The wonders of nature never cease to amaze me. How can it be that the delicate pale pink blossom of an apple tree can be the beginnings of large succulent apples which, if stored correctly, are still available when the blossom returns the following year. I was reminded of this when my own apple trees burst into flower and I watched the colony of bumblebees that frequent my garden buzzing among the blossoms. In my kitchen stood a bowl of Bramley cooking apples, ready to be turned into an apple pie for the family meal. That moment enabled me to celebrate the blossom while cooking its fruits.

This year is the bicentenary of the Bramley apple, as our gardening writer Val Bourne mentioned a few weeks ago. The first tree grew from pips planted by the young Mary Ann Brailsford, in her Nottinghamshire garden in 1809. She later sold her cottage to a local butcher in 1846, who allowed the tree to flourish. It was while Matthew Bramley lived in the cottage that a local nurseryman, Henry Merryweather, spotted the tree and its fruits and asked if he could take cuttings. Bramley agreed, but insisted that the apple bear his name.

The first recorded sale of the variety was recorded in Henry Merryweather’s account books in 1862 when he sold three Bramley apples for two shillings. Fruits of the grafted apple were highly commended when they were exhibited before the Royal Horticultural Society’s Fruit Committee in December 1876 and went on to receive a First Class certificate by the Committee of the Nottingham Botanical Society in 1889. By the early 1900s, Bramley apple trees were planted extensively and proved a very useful source of food during the First World War.

Despite being blown down at the turn of the 20th century during a violent storm, the original Bramley tree survived, and continues to bear fruit to this day. Those pips planted by a little girl 200 years ago turned out to be responsible for a £50m industry, which provides us with the perfect ingredient for a pie throughout the year.

I love using them because, unlike other apples, they puff up perfectly when cooked in a little water and do not lose their ‘appley’ flavour when cooked as other apples do. They give a melt-in-the-mouth, moist texture when cooked, which is why I would use no other apple in the kitchen.

I also love their tangy flavour, which can be used to enhance stews, stir-fries and many other dishes and the fact that I can use Bramley apples as the base for a pie, which can be topped up with fruits such as rhubarb and soft berry fruits. Stewed Bramley apples can also be added hot or cold to breakfast cereals or porridge and taste great when used as a filling for pancakes. They can also be added to cakes to provide a tasty finish.

When the Good Housekeeping Institute tested the Bramley against Granny Smith, Braeburn and Golden Delicious apples, using each variety to cook recipes taken from the Good Housekeeping recipe book – apple crumble, apple pie, baked apple and apple sauce – the research findings came out in favour of the Bramley. Quite categorically the Bramley was found to perform better than all the dessert apple varieties and held its taste throughout the cooking process. This is because the Bramley contains a higher acid content and lower sugar levels than other apples and so produces a stronger, tangier-tasting apple whose flavour is retained when cooked.

They are good for our health, too. Bramley apples are a powerful source of antioxidants, including polyphenois, flavonoids and vitamin C. They are also a good source of fibre and potassium. The antioxidant content of apples, particularly the Bramley, has been linked to the prevention of lung cancer, improved lung function and the prevention of type II diabetes.

The flavonoids (quercetin) have been shown in numerous studies to have anti-cancer properties. In other words – a Bramley apple is good for you.

Bramley apples are now being used by celebrity chefs who create fusion foods. One particular recipe which fuses the Indian cuisine with the British is Indian spiced baked apples. This calls for the apples to be cut in halves and placed in coconut milk which has been flavoured with green cardamom pods and sugar and then baked. The recipe requires the apples to be placed cut side down in an ovenproof dish and gently cooked in at 160C/350F with the coconut milk infused with cardamom in an ovenproof dish, covered in foil. After 30 minutes, when the apples are cooked and tender, they can be removed from the oven and allowed to chill.

Serve this easy-to-make dish chilled and garnished with pistachio nuts at a barbecue if you want to offer your guests a dessert that celebrates the diverse cuisines now dominating our diet.

A spoonful of Bramley apple purée added to a pork-based stir-fry transforms this dish and is no work at all, particularly if you make up a large batch of apple purée and then freeze it in small packs that can be used when needed.

By making up a batch of apple purée packs you will also be able to add it to pork chops for extra flavour or to a basic cake mix. I find the easiest way of preserving the purée is to freeze it in the ice cube tray, then store the frozen cubes in a large plastic bag.

During 2009, there will be several Bramley apple events arranged to celebrate this superb apple’s bicentenary. You will find details of these events, as well as recipes that celebrate the Bramley by going to the official website (www.bramleyapples.co.uk).