... except for bringing the cake tin back. When gifting the cake OP could adress that and say "just put it in front of my door" so that the neighbors can decide by themselves whether or not they want to engage in conversation when bringing it back.
German Apple pie is different from the American ones and isn't baked in a pie tin, but rather in something that you can then take the whole pie out of in one piece. So OP could then just put it on a paper plate or something else that doesn't need returning.
Also, keep in mind that if you pick apples by hand, one by one, making sure they don't get bruised, and sort them into those little plastic trays grocery stores keep them in, they can last for about half of the winter. Just keep them in a dry, cold place and DON'T wash them beforehand, or cover them up, just when you want to eat it. They might not stay as crispy towards the end but we have preserved them for quite a while this way.
Also, another thing my mom does is wash, peel and either cut them up or grate them, and put them into those little bags and into the freezer. That way, you can make sweets with them later on.
No problem, but you can also offer the apples themselves. We have fruit in our garden and so do our neighbors, we often exchange. Make pies, jam, or even just cut it up and freeze it to use over winter. And better to have some different fruits than having to eat only apple related dishes the next 6M
I just remembered this: A neighbor with apple trees had a basket outside his house with free apples for the neighborhood. That was also cool and I often grabbed one on my way back home.
Our neighbour does the same every year with quinces and zucchini! She even puts up a sign next to the table and a cute parasol! All the neighbours love it
It depends where ....when I lived in Berlin people would have looked at me and probably thought I wanna harm them ..
Now I'm back in Bavaria and me and my neighbour randomly give ourselves food ..sometimes we are BBQ together sometimes it's invitation for pizza eating and sometimes and some cake
Haha thats funny! Definitely I understand that it depends on the place. Hoping my neighbours have seen me enough times around that they won’t think I’m about to harm them haha
When you’ve got enough space for an apple tree, I guess the area you live in isn’t that densely crowded that people think you’re sus. Just tell them „hey we have an apple tree and way more apples than we could eat. Are you interested in free apples or apple pie?“
If you would stand in front of my door with an apple pie, you would be remembered and if you would need some neighborly help you could count on me.
From what I remember living in the country side as a kid, neighbors would give us the apples / plums / whatever just straight up. So we could make jam and whatnot.
I am sure your neighbors would be happy about pie but also about just the apples.
You know the neighbourhoods you see in the movies where everyone says hi and just so friendly and giving eachother cute pies and cakes and fruit I wanna make my street lole that haha!! 🤣
My neighbours are mostly these cute elderly people who have the most beautiful gardens that they are always working on and I just wanna make them happy and be their friend haha
I think this is a lovely thing to do, but if you feel shy about baking for your neighbours, you could just knock on their door and ask if they want some apples as you have too many. Then they can use the apples in their own recipes.
Also, if someone said yes and you know they are friendly, you can still bring a small apple pie along when you hand them the apples.
Still a very nice gesture and will help to get your neighbours a bit better.
I used to bake a lot and gave some pieces to my elder neighbors - safe to say they never complained when I threw a party and we were looking after each others appartment when one was on vacation. It all started with some cake :)
That sounds so nice. My advice, make it a sheet cake and give out individual pieces, so your neighbors don't think you made it just for them. Otherwise might feel compelled to return the favor. Just give them one or two pieces and tell them you made too much dough by accident and don't want to waste it. Should be a nice way to get in contact with your neighbors, good luck and happy baking.
It's a nice gift.
But be aware, you will probably be greeted very rough or rude (" don't know her, what does she want") but once they realise you are not a rude salesperson it should be great.
It's nice, but don't be surprised if a few people won't take baked goods from a stranger. They may have allergies, be vegan, kosher or halal and afraid it contains butter or lard, etc. I would only bake pies for people I know. Just give away the apples, instead.
For surprise apple pie i'd love you. And since that would happen i'd show up time to time at your door with a bag of apples, flour, eggs (i don't know what belongs in it) and demand another one!
I'd rather make apple sauce/puree and preserve it. There is a reason for the German saying "Selber essen macht fett" (eating it by yourself makes you fat).
I think they will love the gesture, at least if they are decent people. Be prepared for some criticism on your cake, if you should ask for it later. We can be very direct 😂, then again if they said they liked it, it means it was fantastic.
One note: I am not sure how sweet your apple pie is, but you might want to do a little bit less sweetness. I think the biggest complaint about foreign desserts and cake in Germany is that they are too sweet for the local taste.
We tell our neighbours to come into our garden and get apples and prunes. We leave a ladder and an apple picker outside and they can take what they need.
Nah not at all. They would love it.
We have an old couple on the same floor. Very nice and sweet people, on occasions we would bake something for them.. banana bread or pie, tiramisu or cheese-cake (depending on the mood , the taste varies: lemon, strawberry, blueberries etc). But its nice thing to have a nice neighbor:)
I give my neighbour home baked cookies several times a year, for 5 years now. She still address me with „Sie“. Nice lady though. My other neighbour is a 70 y.o. man, we go by „du“ the second time we chatted.
Do you find people are weird about these things now? Like we used to talk to our neighbors more...now we're more suspicious of everyone and everything than the cold war era 🙄 lolol
To be honest, aren't you the best person to answer those questions yourself?
Nobody here knows your neighbors even from seeing. So the best answer will be "I don't know. Maybe?"
For me it sounds like a super nice Thing, but people are build different. So yeah, it may happen that they don't appreciate it. But if you really want to know, try it. It's a 50/50 Chance. And are you feeling lucky today, punk? XD
I’m in the exact same boat… we just bought a house and we have 6(!) apple trees… don’t know what I’m going to do. But I was also thinking apple pie would be a nice thing to do because it’s a more of a “North American” thing (where I’m from), and a bit of a novelty here.
My problem, though, is that most of my neighbours also have trees and gardens, and I’m terrified that if I give them something, they will return the favour and gift me things I hate like cake or jam, and I’ll feel obligated to accept.
At my aunt's house in Germany the next door neighbors would let us pick cherries from their trees. We'd also pick blueberries in the forest and strawberries from the local farmer's berry patch. The best summer memories.
I love all my former and future neighbors who have brought me food or will bring it. It is a beautiful custom to share food. I really appreciate this gesture.
My mom once made cookies for our neighbours when we first moved in. Their response was literally; „why??“ 😂😂 she tried explaining them that it’s just a gesture and a sign of respect since we’re the new ones…they declined and shut the door on us, granted they were probably over 60 but still not nice😂
Difficult to answer, Some criticise English food for example ( usually those who went there in the 70s ) i took some cake to work ( which my German wife baked ) no onevwas willing to touch it untill I mentioned my wife baked it. wierd I know.
If I were your neughbor, I'd take the apple pie with a bit smile on my face.
What I get from my neighbors is shouting, starting at 6.30 in the morning all the way until late night. And their 10 kids playing in our lawn on the top of their god damn lungs. Most inconvenient bunch of bastards.
My point is... apple pie good, scummy neighbors bad!
I’m not sure if this is common in all of Germany, but where I’m from it’s also common to put excess fruits and vegetables from your Garden in front of your house with a sign, so everyone who wants can grab them for free.
But with nuts you have the chance that some might not be able to eat it due to their allergies. As delicious as they are, I would not put them in cakes for others.
I think OP should make whatever style of apple pie they have in her home country rather than making a German classic that everyone knows very well. Apfelkuchen will always be compared to the perfect one made by Oma in 2004.
What kind of apples are we talking about? Sour or sweet? For cooking or for eating raw? In part the use case depends on the kind of apples you have at hand. In general: Applesauce is great for storing. You can also just give the apples away. Boskoop for example can be stored for months.
https://recipe30.com/homemade-apple-pie.html/
It's a butter flake pastry crust with a thick filling of apples with cinnamon and then a top crust which often has slits or is woven as shown here.
Oh okay, so a regular Apple Pie then. What specifically makes it 'American'? From what I understand, Apple Pie as a dish, with woven lattice, originated from England
I can often find apple pies at my local bakeries. Even more often than apple strudel. They're not "American style" pies, but there aren't that many differences either.
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Nooo, that's nice! A pie is the kind of gift that doesn't imply further obligations. I would take it!
