Let them eat apples

Now that last week’s comfort food frenzy is behind us, we can set our sights on what we’re going to eat, or, er, bring to the table for our holiday celebrations in the coming weeks. When I was a child, my mother taught me the principle that life is uncertain, so eat dessert first. Of course, she was a bit too health-conscious to let us kids actually eat dessert first, but when it came to holidays, we always planned for it and made it first so that we could rest assured that it would be there and that it would be good when it was finally deemed “dessert time.” The practice has stayed with me, and with Thanksgiving less than three weeks away, dessert is weighing heavily on my mind. While pumpkin and pecan pies tend to figure prominently for the occasion, I prefer to start with apples — America’s second most valuable fruit — and look for something a little less expected than pie. Here are some apple dessert ideas a little different from but just as delicious — and American — as apple pie.

Apple Schalet

Time 1 hour 45 minutes

Yields Serves 8

Apple crisp

Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Yields Serves: 8 to 10

Roasted apple ice cream

Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Yields Makes 1 quart

Date-apple tart

Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Yields Serves 8 to 10

Apple hand pies

Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Yields Serves 12

1881 Coffee Cafe's Dutch apple walnut loaf

Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Yields Serves 8 to 10

The Simplest Apple Tart

Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Yields Serves 4