Fall Baking

Now, on to the really fun part of fall ;).

Apple Fritters

Ingredients:

1/2 c. milk

1 egg

2 T. butter

grated rind and juice from 1/2 an orange

1/2 c. finely chopped apples

1/2 t. vanilla

1 1/2 c. cake flour*

1/4 t. salt

1 T. baking powder

*(I used regular flour that I sifted a few times... this would probably be even better with cake flour!)

Directions:

Whisk together milk, egg, and melted butter in a large bowl. Add orange juice, rind, apples, and vanilla. Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to large bowl, stir until just combined. Let batter sit while oil heats up (I just used about 1/2" of canola oil in a deep-sided pan on the stove). Drop batter by spoonfuls into hot oil and deep fry until browned (make sure you keep your oil between 350 and 375 degrees, otherwise the fritters will absorb too much oil as they cook). Remove from oil and pat dry with paper towel. Toss in cinnamon sugar, if desired. Makes about 8 large fritters.

Enjoy warm! They tend to get a little soggy after a day or so, but they still taste good ;).

Pumpkin Spice Scones

(Courtesy of Stephanie Garvey)

Ingredients:

2 c. flour

7 T. sugar

1 T. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. ground cinnamon

1/2 t. ground nutmeg

1/4 t. ground cloves

1/4 t. ground ginger

6 T. cold butter

1/2 c. canned pumpkin

3 T. half-and-half

1 egg

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices in a large bowl. Cut in butter.

In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, half-and-half, and egg. Add to dry ingredients.

Form dough into a ball, and turn out onto lightly floured surface. Shape dough into a 1-inch think rectangle by rolling out gently with a rolling pin or patting with hands. Cut dough into triangles (I made 12 medium-sized ones, but you can also do 6 large ones--the dough will expand a good bit as it bakes).

Place scones on greased baking sheet and bake for 14-16 minutes, or until light brown. Cool on wire rack.

Making them pretty:

Mix together powdered sugar and a little mix to make a runny icing. Spread icing over top of scone with a pastry brush. (You can really make this layer as thick or thin as you want--I made a slightly translucent glaze. Just make sure it's thick enough that it doesn't run off the sides!)

Take remaining glaze and add 1/4 t. ground cinnamon, 1/8 t. ground nutmeg, a pinch of ginger, and a pinch of ground cloves. Add more powdered sugar to make a thick glaze.

Once the plain icing is hard, drizzle the spiced icing over scones in a zig zag pattern (or a smiley face, or a leaf, or whatever your artistic nature feels like drawing--mine is limited to zig zag lines ;))

Let cool before eating.

Pumpkin Bread

Directions:

Beg Natalie's mom for secret recipe.