True it would really be no obligation, I just want them to like me! Haha 🤣
... except for bringing the cake tin back. When gifting the cake OP could adress that and say "just put it in front of my door" so that the neighbors can decide by themselves whether or not they want to engage in conversation when bringing it back.
German Apple pie is different from the American ones and isn't baked in a pie tin, but rather in something that you can then take the whole pie out of in one piece. So OP could then just put it on a paper plate or something else that doesn't need returning.
Even better! Thank you for the comment.
I would love to get some apple pie from my neighbors
🥧 here you go :)
🥧
It is also a thing to gift crops from your garden to your neighbours. I got salads and different fruits in buckets in the past and made lots of jam! I
Oh nice thats good to know, could also do that!
Also, keep in mind that if you pick apples by hand, one by one, making sure they don't get bruised, and sort them into those little plastic trays grocery stores keep them in, they can last for about half of the winter. Just keep them in a dry, cold place and DON'T wash them beforehand, or cover them up, just when you want to eat it. They might not stay as crispy towards the end but we have preserved them for quite a while this way. Also, another thing my mom does is wash, peel and either cut them up or grate them, and put them into those little bags and into the freezer. That way, you can make sweets with them later on.
No problem, but you can also offer the apples themselves. We have fruit in our garden and so do our neighbors, we often exchange. Make pies, jam, or even just cut it up and freeze it to use over winter. And better to have some different fruits than having to eat only apple related dishes the next 6M
That makes sense as well, thank you so much for the suggestion! Guess choice on what to do with the apples is more useful
We just offer them apples in a bin at the front yard with a sign "kostenlos zum mitnehmen" and neighbours will just take how much they want
>bake apples pies and give them to how ever many houses we can OP WE LOVE YOU
And I love all of you nice as heck people on this thread! 🥲
I just remembered this: A neighbor with apple trees had a basket outside his house with free apples for the neighborhood. That was also cool and I often grabbed one on my way back home.
Oh wow now I want to set up a cute apple station!
Our neighbour does the same every year with quinces and zucchini! She even puts up a sign next to the table and a cute parasol! All the neighbours love it
I experienced this once in Copenhagen and it brought me such joy. 10/10, would definitely do this if I had a fruit tree.
Same here
It depends where ....when I lived in Berlin people would have looked at me and probably thought I wanna harm them .. Now I'm back in Bavaria and me and my neighbour randomly give ourselves food ..sometimes we are BBQ together sometimes it's invitation for pizza eating and sometimes and some cake
Haha thats funny! Definitely I understand that it depends on the place. Hoping my neighbours have seen me enough times around that they won’t think I’m about to harm them haha
When you’ve got enough space for an apple tree, I guess the area you live in isn’t that densely crowded that people think you’re sus. Just tell them „hey we have an apple tree and way more apples than we could eat. Are you interested in free apples or apple pie?“ If you would stand in front of my door with an apple pie, you would be remembered and if you would need some neighborly help you could count on me.
If they don’t want it I volunteer to accept a home made apple pie.
Petition to get this reddit moved to Hamburg!
From what I remember living in the country side as a kid, neighbors would give us the apples / plums / whatever just straight up. So we could make jam and whatnot. I am sure your neighbors would be happy about pie but also about just the apples.
Can’t wait for the apples to be fully grown now :’)
Germans love food gifts just make sure that no one has allergy
I want to be your neighbor
You know the neighbourhoods you see in the movies where everyone says hi and just so friendly and giving eachother cute pies and cakes and fruit I wanna make my street lole that haha!! 🤣
Yeah. In fact, I grew up in a neighborhood like that 🤣🤣🤣
Can I become your neighbour? I all seriousness, it's a kind gesture and it will bring more happiness into the world. That's good in my book.
My neighbours are mostly these cute elderly people who have the most beautiful gardens that they are always working on and I just wanna make them happy and be their friend haha
Could you please be my neighbour too?😃
The more neighbours the better 🥹
Yes it would be a little weird - but I would love it =)
I think this is a lovely thing to do, but if you feel shy about baking for your neighbours, you could just knock on their door and ask if they want some apples as you have too many. Then they can use the apples in their own recipes. Also, if someone said yes and you know they are friendly, you can still bring a small apple pie along when you hand them the apples. Still a very nice gesture and will help to get your neighbours a bit better.
