If there’s nothing as American as apple pie, then there’s likely
nothing as ‘Sonoma County’ as Gravenstein Apple pie.
The Gravenstein apple is a historical crop in Sonoma County,
known for its yellow-green skin and red stripes. Its sweet and tart
flavor is unmistakeable and makes for quite possibly the best apple
pie you’ll ever eat.
Sebastopol, known for its Gravensteins, will celebrate the apple
and all of its products this weekend at the 101st annual
Gravenstein Apple Fair at Ragle Ranch Park. And apple pies will, of
course, be available in abundance.
The Sonoma Gravenstein ripens in late July and early August,
making it one of the first apples ready for market. Which, in turn,
makes it the first ready for apple pie as well.
And if there’s a group of people who know about baking a good
old fashioned Gravenstein Apple pie, it’s the congregation of
Community Church of Sebastopol.
Since 1972, the church has been baking pies to sell at the
Gravenstein Apple Fair as a fundraiser for their Family Camp at
Camp Caz. It was such a hit that in the 1980s, the church had
exclusive rights to pie selling at the fair, maxing out at more
than 2,300 pies in one weekend.
Kathy Bell, co-chair of the apple pie committee with Sebastopol
Community Church said the group’s typical goal now is 1,600 or
1,700 apple pies, made of the Gravenstein variety, of course.
“We typically make between $10,000 and $12,000 for our summer
camp program,” Bell said.
A group of about 150 volunteers gather on the Thursday before
the fair setting up and peeling apples. With the use of two
kitchens, an assembly line is created on Friday and Saturday, when
the real work begins: rolling dough, slicing, assembling and
baking. Kids run pie tins while adults fill pie shells.
“It’s really an event for all ages,” Bell said. “You have little
old ladies cooking and young kids running boxes. Even if we didn’t
make any money, we would do this event because it’s good for all
ages.”
The community church pies, each hand prepared and baked, are
“really traditional” Bell said. “Gravensteins are the best apples
for pies. It’s something about the ratio of sweetness to
tartness.”
Nicky Rutkowski of Flour Creations Bakery & Catering Co.,
sells her Gravestein apple goodies at the Windsor and Santa Rosa
Farmers Markets. She said one of the keys to a successful pie is
making it with local, in-season apples.
“We get our apples from Gary Blasi of Blasi Ranch in Windsor,
Joe Imwalle of Imwalle Gardens in Santa Rosa and Walker Ranch of
Sebastopol,” Rutkowski said.
Gravenstein apples make delicious pies, she said, “because they
juice up like no other apple, they have a unique tartness and they
cook down real nice.”
Donna del Rey of Relish Culinary Adventures in Healdsburg said
once you have the right apples, the next key is making sure the
filling is seasoned perfectly.
The best apple pie she’s ever tasted had just the right amount
of spice, she said, “cinnamon and a smudge of nutmeg, but not
overly sweet.”
“It seems like all the store-bought pies are just crazy sweet
these days,” del Ray said.
The crust is maybe more subjective, up to the particular taste
of the consumer, Rutkowski noted.
“We at Flour Creations use a tart dough that is similar to a
shortbread crust, some prefer flakier or maybe a crumble as a
topping.”
The best pie dough, according to del Rey, can be hard to
make.
“It’s easy to overwork and an overworked dough will not be flaky
and light,” she said.
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