tasty tuesday: caramel apples

Caramel apples are just one of those classic Fall foods that I honestly can't get enough of.  We always sell them during September and October during our apple festivals on the farm, so I'm spoiled with a steady supply of them.  A farm down the road makes them for us, using our own apples, and they are so wonderful.  Due to this, I had never actually made my own caramel apples from scratch!

I can now cross that off my bucket list though, because these beauts were completely homemade.  Not even halfway homemade with store-bought caramels. No way.  Although the ingredient list might make your teeth hurt by just looking at it.....hehe.  I will tell you that these are hands down the best caramel apples I've eaten!  The only thing that is keeping me from making them every day is because they take quite a bit of patience for your caramel to reach the right temperature.  And if you know me....you'll know that patience is one of my strong suits.  Ha!

This caramel has a beautiful colour, and is so creamy and rich.  It went so well with the tart Elstar apples that it covered, and made many mouths quite happy.  The extra caramel was used for dipping apples in over the next couple of days....and we also made some homemade turtles with it.  Delish.

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Caramel Apples

recipe from:Sprinkle Bakes

Ingredients:

12 small/medium tart apples (I used Elstar apples)

popsicle sticks (I used cake pop sticks, which got a bit soggy and then weren't quite strong enough!)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1 cup light corn syrup

1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

*you will need a candy thermometer for this recipe!

Directions:

1)  First, place a large sheet of parchment or wax paper on a work surface that will be able to hold all of your apples without them touching each other.  Set aside.

2)  Clean and dry your apples (the caramel won't stick if they're wet at all!).  Remove the apple stems, and punch a guide hole for your stick using a metal skewer or skinny knife.  Insert stick into each apple, and make sure it's secure.

3)  For the caramel: in a 4-cup liquid measuring cup, stir together the sweetened condensed milk and heavy cream.  Set aside.

4)  In a large pot, combine corn syrup, brown sugar, and white sugar.  Bring to a simmer over high heat.  When the mixture boils, add the butter.  Stir until the butter is melted, and reduce the heat to medium-high.

5)  Add milk mixture in a small steady stream, whisking continually.  You want the caramel to keep boiling slightly.

6)  Reduce heat to medium, and attach a candy thermometer to your pot.  Be careful that the candy thermometer does not touch the bottom of your pot, as it will give you a false temperature reading.

7)  Bring to 250 degrees F.  This will take approximately 15 minutes or so.  So be patient!

8)  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.

9)  Wait until the bubbling stops, and the caramel has a smooth glassy surface.  Tilt pan slightly so that caramel is deeper on one side, and start dipping apples.  Cover apples completely in caramel, and twirl and gently tap the stick on the side of the pot to help excess caramel drip off.  Place on parchment to set for about an hour.  Serve and enjoy!

[Optional]: Immediately after dipping, roll your apple in chopped nuts, chocolate, skor bits, coconut, etc.

Keep extras in the fridge until you're ready to eat them!

You may have noticed the mini caramel apples in a few of these pictures.  We used a melon baller to carve out some mini apple balls for dipping.  While this idea was great in theory, they ended up being a bit too wet, and the caramel slid off most of them.  Sad day.

My favorite combo of flavors was definitely the pretzel covered apples.  Sweet and salty will always get me.  The extra crunch from the pretzels was also a lovely addition!

So, be creative and make these yummy treats!

♥ kelsey

tasty tuesday: pumpkin scones with caramel drizzle

Oh scones.  You are so beautiful....to me!

Seriously, they are so good.  Jordyn found a super solid scone recipe years ago, and has slowly tweaked it into perfection.  It's always her base whenever she experiments with new flavors, and this time was no different.  Her and I discussed ingredients and chemistry....and finally decided that we were just going to substitute pumpkin for sour cream, and cross our fingers that it would work.

Let' just say....it worked.  Magnificently.

Of course we added in a bit of cinnamon too, because cinnamon and pumpkin kind of belong together.  They're basically soul mates.

Oh yeah, did I mention that we then drizzled caramel all over them?  Because we totally did that.  Are you really surprised that there was caramel involved?  Nope, didn't think so.

