Concord Grape Kuchen–Bake with America’s “Grapiest” Grape

This fall my sister gave me three gallons of Concord grapes, those fragrant, deep purple grapes used in Welch’s classic grape juice and jelly. The vines grow along a fence at the back of her garden, and this year she had a bumper crop. I’m so happy she shared!

I used some of the bounty to make a pie, which was quite yummy, but quite a bit of work. Another batch went into the kuchen recipe here below right; it’s equally good but goes together more quickly.

I made grape juice with the last of the stash—this required only plucking the grapes from their stems, cooking them with a little water and sugar, and then straining the juice through a sieve. I’ve already had a couple glasses—I think it’s the fruitiest, most intensely flavorful grape juice I’ve ever tasted!

I saved some of the juice to make purple cow milkshakes for my grandchildren. I loved purple cow shakes and sodas as a kid and am eager to see if they like them, too. (Not familiar with these treats? They’re just vanilla ice cream and grape juice frothed together in a blender to shake consistency. They taste best in those tall, old-fashioned soda fountain milkshake glasses, of course!)

The Concord (pictured above left) and our most popular white juice grape, the Niagara, as well as the reddish Canadice (pictured right) are native North American grapes, and are part of the labrusca family. I took the photos while visiting the New York Finger Lakes town of Naples during its annual Grape Festival several years ago.

Our indigenous varieties differ from the European vinifera grapes in that they have a boldly fruity, musky flavor and aroma. Viticulturalists describe this as “foxiness” because all labrusca varieties are descendents of a wild purple variety called the fox grape. As a result the Concord and its kin are great for jelly and juice, but not so good for wine—unless you like Manischewitz.The Concord variety was developed in 1849 by Ephraim Wales Bull, a horticulturalist who experimented with thousands of seedlings on his farm near the Massachusetts town of—yup!—Concord. Our most important white juice grape, the Niagara (which actually looks green; see pic below), was developed in 1868 in Niagara County, NY by crossing the Concord with the white Cassady grape.If the name of the “father” of the Concord doesn’t ring a bell, the name of the man who started the grape juice industry will. In 1869, New Jersey dentist Dr. Thomas Welch and his family cooked and strained the juice of 40 pounds of Concords into quart bottles. Dr. Welsh knew of Louis Pasteur’s theory of pasteurization, so he boiled the bottles and sealed them airtight with corks and wax to prevent juice spoilage and fermentation.

Dr. Welsh’s product appeared just as Prohibitionist anti-alcohol sentiment was rising (he was a teetotaler himself), so his timing was perfect. His first Welch’s customer was his local Methodist church seeking unfermented sacramental “wine.” Welch’s has been the first name in American grape products ever since.

Concord Grape Kuchen