Embedded Files
Please follow current Alameda County Covid guidelines.
We gather for snacks and chatting at our "Club House," the "new" shed. The Candle Lighters generously funded this shed in 2017 and the Niles Rotary gave us a grant to buy supplies. Can you believe that all our tools were previously crammed into the windmill?!
On lucky days we are treated with some of our club member's incredible edible creations. Here are some recipes.
Gravenstein apple cake for John Rock's 187th birthday August 19th 2025
Sabine shared this photo from Germany with us on Johannes' birthday. Sabine is a descendant of Johannes Rock's sister.
[note that Sabine helped us solve the mystery of John Rock's birth name.]
Grafensteiner/Gravenstein apples are a very old variety, with many names. Gravenstein apples were planted in the Nursery's first orchards. Several were planted in the Roeding Test Orchard, too.
Apple pie very fine
(from Sabine's mother)
175 grams butter soft
175 grams of sugar
4 eggs
275 grams of flour
3 level teaspoons baking powder
4-6 apples (e.g. Boskop or Gravensteiner)
Beat butter with sugar and eggs until frothy. Fold in the flour and baking powder. Place in a greased baking dish.
Peel apples, cut in half or quarters, spread in the mold. Sprinkle apples with cinnamon.
Bake with convection 180 degrees Celsius for about 40 minutes.
Enjoy your meal !
Photo: John Rock and two young'uns, who may have enjoyed such a cake. The nursery was a fruit wonderland with Rock's huge number of fruit varieties.
Photo from Washington Township Museum of Local History
Budwood, Scions and Cuttings (embracing Over 1000 Varieties): From Record Performance Fruit Trees : Covering a Period of Ten to Fifty Years in the Test Orchards Founded by John Rock on the Grounds of the California Nursery Company : and Also in Record Bearing Orchards and Vineyards Under the Personal Observation of George C. Roeding in Various Portions of California for More Than a Third of a Century
The nursery's orchard planting book, stamped 1887, tells us what fruit trees were planted here early on. At least 4 Gravenstein trees were planted. Where did they come from?
'Pink Pearl' Apple Galette
In 2022 the gardeners enjoyed this "lazy pie" in the orchard where 'Pink Pearl' was tested and selected as one of the apples to be sold in the 1944 catalog and beyond. We have enjoyed many galettes in 2023.
Make the dough using this recipe. Refrigerate until ready.
Prepare the fruit: Slice the apples 1/4" thick into a bowl and add lemon juice, lemon zest, and sugar. The lemon juice keeps the apples an intense pink instead of turning purple.
Preheat the oven to 400F or 200C.
No one will fault you if you buy ready-made pie orpuff pastry dough.
Roll out the dough into a 12 inch round on parchment paper. Or divide into four balls for individual galettes.
Assemble: Place the apples on a single layer, apples overlapping, leaving 1.5-2" around the edges. Fold the edges over the apples. Moisten the overlapping dough with leftover juice and sprinkle with sugar. Sprinkle the apples with sugar as well.
Bake for about 30 minutes. Check every 12 mins. When the apples are bubbling and the bottom has light brown spots it's done.
The remaining lemon juice and sugar from the apple bowl is excellent with sparkling water or with spirits.
Gâteau Invisible (Invisible Apple Cake)
"France meets Japan in this gateâu invisible with a white miso caramel sauce.”
Wendy brought an Invisible Apple cake in December. Delicious! The top layer was a red-fleshed Mountain Rose apple, possibly an apple creation by Albert Etter.
Recipe for Gâteau Invisible (Invisible Apple Cake)
Whole Orange Cake
Whole Orange Cake
Judy makes this unusual and delicious cake that uses one pound of oranges, skin and all.
The recipe came from Katie Smith, the expert horticulturalist at Shinn Park. Katie got it from Sunset magazine. So you can make it, too.
A little more background on John Rock.
More about the nursery's legacy with Albert Etter's apple creations
More about the nursery's legacy with Albert Etter's apple creations
The 'Pink Pearl' apple showed up in Alice Water's 2002 Fruit cookbook, seen here in a blog post.
August 2022 in the Roeding Experimental Orchard, made with 'Pink Pearl' apples.
2023 - Wickson crab, another Etter creation, tested here in Niles and sold by the nursery until the 1960s. Wickson surrounded by Golden Deliciious.
Of the seven apples created by Etter and tested by the Roedings and introduced in 1944/5, two have stood the test of time - Pink Pearl and Wickson crab.
From the 1945 catalog, recipes for local gourmet/winemaker/journalist Robert Stoney Mayock.
Half Hour Pudding, from Rebecca's Granny, Elva.
Half Hour Pudding, from Rebecca's Granny, Elva.
"Because of the little amount of butter it was considered a "good" dessert to give to company when you had little, aka a dessert for company when you were poor.
This is a one bowl recipe. Mix the main pudding and then put it in a small roasting pan or Corningware oven safe dish but do not spread it out, supposed to be slightly mounded. Use the same dish to make the sauce without washing it out. All of the little bits will become part of the main pudding again. While baking the pudding will swell and look odd but as it cools it will sink and the "sauce" will be all around it. Best served with vanilla ice cream.
There is a "plain" version with just 1 tsp of nutmeg and no cocoa but I don't like it at all so I change it into a Christmas version by adding extra things.
Half Hour Pudding
Pudding:
1 cup flour
1/3 cup white sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 to 1 cup raisins
2-4 tablespoons cocoa powder
Sauce:
2 cups boiling water
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla
Mix pudding and put in a greased pan. Make sauce in the same bowl and pour on top. Bake 350 F for 35 minutes.
Christmas pudding version:
Remove cocoa powder
Add 1/2 cup mixed fruits (prepared Christmas cherries/mixed fruit) as well as raisins or craisins
Add your favourite mixture of Christmas spices, but this is small so maybe only 1/2 to 1/4 of each. I add cinnamon, nutmeg, dried ginger and 1/8 tsp allspice, sometimes a dash of cloves.
In the Sauce I add 1 oz whisky or brandy and one more tablespoon of butter to make it extra rich.
And don't worry, it's good enough to make again so you can experiment with spices as you keep making it.
Butter tarts from Rebecca's paternal Grandma
Butter tarts from Rebecca's paternal Grandma
"She was the best baker I ever met. I have never ever made another kind in my life. And honestly I don’t eat other people‘s either because I know they won’t be as good."
2 eggs beaten
1 cup brown sugar
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped nuts (your choice)
Mix all together. Do not over fill tart shells. Use boughten or homemade.
Yield: 1 dozen. Double batch makes 3.5 dozen
Bake at 350 F for 18 minutes
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse