If You Eat This Vintage Dessert During The Fall, You're Probably From Pennsylvania

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Fall is filled with festive desserts that harken back to nostalgic days of tricks, treats, and plenty of sweets. Although some dishes may fall out of fashion over the years, Pennsylvania is home to a once-popular dessert that has largely disappeared from most other tables, but is due for a triumphant return. The humble apple dumpling is like a warm hug of autumnal flavors. 

Hailing from England sometime around the 1700s, the vintage dessert became a staple of Pennsylvania Dutch settlers that still carries on to this day. Though the original versions were boiled, one of the first recorded recipes for baked apple dumplings appears in an 1851 cookbook. In Pennsylvania, the dumplings are frequently eaten for breakfast with milk poured on top or served as a dessert alongside a scoop of ice cream. There is even an annual apple dumpling festival held in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania each May.

As simple as it is delicious, an apple dumpling uses minimal ingredients but requires a rather labor-intensive process, depending on how many you intend to make. They are often made with firm and tart Granny Smith apples, though there are plenty of apple varieties to choose from. Starting by peeling a whole apple and removing the core, the inside is filled with cinnamon and brown sugar and then the apple is wrapped tightly in pie dough, covered in a sweet buttery sauce, and baked. It's one of the best vintage fall dishes that deserves a comeback.

Pennsylvania is the veritable apple dumpling capital with a variety of notable bakeries that still proudly serve this vintage dessert. While there is no definitive "best" bakery, Achenbach's Pastries in Leola, Pennsylvania, is a popular spot for this festive fall treat with an ambience reminiscent of a grandmother's kitchen. If you can't make it out to the East coast or simply want to try making your own apple dumplings at home, be prepared to roll up your sleeves and have some fun.

One easy version of the vintage dish comes from Tasting Table recipe developer, Miriam Hahn. Her mini apple dumplings recipe transforms a typically individual serving size into a casserole-style dessert using store-bought crescent roll dough. Though it still requires all the peeling and preparation, the apples are cut into wedges, wrapped in dough, and then loaded into a baking dish with melted cinnamon sugar butter poured over them and baked. If you want to try making apple dumplings using a whole apple, make sure you've got a good peeler and Premium Apple Corer Tool to start with.

You can make your own homemade dough or use store-bought pie crust to tightly wrap around your apples. While the traditional filling is cinnamon and brown sugar, some varieties also use nuts and dried fruits or even jam. Get creative with your favorite fall flavors, and don't forget to wrap that dough extra tightly before basting your dumplings in a bath of sweet butter and baking them.