Aplets & Cotlets is a

confection Confectionery is the art of making confections, or sweet foods. Confections are items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates, although exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confections are divided into two broad and somew ...

similar to

Turkish delight Turkish delight, or lokum () is a family of confectionery, confections based on a gel of starch and sugar. Premium varieties consist largely of chopped dates, pistachios, hazelnuts or walnuts bound by the gel; traditional varieties are often fl ...

, associated with the U.S. state of Washington. The candy was first developed in 1918 by apple

farmers A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mi ...

as a way to dispose of surplus crops. A 2009 effort to legally designate Aplets & Cotlets as Washington's official candy failed due to provincial competition between legislators from the state's two geo-cultural regions.

Description

Aplets & Cotlets are small, jelly-like confections containing

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of any tree of the genus '' Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. They are accessory fruit because the outer covering of the fruit is technically an i ...

s and dusted with

powdered sugar Powdered sugar, also called confectioners' sugar and icing sugar, is a finely ground sugar produced by milling granulated sugar into a powdered state. It usually contains between 2% and 5% of an anti-caking agent—such as corn starch, potato ...

. They are similar in taste and consistency to Turkish delight, on which they are based, but the

pectin Pectin ( ': "congealed" and "curdled") is a heteropolysaccharide, a structural polymer contained in the primary lamella, in the middle lamella, and in the cell walls of terrestrial plants. The principal chemical component of pectin is galact ...

in the fruit acts as a

gelling agent In polymer chemistry, gelation (gel transition) is the formation of a gel from a system with polymers. Branched polymers can form Cross-link, links between the chains, which lead to progressively larger polymers. As the linking continues, larger ...

. Aplets are made with

apples An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

and Cotlets are made with

apricots An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus ''Prunus''. Usually an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are also ...

History

Development

Apples An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

have traditionally been the most important

cash crop A cash crop, also called profit crop, is an Agriculture, agricultural crop which is grown to sell for profit. It is typically purchased by parties separate from a farm. The term is used to differentiate a marketed crop from a staple crop ("subsi ...

in Washington. By the 1920s, the state had become the leading producer of apples in the United States. In 2003, Washington produced more apples than the rest of the United States combined. In the early 20th century, Armen Tertsagian and Mark Balaban,

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

immigrants and proprietors of an apple orchard in Cashmere, Washington, began producing Aplets to make use of their surplus crops and earn extra income during the winter. Their inspiration for the candy came from their faint recollections of eating Turkish delight as children. Aplets were followed several years later by Cotlets. The candies were originally sold at a roadside fruit stand but gained greater attention in 1962 as a result of the Seattle World's Fair. Manufactured versions of the candy are limited to those produced by Liberty Orchards of Cashmere, Tertsagian and Balaban's original company. According to the firm, there is "not a huge market" for the product outside Washington, though in the late 1990s, the company began limited retailing at national chain stores such as

Target Target may refer to: Warfare and shooting * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artille ...

(the bulk of Aplet & Cotlet sales before this had been in local retailers like Frederick & Nelson, Bartell Drugs, and Pay 'n Save, and through its

mail-order catalog Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing an order by telephone call ...

). Despite their obscurity nationally, they are available at many

farmstead A farmstead refers to the buildings and service areas associated with a farm. It consists of a house belonging to a farm along with the surrounding buildings. The characteristics of a specific farmstead reflect the local landscape, which provides ...

-style shops west of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

. Recipes for homemade versions also exist. Liberty Orchards announced that they would cease operations in June 2021 after an unsuccessful attempt to find a buyer for the company. The company was sold to KDV Group, a Russian food conglomerate, allowing for production to continue.

Official status

In 2009, members of the

Washington State Legislature The Washington State Legislature is the state legislature of the State of Washington. It is a bicameral body, composed of the lower Washington House of Representatives, composed of 98 representatives, and the upper Washington State Senate, w ...

attempted to designate Aplets & Cotlets as the "official candy of the state of Washington". The measure faced opposition from some who felt Almond Roca or Mountain Bar should receive the honor instead. In its report on the measure, the House of Representatives' Committee on Government and Tribal Affairs claimed that designating the candy as the state's official candy would help strengthen unity between the state's two geo-cultural regions, explaining that Aplets & Cotlets "represents the goal of one Washington –

Eastern Washington Eastern Washington is the region of the U.S. state of Washington located east of the Cascade Range. It contains the city of Spokane (the second largest city in the state), the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the H ...

where much of the fruit is grown and

Western Washington Western Washington is a region of the United States defined as the area of Washington State west of the Cascade Mountains. This region is home to the state's largest city, Seattle, the state capital, Olympia, and most of the state's residents. ...

where products use transportation links to get to market". The bill ultimately failed to pass in 2009 and after a re-introduction in 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aplets and Cotlets Products introduced in 1918 Candy Washington (state) culture Apple production in Washington (state) Apple desserts Turkish delight