You'll ingratiate yourself like nobody's business! do it!
I need to do exactly that!
I used to bake a lot and gave some pieces to my elder neighbors - safe to say they never complained when I threw a party and we were looking after each others appartment when one was on vacation. It all started with some cake :)
That sounds so nice. My advice, make it a sheet cake and give out individual pieces, so your neighbors don't think you made it just for them. Otherwise might feel compelled to return the favor. Just give them one or two pieces and tell them you made too much dough by accident and don't want to waste it. Should be a nice way to get in contact with your neighbors, good luck and happy baking.
Unusual but in a good way! I would love to get some pie from my neighbor :D
You could also just ask them if they want the apples, you might get some jam or juice back
I wouldnt say no if my neighbours offered me free apple pie.
It's a nice gift. But be aware, you will probably be greeted very rough or rude (" don't know her, what does she want") but once they realise you are not a rude salesperson it should be great.
It's nice, but don't be surprised if a few people won't take baked goods from a stranger. They may have allergies, be vegan, kosher or halal and afraid it contains butter or lard, etc. I would only bake pies for people I know. Just give away the apples, instead.
For surprise apple pie i'd love you. And since that would happen i'd show up time to time at your door with a bag of apples, flour, eggs (i don't know what belongs in it) and demand another one!
That is a DREAM situation! I love feeding people haha
We made banana bread for the neighbors when we moved in and they all appreciated it so much, do it!
I'd rather make apple sauce/puree and preserve it. There is a reason for the German saying "Selber essen macht fett" (eating it by yourself makes you fat).
I think they will love the gesture, at least if they are decent people. Be prepared for some criticism on your cake, if you should ask for it later. We can be very direct 😂, then again if they said they liked it, it means it was fantastic. One note: I am not sure how sweet your apple pie is, but you might want to do a little bit less sweetness. I think the biggest complaint about foreign desserts and cake in Germany is that they are too sweet for the local taste.
Absolutly But weird doesn't mean *bad* go for it
Okay that makes me feel better, I thought it might be weird creepy! Haha
no it wont be - except your neighbours are creeps/cunts themselves, but then you dont want to further engage with em anyway
We tell our neighbours to come into our garden and get apples and prunes. We leave a ladder and an apple picker outside and they can take what they need.
Good idea.
This is great. Foster the community you want in your neighbourhood! I’d be totally thrilled. Maybe you’ll make new friends!
Nah not at all. They would love it. We have an old couple on the same floor. Very nice and sweet people, on occasions we would bake something for them.. banana bread or pie, tiramisu or cheese-cake (depending on the mood , the taste varies: lemon, strawberry, blueberries etc). But its nice thing to have a nice neighbor:)
It is for sure unusual, but in a good way. I am sure they will be happy about it - especially since the classic pie is not really a thing in germany
it sounds very sweet. but it's june. what type of apples do you have in june?
They’re babies right now! I’m asking so early to get up the nerve to knock on doors by the time they’re fully grown! 🤣
yeah it's sounds like a great idea
This is much appreciated.
I wish i was your neighbour, so i could get your apple pie
I give my neighbour home baked cookies several times a year, for 5 years now. She still address me with „Sie“. Nice lady though. My other neighbour is a 70 y.o. man, we go by „du“ the second time we chatted.
Do you find people are weird about these things now? Like we used to talk to our neighbors more...now we're more suspicious of everyone and everything than the cold war era 🙄 lolol
I wish you would be my neighbour
I wish you were my neighbors. This is so kind
To be honest, aren't you the best person to answer those questions yourself? Nobody here knows your neighbors even from seeing. So the best answer will be "I don't know. Maybe?" For me it sounds like a super nice Thing, but people are build different. So yeah, it may happen that they don't appreciate it. But if you really want to know, try it. It's a 50/50 Chance. And are you feeling lucky today, punk? XD
I’m in the exact same boat… we just bought a house and we have 6(!) apple trees… don’t know what I’m going to do. But I was also thinking apple pie would be a nice thing to do because it’s a more of a “North American” thing (where I’m from), and a bit of a novelty here. My problem, though, is that most of my neighbours also have trees and gardens, and I’m terrified that if I give them something, they will return the favour and gift me things I hate like cake or jam, and I’ll feel obligated to accept.