Pumpkin Scones

by: Jordyn & Kelsey

Ingredients:

Scones

1 cup pumpkin

1 tsp baking soda

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup white sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp salt

1 cup butter, chilled (and cubed)

1 egg

Directions:

1)  Preheat oven to 350 F.

2)  In a medium sized bowl mix together pumpkin, baking soda and the egg.   Let this mixture sit while you combine dry ingredients separately.

3)  In a large bowl mix together the flour, white sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar and salt.

4)  With a pastry blender cut in the chilled butter.  If you do not have a pastry blender, cut it into pieces with a knife before you add it, and then blend it with a fork.

5)  Now stir in the wet ingredients, careful not to over mix.  I usually end up with a mixture that resembles large crumbs and is a bit floury - rather than dough.

6)  Don't worry if it is a bit of a mess, dump it onto a lightly floured surface, and gently press it together until it sticks together.  (think biscuits or pie dough - you are NOT kneading bread!)

7)  Once it sticks together in a decent ball, cut it into 4 sections.

8)  Gently flatten out each section into a circle, and cut into 6 triangles.

9)  Transfer these triangles onto a baking sheet, and bake for 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees, or until golden brown on the bottom.

While the scones are baking, make your caramel (we stuck ours in the fridge to help it cool down a bit quicker.

Remove the scones from the pan while they're still hot, and spoon the glaze over top (see below for recipe).  It should run nicely down the sides, and then harden a bit.

We chose to make our own caramel, and then added a bit of icing sugar to make it a glaze.

Homemade Caramel

1/2 cup Sugar

3 TBSP Butter (we used salted butter!)

1/4 cup Whipping Cream

1)  The most important thing to do first is to assemble all of your ingredients!  Once your sugar mixture has reached the right colour, you'll need to move fairly quickly, and don't want to be fussing around with measuring out the other ingredients.

2)  Place your sugar in a medium saucepan, and melt at a medium heat.  Once it begins to melt, you'll want to start whisking it. (You can also add a tad of water if you don't feel comfortable melting dry sugar!).

3)  Once the sugar starts to boil, you can stop whisking, and wait for it to turn a light amber colour.

4)  When it's light amber, then add your butter, and stir like crazy!

5)  As soon as the butter has completely melted, remove from heat and add the whipping cream.  Again, stir like crazy! (Be cautious when adding the cream as it will foam a lot!)

6)  Let the caramel cool for a bit, and then you can move it to a heat proof container and pop it in the fridge to help hurry up the cooling process.

7)  To make it into a glaze, slowly add a bit of icing sugar until the caramel is a bit thicker.  How much icing sugar you add depends on how thick you want your glaze! 

Now dig in!

These scones make the perfect addition to all of the wonderfully foggy Fall mornings we've been having out here on the West Coast!  Well, let's be real here.  They make the perfect addition to basically any morning, anywhere.

p.s.

 ♥ kelsey & jordyn

[baked] apple cider donuts

I've been seeing a lot of Fall bucket lists going around the interwebs these days, and sometimes they make me chuckle. I live on a pumpkin patch where I pick apples for my job, we make apple cider on a weekly basis, there are hayrides every day of the week, and picking corn is kind of like a boring version of a corn maze.  Sooo....I've definitely crossed off most things on these bucket lists without even trying!  It reminds me not to take things for granted, and every day I feel so blessed to live and work in such a cool place.

However, one of the things on my Fall baking bucket list was to make apple cider donuts!  I had never actually heard of such a thing until I came across a post on tumblr about them.  I was instantly intrigued, and thought they sounded like the epitome of a Fall dessert.  Warm, cozy, fluffy donuts with apple cider and cinnamon?  Perfection!  

My expectations were cautiously high for these donuts, and I wasn't disappointed!  I also quite successfully convinced myself that because they were baked donuts (and not deep-fried), they must be healthy for you.  Am I right?

Apple Cider Baked Donuts
adapted from: eat, live, run

yields: 11-12 donuts

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

2 eggs

2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup apple cider

1/4 cup buttermilk  [or 1/4 cup of milk with 1/2 tsp of vinegar....let stand for 5-10 minutes before using]

Topping:
2 tbsp butter, melted
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon (or to taste)

Directions:

1)  In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

2)  In a smaller bowl, mix together the softened butter with the eggs until fluffy (doing this ensures that your butter doesn't re-solidify once the cold buttermilk and cider are added).  Add buttermilk and apple cider, and mix well.

