It’s a fun place for us, but pure Disneyland for apples.

If you were a sweet, luscious, crisp and chunky thing, you’d probably be in ecstasy swathed in a Wallingford’s sugary, doughy dumpling. Or whirled in whipped cream and cake for a Maine apple whoopie pie. Or clad in caramel and cavorting with cranberries to make a tangy apple cranberry crisp of yourself.

Or what about being the center of attention as you roll around in behemoth bins of McIntoshes, Empires, Cortlands, Honeycrisps, Paula Reds, Macouns, Baldwins, Northern Spies, Galas and Goldens — appreciated by apple connoisseurs from New York to Canada. It’s an E-ticket ride for something that hung anonymously from a tree just a few days earlier.

“We’ve been around since 1803,” said Peter Ricker, owner of Ricker Hill Orchards of Turner and operator of Wallingford’s Fruit House and orchards in Auburn following his friend Peter Wallingford’s untimely death in December 2008. Famous for its homemade apple dumplings, apple cider donuts, apple nut cake, pies, crisps, jams, sauces, preserves, bins of fresh apples and more, Wallingford’s is known as much for its apple growing and picking opportunities as for its abundant products that feature fruity, fragrant desserts.

“We can have a few thousand people through the store on weekends,” Ricker said, noting, “It takes 10 people to keep up with all the apple baking in our kitchen on weekends — with so much demand.”

As a 9th- or 10th-generation pomologist, Ricker’s heritage goes back so far he has lost track of the dates. The expert “applesman” revealed that Wallingford’s does most of its baking with Honeycrisps — a sweet apple that consequently requires less sugar in the cooking or baking process. If Honeycrisps are not available, pies are made with a mixture of McIntosh, which is a softer, juicier apple, and Cortland, which produces a chunkier, drier result. “We actually start the season in July with an apple called Lodi,” Ricker added, “a very, very sour apple, but used a lot in baking.”

A Mutsu for you

Susan Stukas of Stukas Farm in Lewiston, along with her husband, Dick, and children Thomas, 26, and Heather, 24, has been growing apples, pears and plums in family orchards since 1933, and is open to the public. She says the Mutsu is a favorite cooking and baking apple.

“It’s a beautiful apple, like a big Golden Delicious, except it doesn’t get the russet (color) like the old-fashioned Goldens,” she said, adding Mutsus stay very firm, lasting a couple of months in a refrigerator crisper drawer. But whether she uses Mutsus or other varieties, Stukas is a proponent of healthy snacking for kids, recommending drying apple slices for an after-school go-to grab in lieu of greasy potato chips, cookies or candy.

“If you don’t have a food dehydrator (available at many kitchen or big box stores, or online), just slice apples and spread them out on a baking sheet in one layer,” she said, careful not to let them overlap. “After about 20 minutes at 200 degrees, you have a sweet, crunchy snack that is nutritious, and the kids can even help you prepare it.”

A “let’s think outside the box” apple epicurean, Stukas recalled a customer who fried apple slices in bacon grease and labeled them “awesome.” She adds apples to basic cake mixes and bread recipes, and her husband adds them to marinades, as well as preparing a chicken or turkey stuffing chock full of hearty apples until he gets the right texture. Stukas said she takes ordinary pancake batter and adds in apples, or slices them quite thin, placing atop each pancake while griddling. If unexpected company stops by, she will core and slice apples, sprinkle with cinnamon, microwave for a minute or two, and top with ice cream for a quick and yummy dessert.

In the vast realm of applesauce, Stukas said people make it a great many ways. “If you like it smooth, I’d go with Macs, as they are more watery and cook down really fast,” she explained. In fact, if used in pies, she recommends using five of them with three Cortlands or Mutsus to add crunch and cut down on all the juice. “If the filling still looks too wet to you, add some tapioca pudding, stir and let sit for a while to absorb some of the moisture, then bake,” she said, claiming that apple variety in pies and crisps is the key to a good dessert that everyone likes.

Cortlands, Mutsus and Golden Delicious allow for a chunkier applesauce as they cook down more slowly. Of course you can add cinnamon no matter what, she said. For those preferring pink applesauce, Stukas said the peel can be left on before coring, slicing and cooking. Some people even add Red Hot cinnamon candies for color and a little zing. Combining apples with a second type of fruit is another idea for sauce, also producing a sweet and healthy spread for toast or muffins without added sugar.

“You can add apples to anything,” Stukas said, referencing her family’s favorite baked beans with apples, which friends and relatives also request. “It doesn’t have to be a traditional recipe.”

Wallingford’s Apple Dumplings

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 cup vegetable shortening

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup cold water (more if needed)

6 medium apples, preferably McIntosh or Cortland, peeled and cored and kept whole

1 cup brown sugar

Cinnamon sugar mixture (buy prepared or make your own using 1 tablespoon cinnamon to 2 tablespoons sugar)

1/2 stick butter or margarine

Milk for brushing

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Work flour, shortening and salt together in bowl. Add cold water and divide into six balls. Roll each ball out flat. Place one whole peeled and cored apple in the center of each. Place one teaspoon cinnamon-sugar mixture and a pat of butter down through the cored section of each apple. Top with some of the brown sugar. Fold dough up around each apple and pinch to seal. Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper and brush tops with milk. Bake for 45-50 minutes. Top with vanilla or caramel sauce or ice cream. Serves six.

Susan Stukas’ Baked Beans with Apples

Ingredients:

1/2 teaspoon regular mustard

1/2 teaspoon dried mustard

1 teaspoon instant coffee

2 onions, chopped

3/4 cup white sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

Boiled water (to moisten and help dissolve dry ingredients)

4 apples, peeled, cored and chopped, preferably Mutsus or Cortlands

1 1/2 pounds total dried beans — divided into 1/2  pound soldier and 1 pound yellow — soaked overnight; reserve bean water for later.

1 package salt pork (about a 2-by-4-inch piece) sliced thin.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix together both mustards, coffee granules, onions, sugar, salt (go lightly on salt because of salt pork) and pepper, water to moisten. Spray large, heavy pot with cooking spray. Layer as follows: 2-3 pieces salt pork (always put pork on bottom to keep ingredients from sticking), apples, dry but moistened mixture, beans. Continue layering until all ingredients are used up and pot is full. Cover and bake all day at 350 degrees, stirring every so often. If appearing dry, add some of the reserved bean water. If too wet, cook uncovered for a while.

Bean and apple dish can be apportioned and frozen in freezer bags. If freezing, do not cook beans beyond firmness or they will be mushy when defrosted.

100 varieties of apples are grown in the U.S.

Two pounds of apples make a 9-inch pie.

A medium-sized apple has about 80 calories.

The science of apple (and other fruit) cultivation is called pomology.

Apple trees take four to five years to produce their first fruit.

Apples float because 25 percent of their volume is air.

Apples are a member of the rose family.

It takes the energy from 50 leaves to produce one apple.

In colonial times, apples were often called winter bananas.

It takes approximately 36 apples to produce one gallon of apple cider.

Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service and U.S. Apple Association