5 Nov 2012

Dried Apple Rings

In the realm of parenting, there is one phenomenon I’ve always found very repulsive: The concept of “healthy candy” or “sundt slik” in Danish. It’s one of those oxymorons that should never have been allowed into existence. While I appreciate parents’ attempt to sneak something nutricious under their son’s or daughter’s radar, it’s just too sacrilegious to glue a word of wonder to one that is essentially a word of horror to a child. And who are you kidding anyway? Have you ever known a child in their right mind entering a room without instantly scanning it for sweets? Whose ears aren’t fine-tuned to the sound of crackling candy paper even if it unfolds on a different floor of the building? I know the kind as that used to be me (and still is to a certain extent). So why parents think they can fool their children through mere semantics is beyond my comprehension. It’s like expecting 007 to be fooled by the hat-and-blue-glasses-disguise.

Anyhoot, what I’m getting at is that dried apples usually belong to this ill-fated category and annoying as the “healthy candy” may be, the actual snack is quite delicious. So. If you are also at the receiving end of this year’s apple crop, do turn 3-4 of them into this.

Dried Apple Rings

3-4 apples, peeled

There’s really not much science of any kind to this, but I’ll share my routine with you anyway. Turn the oven on at 100 degrees celcius. Prepare 2-3 lined baking sheets and get ready to move fast. Once you slice the first apple it is a race against time and the colour brown (if you are a relaxed worker you can opt for drizzling a bit of lemon juice onto the slices to give you more time). Even if the apples are going into the oven, you don’t want them to loose their pretty pallor. Trust me.

Peel the apples one at a time. Slice them in halves horisontally. Scoop out the pips and core with a melon baller and press out the top and bottom parts of the core with an apple corer or a thin knife making sure the resulting edges inside the apples are nice and neat. Then slice them into 2 mm rings and place them on the baking sheet. Repeat until the sheets are full, making sure you fit in as many as possibly without layering them. They shrink a bit and you’ll be surprised of how little is left once they’re done, so maximise the output of your time and the electricity spent. I leave them in the oven for about 70-90 mins, depending on how many baking sheets, how thick the slices and so on. The trick is to stop while they’re still sort of pale and yet dry to the touch. If the down-facing side is more moist, turn over the ring and allow to oven-dry for another 10-15 mins.

When you’re done, keep them in an airtight container at room temperature or stick them on a wooden spoon and snack away.

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