Darina Allen: Making the most of apple season’s harvest bounty

"Dried apple slices make a terrific nibble. Kids love them and one or two instead of chocolate are great when hankering for something sweet."

Bramley Apple and Rosemary Pan Cake is one of a few ways to get the best of apple season.

We're bang in the middle of the Irish apple season and for some varieties, it’s a bumper season - we’ve got so many, we can scarcely cope. 

There are big baskets brimming with apples in the hall of the cookery school with a sign saying ‘Delicious Home-grown Apples - Help Yourself’. So many different old-fashioned varieties, never to be found in a supermarket – Strippy, Irish Pitcher, Egremont Russet, Ard Cairn Russet, Pig’s Snout, Pitmaston Pineapple, Ballinora Pippen. We make every effort to pick up all the windfalls.