#fallfavs

Just because it's officially fall doesn't mean your default needs to be the MOST basic. St Julien Hotel & Spa, Rowdy Mermaid Kombucha, Piece, Love & Chocolate Company, The Greenbriar Inn, The Tea Spot, Zeal - Food for Enthusiasts, Wild Cider, Innisfree Poetry Bookstore & Cafe, Shine Restaurant & Gathering Place, Redstone Meadery & Cholaca.

Good Fall Drinks, Aside from a Pumpkin Spice Latte and Where to Get 'Em

caramel pear and pecan mini pies from the pretty blog (with a few minor adjustments):

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caramel pear pecan mini pies in muffin tin

the pastry: 

makes 12 mini pies or one medium pie

ingredients:

100g soft unsalted butter

125g caster sugar (note: I actually had caster sugar, but I think using granulated sugar might be just fine)

1 large egg

5ml or 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

250g cake flour

pinch of salt

method:

using an electric whisk, whisk the butter and sugar until light and fully incorporated in a mixing bowl.

add the egg and vanilla and whisk until well combined.

add the cake flour and salt and whisk until the mixture starts to come together.

turn out on a clean working surface and knead lightly until it comes together in a ball.

flatten slightly to make a disk shape.

cover with plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

the caramel sauce:

caramel-pear-pecan-caramel-sauce

ingredients:

125g soft unsalted butter

250ml demerara or muscovado sugar, tightly packed (note: I used turbinado sugar)

125ml cream

pinch of salt

method:

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat, then add the sugar and stir.

Turn the heat up to high and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar has melted and the mixture starts to become foamy.

Add the cream and stir until it is completely smooth.

Add the salt, stir and remove from the heat.

the assembly:

fresh-pears via the sugarapple

caramel-pear-pecan-mini-pie-closeup-pears-in-pie-dough

caramel-pear-and-pecan-mini-tart-final

ingredients:

1 batch of refrigerated pastry

2 large firm pears, peeled, cored, finely sliced and cut in half for mini pies (note: I had some pear left over due to the size of my pears)

100g of pecan nuts, roughly chopped

125ml heavy cream

1/2 batch caramel sauce (you’ll use the other half for serving)

1 egg, lightly whisked (for brushing)

some granulated sugar, for sprinkling

method:

preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  roll out half the dough and cut out 12 circles large enough to fit your 12-cup muffin pan. (this cutter worked perfectly for me)

spray non-stick spray or butter a 12-cup muffin pan.  place a pastry circle in each cup and use a fork to prick the pastry all over.

arrange the sliced pears (overlapping) on the bottom, filling it about 2/3 to the top.

drizzle the homemade caramel sauce on top of the pears, and then add the chopped pecans on top of the caramel and pears.

then drizzle more of the caramel sauce all over the nuts and pears. (feel free to dot tops with a little butter before placing the top pastry on)

then use the remaining half of the pastry dough to get creative and cut out strips for plaiting and shapes for decoration and top each muffin tin with your own decorative pattern/design and trim the edges neatly.

carefully brush tops with egg, then sprinkle with sugar.

bake the mini pies at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly (keep an eye on it around 35 minutes) then remove from the oven and try to let it cool (unless you’re impatient like me and burn yourself because you can’t wait).  bake any extra pieces of pastry on the baking tray (use any remaining egg wash and sprinkle with sugar) for about eight to ten minutes until golden brown.

serve warm or at room temperature with powdered sugar, a dollop of cream, ice cream or more (warmed) caramel sauce.

caramel-pear-pecan-mini-pie-complete-with-pear

 learn more about pears here

first, this recipe calls for pumpkin puree and I didn’t have the canned version BUT I did have an actual pumpkin (that I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with) – so I decided to roast it and make my own.  ( and if you have the time, I’d recommend doing this because the taste is soooo good.  learn more about how to select pumpkins here )

fresh pumpkin puree

roasted-pumpkin-via-the-sugarapple

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instructions:

preheat oven to 400 degrees

cut your pumpkin in half and scoop out seeds

drizzle with maple syrup (I’ve seen in some recipes to sprinkle it with salt, but I wanted a little sweetness)

place pumpkin skin side up and roast for 20 minutes, then flip pumpkin over to skin side down and roast for addl 20-25 minutes (I had a 3.5 lb pumpkin, for smaller or larger sizes adjust time accordingly)

pumpkin is ready when the skin is soft and you can easily leave a dent in it with your finger.

