Different Apples in Apple Tarts
Introduction:
The desire to do this experiment started with me having an apple every day after school on the way to gymnastics practice. Over the course of the school year, I have tried many different apples trying to find the one with the perfect crunch, the perfect sweetness, and the perfect juiciness. I have found that my perfect apple is a Honeycrisp. For the sake of this experiment, I have decided to use 3 different types of apples and compare how they affect apple tarts. Such as Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, and Gala.
Details and Results:
To choose the 3 apples, I relied on my current knowledge of apples, which is only from my tasting of different apples. Therefore, I decided on Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, and Gala. I chose Granny Smith because it is a more sour apple, and very firm. I chose the Gala because it is softer and very sweet. So, in my opinion, the “Goldilocks” apple is a Honeycrisp, because it is firm, with a slight sour taste, yet some sweetness.
I cut up all the different apples for the experiment, into similar-sized pieces. I tried to make every apple chunk as identical as I could so we could clearly see the difference in texture after I baked them. With this being considered, there is of course still some error.
I mixed all apples with the same mixture of cinnamon, sugar, flour, some lemon juice, and a little bit of nutmeg. The apple mixtures were put into store-bought pie crusts. I used store-bought pie crusts to keep a constant variable for all of the pies. I put the pies in the oven and cooked all of them for exactly 18 minutes. I allowed them to cool completely and saran-wrapped them.
The next day, I brought all the pies to my gymnastics practice. My friends tasted all 3 pies and rated them in the following categories as shown below:
Conclusion:
In conclusion, Granny Smith was the favorite apple overall. The Gala had the best average appearance, and the best texture, but the worst flavor and crave again score. Honeycrisp had the most average scores and seems to not be favored. The Granny Smith apple tart is “craved again” by almost everyone, and will not stop being talked about.
Science:
The acidity level of an apple is what determines its sourness and sweetness. Heating the apples does not change the acidity level, but it brings out the inherent sweetness. Apple usually has an acidity level of 3 to 4, and they remain acidic when they are cooked, but the acidity can lessen.
Down below are some quotes from the participants:
“I normally don’t like pie, but I will 100% crave it again!” (Nola Simoneaux)
“The first one was the sweetest, yet I was surprised it was made with the tartiest apple!” (Erica Mobley)
“Item 1 - Super sweet, great crunch – Item 2 - too sweet, a little softer – Item 3 - less sweet, mediocre texture” (Coach Stef).
Granny Smith Apple tart is on the far left, Honeycrisp is in the middle, and Gala is on the right.
