Hello, everybody! You heard there was a rumor of lemon pie? Well, too bad! It's aplets and cotlets time. I don't care if you don't know what those are. I'm going to school you in a Northwest favorite... whether you like it or not.
*whew* That tough talk is hard. Let's give that a break, shall we?
So, if you're unfamiliar with the delicious delicacy, here's a little picture of what they usually look like... box included. I could eat these by the pound. But luckily for my scale, they're usually only available at Christmas time and then are about $5-8 a box. In the off-season, they're MUCH more expensive. So we enjoy them at Christmas.
But I did see a recipe on how to make your own, including different flavors. I thought, "Ha-HA! I shall beat those mean store employees who only bring out the Aplets and Cotlets at Christmas!"
You'll need
juice, any variety you prefer (I tried apple, pom, cranberry, white grape and cider flavors)
gelatin
walnuts (these are off our lovely black walnut tree)
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 TBS lemon juice
2 TBS lime juice
Follow the directions on the back of the gelatin package to dissolve FOUR packets.
Heat 3 cups of juice in a pan, add the sugar, lime juice, lemon juice and gradually add the gelatin until dissolved. Some recipes add apple sauce but I decided to just try the juice version. This is pomegranate and white grape mix.
Pour into a pan and either wait for it to half-set so the walnuts are mixed in, or add them right away. I add them right away and then chilled in the fridge over night.
At this point I was thinking I probably should have minced the walnuts instead of chopped. They're so... home made looking. But they taste delicious!
Hm. And the powdered sugar would NOT stay on. One recipe said that the cotlets (these are grapelets, I guess) could be rolled in regular sugar or add 1TBS to the powdered sugar to make it thicker. (I didn't try that last tip. I couldn't imagine eating plain corn starch, hahah!)
No matter how strange, they were met with eager taste -testers! And just like their literary cousins, Turkish Delight, they certainly charmed my little guy. Good thing there was no White Witch waiting to spirit him away. :)
Until next time!
