The short version
Ginger Gold is a Golden Delicious offspring that ripens six weeks earlier. It is tangier and its season is short. Golden Delicious is sweeter, milder and available from September into January. Both have thin skin and both bake well.
The short answer
They are related. Ginger Gold is a hybrid of Golden Delicious and Albemarle Pippin, and it inherited the traits people like most about its parent, mild flavor and thin skin, while ripening far earlier.
On our sweetness scale Golden Delicious is an 8 and Ginger Gold is a 5. Ginger Gold keeps more tang, which is part of why it works so well as the first apple of the season.
Golden Delicious and Ginger Gold at a glance
| Golden Delicious | Ginger Gold | |
|---|---|---|
| Sweetness | 8 of 10 | 5 of 10 |
| Flavor | Mild, gently sweet, hint of melon | Sweet and tangy with a bit of honey |
| Texture | Softer skin and flesh | Tender, easy bite, crisp and juicy |
| Appearance | Uniformly yellow, occasional blush | Golden green, can carry a blush |
| Michigan harvest | Around September 8 | Around August 21 |
| Availability | September through January | Short, late summer into early fall |
| Best for | Snacking, baking, crisps, sauce | Snacking, salads, pies, crisps |
| Origin | West Virginia, 1890 | Virginia, discovered around 1969 |
How they taste
Golden Delicious is gently sweet with a subtle melon note and very little sharpness. Thin skin and tender flesh make it an easy apple to chew, which matters more than people admit when buying for young children or older parents.
Ginger Gold is brighter. Gingery-sweet with a mild tart finish and a real aroma to it. Fine-textured creamy white flesh, crisp and juicy. It tastes like the start of apple season, which is exactly when you get it.
The hurricane apple
Ginger Gold has one of the better origin stories in the produce aisle. A Virginia grower found it growing among the washed-out remains of a Golden Delicious orchard destroyed by Hurricane Camille in 1969. It was noticed in the early 1970s and brought to market soon after.
Golden Delicious has a quieter but far more consequential history. Discovered in West Virginia in 1890, it went on to become a parent of a remarkable share of the modern apple shelf, including Gala, Jonagold, Pink Lady, Ginger Gold and Ambrosia, and it appears in the Honeycrisp cross as well.
Why Ginger Gold vanishes
Two things work against it. Fewer orchards grow it now, and its season is genuinely short. It comes off around August 21, one of the first varieties of the year, and once the crop moves it is gone until the following summer.
Golden Delicious harvests about two and a half weeks later, around September 8, and ships through January.
Reach for Golden Delicious if
You want the sweeter apple, you need something available past early fall, you are making applesauce, or you want a soft-skinned apple that is easy to chew.
Reach for Ginger Gold if
It is August and you want the first real apple of the year, you want more tang than Golden Delicious offers, or you are baking a pie early in the season.
Golden Delicious is in your fruit bowl already
Gala, Jonagold, Pink Lady, Ginger Gold and Ambrosia all trace back to it, and Honeycrisp descends from a cross that involved it. If you eat apples, you eat Golden Delicious genetics.
Golden Delicious and Ginger Gold, answered
Is Ginger Gold related to Golden Delicious?
Yes. Ginger Gold is a hybrid of Golden Delicious and Albemarle Pippin, and it shares its parent’s mild flavor and thin skin while ripening much earlier.
I bought Ginger Gold in August and now I cannot find it. Why?
Ginger Gold is one of the first varieties harvested each year and its season is short. Fewer orchards grow it now, so once the crop moves it is gone until next summer.
Which varieties came from Golden Delicious?
Quite a few. Gala, Jonagold, Pink Lady, Ginger Gold and Ambrosia all have it in their parentage, and Honeycrisp descends from a cross that involved it.
Which one is better for pie?
Either works and both are recommended for baking. Ginger Gold brings more tang, so it needs less help from lemon. Golden Delicious is sweeter and better if you want a mellow filling.
Why are these apples yellow instead of red?
Skin color is a variety trait, and neither of these develops red pigment the way most modern varieties do. It says nothing about ripeness or flavor.