ve picked a full crop of apples it is unlucky to go again and pick the few remaining ones that have been missed, as those belong to the fairies.
Planting an apple tree near your house is said to ensure love and happiness remains in your home.
Conversely, cutting down an apple tree is said to bring bad luck. Because apples are so interwoven with mythology and folklore, you should only collect or burn the wood from an apple tree if it has fallen naturally.
Apples and Love Magic
Apples feature heavily in Love Magic and courtship rituals. One of the most commonly documented rituals is to eat half an apple and give the other half to the one you love, or to a friend, to ensure love or friendship grows between you.
Another popular Apple love spell that I found references to in both Celtic and Old English folklore is to peel an apple in one long strip and throw the peel over your shoulder. Where the peel lands it should then form the initial of the person you are set to marry.*
*In the spirit of Academic research I have just tried this, and can confirm that:
A) it’s very hard to peel an apple in one long strip
B) I am going to marry someone beginning with the letter ‘I’ - I’ll let you know how that works out.
Apple recipes
Time to eat! For this month’s recipe section I took a very enjoyable ramble around the internet with my basket, picking the best apple recipes for you to enjoy. From spiced apple cake to cinnamon apple muffins there are some absolute classics below, so I hope you enjoy them.
If you have a good apple recipe to share, please do leave a link to it in the Comments below. I might even start a dedicated Apple thread in the chat section for us all to share recipes if there’s interest in this? Seems like an excellent use of the chat function to me!
Ok, without further ado, here we go:
Apple Dessert Cake by Mary Berry. We can’t talk about baking without including something by Queen Mary. I would make absolutely anything she suggested, but she won me over with this recipe when she wrote “serve with coffee in the morning as one would a Danish pastry… warm, dusted with icing sugar.” Sold, Mary. Sold.
Classic Apple Crumble by Jamie Oliver. This is a really simple no-frills crumble recipe that can be adapted and tweaked to suit your crumble needs and wishes.
Cinnamon Apple Muffins by Add a pinch. This recipe sounds and looks amazing. Read the following line if you need convincing… “once the muffins have cooled slightly…dip the tops of the muffins into the slightly warm brown butter and then into the cinnamon sugar mixture.” Yup.
Apple and Pear Tart by delicious magazine. This looks really delicious and also fairly simple to make. They also have an Apple Frangipane Tart recipe if you’re feeling more adventurous.
Easy Cinnamon Baked Apples by Minimalist Baker. There’s nothing better at this time of year than baked or stewed apples with cream or ice cream. Something about baked fruit gives me a real September-y, back-to-school feeling. This recipe for cinnamon apples looks straightforward and very tasty.
Apple Day
As a sign of how seriously we take apple season here in the UK, we even have a national day of Apple Celebration.
Apple Day was founded by Common Ground in 1990 and it falls right at the end of the apple harvest season on October the 21st. However, Apple Day events are generally held right through the month of October, so if you’re a super-fan you could probably plan a whole month of apple festival fun. I intend to.
That said, I know that half of my readers are actually from the US, so I’m really interested to know if you also have a similar national Apple day, or level of Apple-based enthusiasm? Please let me know!
If you fancy celebrating your own Apple Day here are a few ideas of how you could mark the occasion:
Plant an Apple Tree. Bare root tree planting season starts in November, so you could choose and pre-order yours now to make sure you get it into the ground at the start of the planting season to give it the best start.
Visit an orchard. Search for Apple Day events near you if you’re in the UK. At this time of year orchards often open for visitors to try apple picking, juicing, bobbing or other lovely autumn-y activities.
Eat something apply. Obvious, but worth repeating… This is the perfect excuse to eat as many apple-based pastries, cakes and crumbles as you like, all in the name of Apple Day.
Learn some old apple names. Apple Day was founded as a way of preserving local varieties of apple that were at risk of disappearing. See if you can find any local or older native varieties near you this month and show them some support. The old English varieties usually have excellent names such as Norfolk Biffin, Cornish Gillyflower and Cox’s Orange Pippin. Wikipedia has this list of varieties but a quick google search should bring up those local to your area.
Try an apple love spell. Test the apple peel love spell above and let me know how you get on. I’m guessing we’re going to have a high number of ‘I’ ‘L’ and ‘J’ results. Probably not many of the more complex initials unless you do some really weird and complicated peeling. But I could be wrong…
Ok, that’s all for now, I hope you have a fantastic apple season and don’t forget - Cut your apple open across the middle to find the secret star inside, and always share one with someone you love.
Next week’s newsletter will be a deep dive into the Autumn Equinox and all the lovely traditions linked to it, from rebalancing rituals and Harvest Festival ideas to Autumn decor. Look forward to seeing you there.
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Have a great week,
Vicky xx
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You had me at apple crumble Victoria! I think I’m going to make that this weekend. With custard of course! I have a n oracle card with abundance on it and she is holding a cut apple, so I’m taking thid as a sign of abundance as well. Thank you. 🙏💫
Loved this! I am absolutely making the muffins.