Basics: Apple Pie Filling

Ok, I know all you guys go crazy apple picking, as I do, come September and October. It's hard not to pluck those ripe, juicy, gorgeously green and red apples from their branches.

And when you have kids with you, forget about it..! You inevitably come home with many more apples than you can imagine what to do with!

So what's there to do when you have baskets upon baskets of apples and have already made apple pie, apple bread, applesauce, and apple-just about everything else? You make apple pie filling, of course, and store it until the next time you have a hankering for apple pie, which may incidentally be at a time when freshly picked apples are not readily available.

This basic recipe will keep all those apples you picked safely tucked away in your pantry for up to a year, if canned appropriately. These jars of homemade apple pie filling make wonderful, homey gifts for the holidays or any time of year. They're also a great addition to your summer picnic table. The key in this recipe is to cook the apples only slightly so that when you go to bake them, they will cook out completely without becoming mush.

Another key is to use an assortment of apples, which works well when you apple pick like we do - my kids and I throw all the apples in together and by the time we come home, can't tell a Jonathan from a Golden Delicious... :-)

Making this apple pie filling doesn't take long. The most wearisome part is actually peeling and slicing all your apples, which, let's face it, is cake (pun intended). The thickener I have used here is tapioca starch. Tapioca is a thickening agent and usually comes in the form of small, medium, or large pearls that need to be soaked to be edible. Tapioca starch is the ground-up, refined version and is an excellent substitute for cornstarch and other thickeners. Tapioca also happens to be gluten-free.
This recipe is a staple if you love apple pie or need a place for your surplus of apples. Try it and you'll love it!

Apple Pie Filling
(adapted from allrecipes.com)

Yield: Makes a little more than 2 quarts of filling

13 c peeled, cored, & thinly sliced apples (use an assortment of types)
2 c granulated sugar
4 T tapioca starch
1 t ground cinnamon
2 t lemon juice

In a very large saucepan, mix the apples and sugar and turn the heat on medium-low. Start mixing until the juices begin to run from the apples and there is some liquid at the bottom of the pan. This will take about a minute or two. Keep stirring until all the sugar dissolves. This will take another few minute. Turn the heat to medium high and add the starch, cinnamon, and lemon juice and continue to mix until the liquid starts to thicken. Take the apples off the stove and spoon them into the prepped jars, filling them to within a 1/4" from the very top, taking care to leave no air bubbles. You can rid your cans of air bubbles easily by taking a narrow spatula or butter knife and running along the inner edge of the jar until no air bubbles remain. Make sure you pack the apples in really tightly.
Place the lid on top and screw tightly. Continue the canning process. Once complete and cooled, you will have apple pie filling for any day of the year... no matter the season! The filling will keep, properly sealed, for up to a year in your pantry. Just pop open the lid, fill a pie crust with a quart of filling, top it with an additional crust and bake as you normally would an apple pie. If you are using storebought crust, the directions will be on the box.

Enjoy!

Homemade Apple Pie Spice Blend

Don't you just love apples this time of year?

As much as they define one of the flavors of this season, there is another possibly more characteristic component to Fall baking. It is none other than the spices used to bake them. Nowhere is spice more indicative of a time or season, that in Autumn. Wafting aromas from an opened bottle of apple pie spice hit me with a heady, cozy image of Fall, cooler temperatures, big, warm sweaters, trick-or-treating, streets lined with red, yellow, and brown leaves that crinkle underfoot, and of course, Thanksgiving. Mmmm, delicious.

So, in this post, I am going to teach you how to make one spice blend that is essential to Fall baking - apple pie spice. And no, it is not only great for apple pie. It is fabulous in cookies, cakes, cheesecakes, pancakes and muffins, breads, and any other dessert you want to label "spiced" or "Autumnal" which to me, is entirely synonymous with comfort.

You can use pre-ground spices for the below recipe and end up with a really nice result. Some spices, such as nutmeg and cloves, I like to buy in whole form and grate when I need them. It lends a distinctively fresher flavor. Making your own spice blends is quite an economical way to go. Plus you will have many more spices in your pantry to play around with. And remember to do just that - play around with your spice blends to come up with your favorite flavors. There are so many variations on spice blends that the possibilities are endless. Good luck and have fun!

Apple Pie Spice
(Created by Leelabean)

Yield: a little under 1/2 cup

1/4 c ground cinnamon
2 T ground nutmeg
1 T allspice
1 t ginger (optional)
1 t ground cardamon (optional)

Blend all spices and store in an airtight container for up to 18 months. Experiment by varying the amounts or throwing in some ground cloves (make sure to use very little as clove is a very potent spice) for a slightly different variation on this apple pie spice blend.

