We asked, you answered: Honeycrisp is the best apple. If we're being real, it wasn't much of a contest. Almost 50% of you voted for the Honeycrisp in our poll for "'Best Apple to Eat."
A clear showing of Michigan's refined culinary palette--Honeycrisp apples are known to be kind of a "diva" to grow.
Bakers were a little more split on their go-to apple. McIntosh, Northern Spy and Granny Smith apples all came in with about 20% of the votes for best baking apple. So we took it to the experts, namely Lisa Ludwinski of Sister Pie in Detroit: what kind of apple is best to use when baking pie?
Turns out Ludwinski likes a few different kinds as well, but the bottom line is: pick something tart that holds up well to heat. Ludwinski uses a mix of Northern Spy, Ida Red, Mutsu and Granny Smith apples. They don't shrink much in the oven and aren't mealy.
"It boils down to what I wanted the pie to taste like," she says on how she picked her mix. "For me, I'm always trying to find the tartest fruits to use."
"It boils down to what I wanted the pie to taste like," she says on how she picked her mix. "For me, I'm always trying to find the tartest fruits to use."
A tart apple flavor won't be overpowered by the sweet flavor of all that sugar that we put in pies.
Time to get started rolling out the dough.