3)  Pour wet ingredients into the dry, and stir until just blended.  Try not to overmix!

4)  Spread the batter into a greased donut pan.  I used a large spoon to drop the batter in, or placing your batter into a pastry bag to pipe into the pan makes the process nice and easy.  Fill each mold about 3/4 full.

5)  Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. You may want to break open a test donut just to make sure the inside isn't gummy!

6)  For the topping: melt the butter in a bowl that will fit a donut inside it.  Then, dip each donut quickly into the butter, and then into the cinnamon sugar mixture.

*These are best on the first day, as they tend to get a bit soggy once you place them in a container.

Do you have your own version of a Fall bucket list?  I'd love to hear what's on them! 

-kels

diy: dip-dye glitter pumpkins

Oh man, am I ever in love with my latest project!  Dip-dye glitter pumpkins!

I've had this idea in my head for a while, and was so happy that it came out exactly like I wanted.  Kind of rustic/farm-y mixed with glam.

I think these would make such fun and versatile decorations, from adding a bit of sparkle to your home, or they could even be used as part of a center piece for Thanksgiving or a Fall wedding.

Materials:

-pumpkin(s)

-glitter

-modgepodge

-tape

-paintbrush

Instructions:

1)  First make sure your pumpkins are clean and dry.

2)  I chose to only glitter half of my pumpkins, so I used masking tape to tape about halfway down my pumpkin.  Or you could freehand it if you really wanted to.

3)  Paint on modgepodge wherever you want glitter, then sprinkle glitter generously over the modgepodge.

4)  Shake off extra glitter, and touch up any spots you missed.

5)  Once your pumpkins have completely dried, it's a good idea to gently paint on another coat of modge podge!  This will dry clear (I promise...mine did!), and will help keep the glitter from getting on absolutely everything.

I hope you all have a fun and tasty Thanksgiving weekend!  Our farm is going to be absolutely bonkers busy, but I'm thankful that I get to spend it with my family!

p.s.

 ♥ kelsey

tasty tuesday: pumpkin pancakes

Some days it's just not your day.  And you have three epic recipe fails in a row.  

Let's just say that last Sunday was not my day.  It was a very humbling experience to have so many catastrophes in the kitchen....and looking back on it, I can finally see the humour in it.  Pumpkin pancakes were one of these fails, and I actually made 3 different batches until I was finally happy with the end result!

So, I now present to you....pumpkin pancakes!  These are delicious, cozy, and are absolute perfection on a crisp Fall morning.

I've been trying not to overload you guys

too much

 on pumpkin and apple recipes, but I have stopped resisting...so be prepared!  And let us know in the comments if there are any recipes in particular you'd like to see.

In the meantime, you should probably make these for breakfast tomorrow, or lunch, or supper....or heck, just for a snack!  You can always stick them in the fridge for the next day, or pop them in the freezer for later.

Pumpkin Pancakes

adapted from:

allrecipes.com

yields: about 12 pancakes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of milk

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 egg

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 tbsp white vinegar

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tbsp brown sugar (packed)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground allspice

3 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

[optional]: 1 cup chocolate chips (or chopped pecans)

Directions:

1)  In a large bowl, mix together milk, pumpkin, egg, oilk and vinegar.

2)  In a small bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder and soda, allspice, cinnamon and salt.

3)  Stir the dry ingredients into the wet until just mixed.

4)  Heat a greased frying pan (or griddle) over medium high heat.

5)  Pour batter onto the pan, flipping when bubbles appear on one side.  Brown both sides, and serve hot.*

*I used a 1/4 cup to ladle out the batter, and then used the back of a large spoon to spread out the batter a bit.  

And you don't need to grease your pan/griddle after every pancake.  Do it before you start, and then again every 3 to 4 pancakes (or whenever you notice them start to stick!).  Not greasing your pan will give you nicer, more even colouring on your pancakes!

