The Braeburn Bunch

Here is Part 2 of the Crazy Apples Trilogy! Yesterday, I tried my second Crazy Apple, in the Tropical Blast flavor. In case you didn't read the first entry about Crazy Apples, they are apples that are flavored on the inside with natural flavorings. They come in 3 different flavors: Pomegranate Grape (the first one I tried), Tropical Blast, and Bubble Gum.

The Tropical Blast apple that I had yesterday happened to be a Braeburn apple. I must admit, I can't taste much difference between this one and the Pomegranate Grape flavored one. They both taste like the apple juice was swapped out for grape juice. I thought I maybe tasted a hint of pineapple in this one, but it could have been just my imagination. I almost want to believe that they accidentally put a Pomegranate Grape flavored apple in the wrong bag. Maybe I need to taste the two flavors side by side in order to detect the difference. If you decide to try Crazy Apples, let me know how you think the flavors compare with each other.

Since that particular Crazy Apple was of the Braeburn variety, I decided to go ahead and try the normal Braeburn today to see what it really tastes like. Oh, I also found out that there's a My Little Pony called Braeburn, and he has a tiny apple on his rump. Pretty adorable.

According to Stemlit, the Braeburn variety originated from New Zealand, in an orchard near some Lady Hamilton and Granny Smith apples, which have been proposed as possible parents of Braeburn. In fact, if you look at various pictures of Braeburn apples, most of them seem to have green patches or stripes, especially near the top and bottom, which could possibly come from our dear old Granny Smith.

The Braeburn apple I had this morning had the same soft and "soggy" consistency as the Red Delicious. However, it does have a more noticeable flavor than Red Delicious, even though it wasn't very sweet. It must have been a particularly anomalous Braeburn, because according to BestApples.com, "This apple’s rich, sweet-tart, spicy flavor is high-impact. [...] Aromatic, juicy and crisp, this apple is very firm." Yeah, pretty different from the description I just gave. SpecialyProduce says it's "the perfect balance of sweet and just slightly tart with subtle hints of pear and cinnamon." I couldn't pinpoint the taste when I was eating it, but now that I think back, I did taste the subtle hints of cinnamon.

Various sources claim that Braeburn is an ideal cooking apple. In fact, there are recipes that specifically ask for Braeburn. Here's a delicious-looking Braeburn Apple Pie recipe that I found: http://www.reddiwip.com/recipes-Braeburn-Apple-Pie-with-Cinnamon-Infused-Crust-3819.html

Try it and let me know how you like it!

Orangepippin reveals that Braeburn paired up with Gala to have two adorable, bright, peachy-looking offspring, Jazz and Kanzi.

Cheese and Wine pairings from Stemlit:
Cheese to pair with Braeburn: Camembert and Gouda (ooooh)
Wine to pair with Braeburn: Cabernet Franc, Chenin Blanc, and Riesling

Happy tastings!