Crisp mornings. Cold nights. Falling leaves and dreams of fall bakes. It is the time of year when The Kitchen wanders the local orchard one weekend and meanders through the pumpkin patch the next. Cookbooks are piled high and Mimi is penning her holiday bake lists and checking them twice.
The Kitchen makes an annual trek to local farms in search of vintage varieties that can be turned into both old friend bakes and new bake adventures. It has become an October challenge to turn 75 pounds of apples into cakes and pies and cheesecakes and breads.... it is a delicious challenge. Fall apple obsession eventually takes a step to the side to allow pumpkins to take center stage.
Bake season begins with the apple harvest. Pies! Cakes! Breads! Cheesecakes! Apples are versatile, tasty, and the quintessential representation of my own childhood in Washington State Apple Country.
My go to bakes during apple season are Mom's Apple Pie and Ma's Apple Cake. Both are comfort food. Naturally pie calls for ice cream while Ma's Cake is a basic bake tag along that can be easily slipped into your brown bag. Other apple bakes include cheesecake, Tennessee Stack Cake, and my favorite vintage fried apples and onions served alongside a slow roasted pork butt.
Big orange pumpkins elicit the warmest memories of early morning boys begging for bites of pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin butter, and creamy warm spiced pumpkin cheesecake with a ginger cookie crust.
I invite you to step into The Kitchen and enjoy the many autumn bakes made from an abundant harvest. There is no end to the love and warmth that can be squeezed out of the fall apple and pumpkin harvest.