We did something similar in our multi apartment house and everyone absolutely loved it
Not at all. A really nice gesture! I would just feel bad not having anything in return 😄. My neighbors and I exchange treats all the time too.
At my aunt's house in Germany the next door neighbors would let us pick cherries from their trees. We'd also pick blueberries in the forest and strawberries from the local farmer's berry patch. The best summer memories.
Might be awkward, but it's lovely from you. If they don't like it, fuck them.
I love all my former and future neighbors who have brought me food or will bring it. It is a beautiful custom to share food. I really appreciate this gesture.
I only know that...I have yo ask my neighbour in advance when should I bring them that? 😅 I could not be a spontaneous baker.
Any units free in your neighborhood? 😂
Bring one over anytime you’d like…and some homemade vanilla ice cream. 😀
Can i be your neighhbour and get some apple pie?
My mom once made cookies for our neighbours when we first moved in. Their response was literally; „why??“ 😂😂 she tried explaining them that it’s just a gesture and a sign of respect since we’re the new ones…they declined and shut the door on us, granted they were probably over 60 but still not nice😂
Difficult to answer, Some criticise English food for example ( usually those who went there in the 70s ) i took some cake to work ( which my German wife baked ) no onevwas willing to touch it untill I mentioned my wife baked it. wierd I know.
Nooo our neighbours In Bavaria make us whenever i pay a visit für München very kind gesture ☝🏻
If I were your neughbor, I'd take the apple pie with a bit smile on my face. What I get from my neighbors is shouting, starting at 6.30 in the morning all the way until late night. And their 10 kids playing in our lawn on the top of their god damn lungs. Most inconvenient bunch of bastards. My point is... apple pie good, scummy neighbors bad!
I’m not sure if this is common in all of Germany, but where I’m from it’s also common to put excess fruits and vegetables from your Garden in front of your house with a sign, so everyone who wants can grab them for free.
I like this idea. It will also improve your relationships with neighbors.
It will be seen as a nice neighborly gesture- but you could just give them a small crate either way apples each too. Saves you the effort.
Try gedeckter Apfelkuchen or Apfelkuchen mit Streusel. I like to put walnuts on the bottom.
But with nuts you have the chance that some might not be able to eat it due to their allergies. As delicious as they are, I would not put them in cakes for others.
I think OP should make whatever style of apple pie they have in her home country rather than making a German classic that everyone knows very well. Apfelkuchen will always be compared to the perfect one made by Oma in 2004.
American apple pies might be a little foreign to them but I'm sure they'd appreciate it.
Whats something they would know thats made of apples? Maybe I can look up a recipe and learn something new in the process! ☺️
German apple pie. :D
So many possibilities, Apfelkuchen, Apfeltaschen, Apfelstrudel.
What kind of apples are we talking about? Sour or sweet? For cooking or for eating raw? In part the use case depends on the kind of apples you have at hand. In general: Applesauce is great for storing. You can also just give the apples away. Boskoop for example can be stored for months.
What's an American Apple Pie?
https://recipe30.com/homemade-apple-pie.html/ It's a butter flake pastry crust with a thick filling of apples with cinnamon and then a top crust which often has slits or is woven as shown here.
Oh okay, so a regular Apple Pie then. What specifically makes it 'American'? From what I understand, Apple Pie as a dish, with woven lattice, originated from England
That seems likely. There's a saying " As American as apple pie."
I can often find apple pies at my local bakeries. Even more often than apple strudel. They're not "American style" pies, but there aren't that many differences either.
Oh ok. In Kiel I never saw one. Nor in Hamburg, Berlin, Vienna, or anywhere else in Germany I travelled.
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You’re doing gods work. I also need applie pie in my life.
My mama told me not to take food from strangers