let it cool enough to handle, and then easily scoop out the flesh (or in my case, I just peeled the skin off)

place in food processor and begin to pulse to get it to a pureed consistency – (I drizzled in more maple syrup for sweetness)

now, that I had my own fresh pumpkin puree.  time to make the muffins.

pumpkin-maple-muffins-brown-butter-recipe-via-nytimes-cooking

pumpkin-maple-muffins-whisked-dry-ingredients-recipe-via-nytimes-cooking

pumpkin-maple-muffins-wet-dry-ingredients-mixed-recipe-via-nytimes-cooking

pumpkin-maple-muffins-oven-ready-recipe-via-nytimes-cooking

pumpkin-maple-muffins-baked-recipe-via-nytimes-cooking

pumpkin maple muffins via nytimes cooking

ingredients

½ cup/114 grams (1 stick) unsalted butter

1 cup/145 grams all-purpose flour

1 cup/140 grams whole-wheat flour (or 1 cup/145 grams all-purpose flour)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 ½ cups/355 grams pumpkin purée, about one 15-ounce can – (or make your own like I did ;)  )

3 large eggs

1 cup/200 grams light brown sugar

⅔ cup/150 millilitres maple syrup

 preparation

heat oven to 350 degrees.

spray muffin molds with non-stick spray or line them with paper liners.

heat butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. cook, swirling occasionally, until the butter has melted, foamed and started to brown, about 5 minutes. use a whisk to scrape up any browned bits at the bottom of the pot. remove from heat and set aside. (note: I encourage you to NOT skip this step and brown-the-butter…it has a nice nutty scent that I think amplifies the flavors)

in a medium bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric and nutmeg.

in a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, eggs, brown sugar and maple syrup until totally smooth. whisk in dry ingredients, followed by browned butter.

divide among prepared muffin tins and bake until the tops are puffed and spring back slightly when pressed, 20 to 25 minutes.

special note: I took this very delicious muffin to an even higher level by adding some sautéed cinnamon apples (sautéed apple recipe is very easy, and I will post soon because I used the apples 🍎 from my recent apple picking excursion).   the pumpkin combined with the cinnamon apples is something you must try.  I just cored the muffins and placed a few spoonfuls of the sautéed apple filling inside the muffin, and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and I also included a drizzle of maple syrup.

absolute yum.  and surprisingly, these muffins were not overly sweet at all, despite me using a little maple syrup in my pumpkin puree…the flavors really speak for themselves.  tell me if you try it!

pumpkin-maple-muffins-with-apple-pie-fillingrefine-recipe-via-nytimes-cooking

pumpkin-maple-muffins-with-apple-pie-filling2-recipe-via-nytimes-cooking

get more fall recipes and follow me on pinterest 

but first, let me share some photos – it was an absolutely beautiful day for apple picking last Saturday, we went to B.J. Reece Orchards in North Georgia (not too far from where I live in Atlanta) and we picked a BUNCH of apples, way toooooo much (well not really, perfect for me ;)  )

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and then some of those apples were turned into – old fashioned apple cake (recipe below):

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old fashioned apple cake via King Arthur Flour (w/very slight modifications)

2 1/3 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

1 2/3 cups granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice (note: I did not have Apple Pie Spice, nor chose to make it – so I improvised and it was perfect)

2 large eggs room temperature

1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened

4 cups peeled, cored, chopped apple, about 1 1/3 pounds whole apples (note: I grated my apples because I wanted them small, evenly sized)

1 cup diced toasted walnuts or pecans (note: I used pecans)

instructions

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease and flour a 9″ x 13″ pan.

To make the cake: Mix all of the ingredients except the apples and nuts in a large bowl.

Beat until well combined; the mixture will be very stiff, and may even be crumbly.

Add the apples and nuts, and mix until the apples release some of their juice and the stiff mixture becomes a thick batter, somewhere between cookie dough and brownie batter in consistency.

Spread the batter in the prepared pan, smoothing it with your wet fingers.

Bake the cake for 45 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, or with just a few wet crumbs clinging to it.

Remove the cake from the oven and place it on a rack to cool completely; don’t remove the cake from the pan.

Yield: about 2 dozen servings.

note:  King Arthur Flour has a great icing recipe to use with this cake, but I chose to use cream cheese frosting instead.  I’ll try their version next time.   

let me know if you make it.  have you been apple picking? 🍏

check out more apple recipes and FallFavs recipes