#fall bake

I messed up when trying to make cinnamon rolls by letting the dough get too warm so turned it into swirl bread & it was really good so at a point in this recipe it will slightly diverge into to two.

Ingredients

-dough

100g butter

80g sugar

7g salt

1 egg

150g milk

1/3rd can of pumpkin

1 packet yeast

430g flour

-filling

100g butter

1/3 can of pumpkin

150g brown sugar

Cinnamon, ginger, & clove. i don’t like nutmeg but you can add it if you want

-icing

8oz cream cheese

milk/cream

powdered sugar

optiona: 1/3 can of pumpkin, spices

1. with the paddle attachment beat the butter, sugar, & salt. When white & fluffy add the egg.

2. while that’s beating heat the milk & pumpkin to 110f/34c or just warm to the touch, add the yeast.

3. whisk flour & spices in medium bowl. i don’t know the measurements of the spices. use your heart (i follow what i call the 3 2 1 rule 3 parts cinnamon 2 parts clove 1 part ginger. but i really like clove. )

4. alternate adding the milk mixture & flour into the butter mixture. when it starts to pull together switch to a dough hook. you can do this with your hands but you might regret it later.

5. put the dough in a greased bowl & cover. rise till doubled in size about 1.5 hours up to 3. if it is not rising your yeast is dead. if you can’t tell when it’s rising take pictures before & after.

6. punch the dough & move to a rectangular container then refrigerate for 45 minutes

7. mix the butter & pumpkin in one bowl & the brown sugar & spices in a seperate bowl

8. turn out cold dough. roll out to a thin rectangle. spread butter mixture evenly around leaving a small gap on the edges. cover with brown sugar mixture.

9. from the wide edge start rolling into a log careful not to get any air pockets. pinch where the dough meets

This is where the cinnamon rolls are if you want the swirl bread move further.

10. slice the rolls into roughly 1 inch to 1.5 inch rolls & place them in a container where they have plenty of room to rise.

11. cover and rise until doubled in size, about an hour.

12. bake at 180/359 cover with foil for 25 minutes, remove the foil & bake another 10

13. ice while still slightly warm

This is where the swirl bread continues

10. twist the log into a snail like swirl

11. place in a pan with at least a 1 cm space by the edges

12. cover & rise for around one hour

13. bake at 180/350 cover with foil for 35 minutes remove foil & bake another 20-30

14. ice after cooked

Icing

cream cheese icing like this is super easy just beat cream cheese with a little milk or cream. add powdered sugar to taste then if you’re using pumpkin & spices add that then.

Fall is that awesome time of year when the temps begin to fall and beautiful warm shades of yellow, orange, and soft reds begin to color the landscape, which has me longing for the sweet aroma of autumn. Although wax melts and scented candles do a great job, nothing compares to what is baking in the oven! After researching and writing about Cultural Fit these past 2 months, I’m ready for the warm and fuzzy feeling that accompanies fall scents and comfort food. And, apple pie is a great place to start!

Growing up in San Francisco we had a backyard apple tree at our home. I fondly remember the tree bearing awesome apples in September, which turned into many baked apple pies through October. This past week I had a hankering for mom’s homemade apple pie and unfortunately she was never one to write down recipes. It was more of “a little of this and a little of that”, which always led to perfection. So, I decided to create an apple pie recipe, merging flavors from my mom’s baking along with some of my favorites. The end result…a lemon almond apple pie with cranberries. This pie certainly lives up to my expectations in both fall aroma and TASTE, somewhat resembling a strudel pie.

Gluten-Free (GF) readers, I have not yet mastered making GF pie dough. I purchased, instead, frozen GF piecrust in the freezer section of the grocery store. The package comes with two already prepared piecrusts in aluminum pie containers. I filled one of the piecrust with fruit filling. The other, I scrapped out all the dough, divided into 5 small sections and carefully rolled dough into strips to lay on top of the pie filling. It came out “artisan” great!

Listed below is the recipe inspired by and shared from Taste of Home published recipe, which comes closest to my mom’s home baked apple pies, especially using lemon. In bold and underlined are my tweaks. Get started and fill your home with the aroma of autumn giving this amazing bake a try that will warm your heart and bring you some cozy fall comfort!

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour (gluten-free APF like Pamela’s or Cup 4 Cup)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

6 to 7 cups thinly sliced peeled tart apples

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon of pure almond extract

½ cup dried cranberries

Pastry for double-crust pie (9 inches)

1 tablespoon butter

1 large egg white

Additional sugar

DIRECTIONS

In a small bowl, combine the sugars, flour and spices; set aside. In a large bowl, toss apples and cranberries with lemon juice and pure almond flavoring. Add sugar mixture; toss to coat.

Line a 9-in. pie plate with bottom crust; trim pastry even with edge. Fill with apple mixture; dot with butter. Roll out remaining pastry to fit top of pie. Place over filling. Trim, seal and flute edges. Cut slits in pastry.

Beat egg white until foamy; brush over pastry. Sprinkle with sugar. Cover edges loosely with foil.

Bake at 375° for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake 20-25 minutes longer or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool on a wire rack. Yield: 8 servings.

    Cozy Fall Bake!

Fall is that awesome time of year when the temps begin to fall and beautiful warm shades of yellow, orange, and soft reds begin to color the landscape, which has me longing for the sweet aroma of autumn.