Also, it's a good idea to cut open the first one or two you do to make sure they're not gummy inside.  If they are, just turn down your burner/griddle slightly.

Oh yes, I topped them with chopped pecans and they were perfection!

Now go!  Make pancakes!

p.s.

 ♥ kelsey

tasty tuesday: apple pie

I'm really not sure why it's taken me so long to talk about pie here....especially since I live on an apple and berry farm, and my mom's known as the best pie-maker in town, and we seem to have pie in the house every other week in summer/fall.

It may have something to do with the fact that I don't actually like pie.  Ahem, yes you read that right.  I'm not a huge fan....and my friends do enjoy teasing me endlessly about it!  Because truly, who the heck doesn't like pie?   Whatevs.  

Anyways, I love making people happy...so if they want pie, I will give them pie!

My mama helped me out with this post...so not only did it look good, but it tasted amazing as well (or so I've been told...haha).  I believe her two main tips for a deliciously flaky crust are: don't overmix your dough, and be sure to chill your dough for 20-30 minutes!

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Apple Pie

Pastry recipe from: Company's Coming - Desserts
(Yields enough pastry for 4 pies)

Ingredients:

Pastry

5 cups Flour

2 tsp Salt

1 tsp Baking Powder

3 tbsp Brown Sugar

1 lb Lard (or vegetable shortening)

1 Egg

2 tbsp Vinegar

Cold water

Pie filling:

Ingredients:

6ish medium Elstar apples (or any tart apple of your choice)

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 cup Flour

3/4 cup Sugar

Directions:

1)  Mix together flour, salt, baking powder and brown sugar in a large bowl.

2)  Cut up lard and add to dry ingredients. 

3)  Using a pastry cutter (or a plain old fork works as well), cut in lard until your mixture is crumbly.

4)  Break your egg into a liquid measuring cup and beat well.

5)  Add vinegar to the measuring cup.

6)  Add very cold water to the measuring cup, until the mixture measures to 1 cup.

7)  Pour liquid mixture over flour mixture slowly, and stir.

8)  Use your hands to work the mixture together until it no longer crumbles apart.  This is where experience will come in, as you don't want to overmix the dough!  Once you make it a couple of times, you'll get the feel of it.

9)  Divide into 4 equal parts.  Each part will make one pie, so you can choose to use it all at once, store some of the dough in the fridge* for up to 2 weeks, or pop some of into the freezer for later!

*If you do refrigerate your dough overnight (or for a few days), be sure to take it out at least an hour before you roll out it.  Otherwise it will be too stiff!

Directions:

1)  Once your pie dough is ready, you can peel and chop apples (the exact number will depend on the size of your apples, and how full you want to make your pie).  We used Elstar apples, which are nice and tart, and are wonderful for baking with!

2)  Mix all ingredients in with your diced apples, stir, and let sit for a few minutes.

3)  Take approximately an eighth of your dough, and roll it out in a circle.  You want your dough circle to be big enough to cover the bottom of your pie plate, and to cover the outside edge at least a half an inch.

4)  Add your apple mixture to the pie plate and roll out another dough circle for the top.

5)  Before adding the top of the crust, dip your fingers in a tiny bit of water, and run them along the edge of the bottom crust.  This will help the top adhere well to the bottom crust.

6)  Cover the pie with the top crust, trim any extra dough hanging over the side...leaving about a quarter of an inch over the pie plate.

7)  Pinch together the crusts, and fold inwards (this is so any juice that bubbles out won't end up in your oven).  Then, you can choose to crimp the edges however you like!

8)  Sprinkle the top lightly with sugar, poke several holes (for ventilation) in the top, and you're ready to go.

*If you want to be fancy, you can cut out shapes from the top crust (or from extra crust) to add decorations to your crust.  We added a few cute leaves to ours!

9)  Bake at 425 degrees for the first 15 minutes, and then reduce heat to 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes until nice and bubbly.

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A handy trick to getting your bottom crust in it's pan easily is to drape it over your rolling pin, and then gently roll it over the pan!

It can be tough to get a nice crimp on the edges....so don't be discouraged!  Remember, practice makes perfect.

So that means, make more pie. Duh.

There you have it.  Easy as pie!

-kelsey