Fall Classics

Posted by slowfoodiebear on April 1, 2012 · 1 Comment 

This post is about two of the most classic fall foods: pumpkin pie and hot apple cider.  I haven’t made them recently–I’m just finally posting pictures of all the wonderful foods I made last year.  Apple cider was one of my favorites.  I think I went though an entire gallon about every other week between October and November.  I would heat it on the stove and add all sorts of spices and citrus if I was feeling creative.  I would add segments of orange or pieces of an apple (or perhaps just the core if I had already eaten the apple).  Orange and lemon juice were also great additions.  I also bought organic cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger especially for my apple cider and other fall-inspired dishes.  I would keep the pot of cider on the stove brewing and steeping for hours until the fruit broke down and until it was pulpy and thick.

The other fall classic I’ve made is, of course, pumpkin pie!  I made a less-than-classic recipe, but it turned out beautifully.  I was inspired by a recipe on the Food Network which called for replacing some of the pumpkin with apple butter.  I happened to have gorgeous, local apple butter from nearby Carter Mountain, and I thought it would offer great sweetness and texture.  I used about a 1 cup to 1 cup ratio of pumpkin to apple butter, but then I added much less sugar than the recipe called for because I wanted to taste the ingredients by themselves without that overpowering sweetness.  And rather than using evaporated milk (I didn’t have any), I used a bit less than 3/4 cup mixture of whole milk and heavy cream.  The recipe called for 3 eggs and then the traditional pumpkin pie spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.  (I left out the ginger this time because my sister isn’t a fan.)  I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that I used a pre-made pie crust to save time.  The crumble, though, is homemade, and I believe I just mixed together butter, pecans, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, and a bit of flour together with my fingers.  I sprinkled it over half the pie after it was already half-baked so that the topping didn’t burn.

It turned out beautifully and was delicious topped with some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.  I apologize that I don’t remember the exact recipe I used because I made this for last Thanksgiving.  At least the pictures are enjoyable!

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Filed under eggs, pie · Tagged with apple cider, baking, classic, fall, pecans, pie, pumpkin pie