Thanksgiving

This year we had Thanksgiving at our house. It was low-key but special and completely enjoyable with the kids parttaking in the preparation of Thanksgiving dinner. It was the first year I truly felt like they were involved and sharing in the true meaning of the celebration.
We roasted a turkey and all the trimmings - sausage sage stuffing, roasted veggies, garlic mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, apple cider gravy and a dish of "plain jane" green beans, specifically requested by the kids. For dessert we had a Nutella cheesecake with an almond crust and pecan & walnut bars rather than the usual pies.
To start the day, I made a batch of apple cider donuts. I'd just purchased a donut pan and wanted to try baking donuts - something I'd never done before. They were easy to throw together for breakfast and ended up being a delicious start to the most wonderful day of the year (in my opinion), especially with a steaming hot cup of coffee or hot chocolate (topped with whipped cream, of course)! Go over to The City Sisters blog to get the recipe that I used. This version is a healthy swap-out to the usual fried donut.
I dipped some of mine in cinnamon sugar, some in a maple glaze, and others in a maple glaze with crumbled bacon on top. The sweet and salty combination was my personal favorite.

Happy Thanksgiving...!

Apple Pie Cupcakes

Last week I mentioned that my two favorite flavors of fall are pumpkin and apple. Well, after opening one of those giant 32oz cans of pumpkin and making use of all the delicious goodness inside, I'm ready to move on to the wonderful world of apples! (This doesn't mean I'm done with pumpkins, by any stretch!)
I wanted to bring a bunch of cupcakes to a dear friend of mine who did a huge favor for me this week. She has two young kids, so an apple cupcake is a healthier, more acceptable flavor for them, which works well for me. After spending some time thinking about what flavors could meld well with apples and drawing inspiration from this idea, I decided I definitely wanted the flavors of this cupcake to echo those of a warm, buttery apple pie. I didn't just want apple pie filling in a vanilla cupcake, though. I wanted you to feel like you were eating apple pie in cupcake form - crispy, flaky crust and all.
My base was to be a brown butter cupcake. If you haven't already, you really need to brown butter in your kitchen. The nutty, buttery aroma fills your house. It's butter, only taken up 10 notches... The brown butter cupcake is like a toasted vanilla cupcake, which, in this case, reflected the crust of an apple pie. For the filling, I made a traditional apple pie filling and cut out a substantial chunk of the cupcake to fill it up. What did I do with the cut-outs, you are wondering? Dunno.. They seemed to disappear as I was cutting them.. :-)

After having discovered Biscoff spread a few weeks ago, I knew I wanted to incorporate this flavor into these cupcakes. So I made a Biscoff buttercream to top off my apple pie cupcakes with. Biscoff, in case you are not aware, is a European cookie. It's cinnamon-y and caramel-y and crunchy and satisfying. If you've ever flown Delta, you'll know that it's the in-flight cookie of choice. Biscoff spread is a molten, spreadable cookie-in-a-jar. Think Nutella, only different... in a good way. You have to try it. You can find it near the peanut butter and other spreadable goodies in your local grocery store. Try it, and let me know what you think.

My cupcake taster this time around was my hubbie. I had cut one of the finished cupcakes in half to photograph for this post earlier in the day so there were two halves sitting on the plate waiting for him. My hubbie said he would probably only have one half. He's not too big on sweets, especially apple pie. He'd rather have a beer than dessert... the thought is incomprehensible, especially as my husband! But to his credit, he always makes sure he tastes my creations and gives me his 100% honest critique on them. *LOVE* Ok, enough about him. I turned away from him for a minute and when I turned back, the plate was empty. He gave me a grin and said "that was the best cupcake you've ever made." He is not one to give compliments easily. He tells it like it is. *LOVE x 2*

Apple Pie Cupcakes with Biscoff Buttercream

Brown Butter Cupcakes:

1 1/2 cups AP flour

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter (heated to brown butter point)

1 1/2 t vanilla

1/2 cup milk

Apple Pie Filling:

2 T and 1/2 T butter, unsalted and separate

1 T flour

3 apples (any kind), small dice

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

2 t Apple pie spice

Biscoff Buttercream:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, unsalted 

3-4 cups confectioners sugar

4 T Biscoff spread

1/4 cup milk, cream, or half and half

pinch of salt

1 t vanilla extract  

Preheat your oven to 350F. Combine flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl. Cream the eggs and sugar in a mixer until thick and pale.  On low, add the butter, salt, and vanilla until combined. Then add the milk. Once incorporated, add the dry ingredients until just combined.

Bake in lined cupcake wrappers for 20 - 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out crumb-free. While the cupcakes are baking, make the apple pie filling. In a saute pan on medium heat, melt the 2 T of butter. Once the butter is melted, add in the diced apple and sugars and cook for about 5 minutes or until the apples begin to soften. Then sprinkle the apple pie spice on the mixture as well as the flour. Toss and cooke for another 5 minutes. Turn off the stove and add the remaining 1/2 T of butter. Combine well. Set aside to cool completely.

To make the buttercream: Beat the butter for a few minutes until light and airy. Add the salt and vanilla and then the powdered sugar a cup at a time, reducing to 1/2 cup at a time to determine the consistency you desire. Blend in the Biscoff  buttercream until well incorporated. At this point you can adjust the consistency of your buttercream with the milk/cream/half and half.

To assemble the cupcakes: Take a cupcake and gently cut out the center with a knife in the shape of a cone. You can take out as much or as little as you'd like based on how much filling you want in your cupcakes. Then add about a tablespoon (more or less depending on the size of the hole) of apple pie filling to the cupcake. Frost as desired.