Before baking with apples, some recipes call for dicing them. We use diced apples in our Apple Salted Caramel Hand Pies. The recipe can specify the number of apples to use and/or the amount of diced apples by volume (measured in a liquid measuring cup) or by weight (with a kitchen scale). A cup of chopped/sliced apples (again, this will vary slightly with apple variety/freshness and size of dice/slice) weighs about 3 1/2 ounces. So, 1 pound of whole apples translates to about 3 cups of prepared apples because you lose abut 30% of the apple, by weight, when you peel and core them.
HOW TO TIPS:
1. Decide if you want the apples peeled or not. You can peel apples, after washing them, with a vegetable peeler, paring knife or a gizmo called an Apple Peeler (which can also core them). Otherwise, just wash the apples.
2. Trim the fruit away from the core: I cut 4 slabs of apple, staying well away from the core, and then I simply cut the 4 slabs into slices. It's a lot faster, and easier than using an apple corer. I use a sharp kitchen knife.
3. Cut each slab in half, lengthwise.
4. Place each apple slab flat side down on the cutting board. Hold the apple firmly with one hand, and use the other to cut thin, lengthwise slices. Hold the slices together as you cut, then repeat for the other three pieces.
5. Line up the pile of apple sticks and hold them together. Start at the end of the sticks and begin cutting across them. This will create evenly diced apple cubes.
6. Optionally, in a large bowl, toss the apple dices with some freshly squeezed lemon juice so they won't brown.
