English and Scottish cooking apples
Arthur Turner apple tree
A mid-season cooking apple, producing a light yellow puree. Very attractive blossom.Blenheim Orange apple tree
Blenheim Orange is a classic English dual-purpose apple, useful for dessert and culinary purposes.Bountiful apple tree
A modern cooker, sweeter than traditional varieties. Slices will retain their shape when cooked.Bramley 20 apple tree
This is a version of Bramley's Seedling, the apples are the same size but the tree is not as big. Cooks to a tangy rich puree.Bramley's Seedling apple tree
Bramley is the essential English cooking apple, famous for its rich sharp acidity.Charles Ross apple tree
A dual-purpose variety, sweeter flavour, slices retain their shape.Dumelow's Seedling apple tree
Dating back to the early 1800s, one of the best English cookers, excellent tangy flavour.Grenadier apple tree
A popular English cooking apple, ripens in mid-August, ideal for summer puddings.Howgate Wonder apple tree
Howgate Wonder is a large cooking apple which keeps well. Produces an excellent sharp juice.Keswick Codlin apple tree
Keswick Codlin is a popular early-season cooking apple, easy to grow, and productive in most climates.Lane's Prince Albert apple tree
One of the most popular Victoria cooking apples.Lord Derby apple tree
Lord Derby is a high-quality mid/late-season traditional English cooking apple, cooks to a chunky puree.Newton Wonder apple tree
A traditional English cooking apple, a good alternative to Bramley.Scotch Bridget apple tree
A popular Scottish cooking apple, well-suited to damp wet conditions.Scotch Dumpling apple tree
A traditional Scottish culinary apple. Cooks to a light puree.More about English and Scottish cooking apples
For much of our history the cooking apple reigned supreme, and indeed the UK is the only country where a definite distinction is made between "cookers" and "eaters". However after the Victorian era the eating apple gradually became pre-eminent, and knowledge of the tremendous variety of English cooking apples was slowly lost, until only the trusty Bramley remained. If you are only going to have one cooking apple then it is hard to beat Bramley of course, but we are glad to see that in the 21st century cooks and gardeners are once more looking beyond Bramley to enjoy the qualities of a wider range of traditional cooking apples.
Whilst many apple varieties can be used for culinary purposes, varieties that are good for eating fresh tend to be too sweet and insubstantial when cooked. In contrast, real cooking apples typically have a robust "sub-acid" flavour, which mellows during cooking, and is the key to achieving the best flavour in pies, tarts, and crumbles.
Many of these culinary varieties are also good for juicing, as their juice has a good acidic backbone which can then be sweetened with the addition of other varieties.
One of the key attributes of cooking apples is what happens during the cooking process - some cook down to a puree (useful for pie fillings), whilst others retain their some of their shape (useful for tarts with chunky fillings) or can be sliced and retain their shape (useful for French-style patisseries). In general the more acidic the apple the more likely it is to transform into a puree when heated, although the structure of the flesh is also a factor. The famous English Bramley apple is also one of the most acidic, hence is an ideal variety for recipes which call for apple puree.
Several of these collections are available to buy - see our Orchard Packs.