Apple platz (apfel platz) is another popular traditional Mennonite dish that’s perfect for this time of year as the apples are coming into season. Several of the women I talked to at today’s coffee time had made apfel platz this past weekend to share with their families at Thanksgiving dinner. It turns out that around the table of five women today there were four different recipes for apfel platz!
All of the recipes shared a few common elements: all have three layers, and the middle layer is always diced apples, and the top layer is always crumbs, but the bottom layer could take several different forms and the topping also varies a little.
Version 1:
The first recipe I heard about today uses pie dough on the bottom, topped with diced apples, then has a layer of sugar and flour mix, then crumbs on top of that. It sounds a lot like apple pie with a crumb topping.
Version 2:
Instead of pie dough, this recipe uses zweibach for the bottom, then sliced apples, then a topping made of sugar, flour, and crumb ingredients combined.
Version 3:
This is a simplified version, with apples on the bottom (no dough or crust) and granola sprinked across the top. It’s also known as apple crisp or apple crumble.
Version 4:
This one uses a cake-based dough for the bottom, then the apples, then the crumbs.
Some people have a single recipe that they always follow, but others have made more than one type. There are benefits to different bottom layers too — if you’re going to need the dish to stay good to eat for a few days, might prefer to use zweibach or crust because cake dough could get soggy from the apples. Of course, if you’re going to eat it all fresh out of the oven, this won’t be a problem!
Apple fritters were also mentioned as a good apple dessert; apple sauce is not so popular with my table companions, but the most popular of all, is apple pie.
