Kitchen Projects for Autumn

Apples? Pears? Quince? Pumpkin? I got you!

I know, I know. You don’t need me to tell you that the seasons are changing! But may I please be your canary in the coal mine just for a moment?

Over the next few months, we’re going to settle into some of the best baking of the year. It is a blessing to write this newsletter every week, but I can’t lie to you - there are times mid July that I start yearning for Orchard fruit. So ordinary and hardy compared to their summer counterparts (as IF a tayberry could live up to a year in cold storage?), apples, pears and quinces are both comfort and luxury.

Orchards heave with fruit while, just over the hedgerow, pumpkin patches mature into gourdy waves of orange and green. The portraits I take of my orchard fruit relax me to no end. Just look at these pears bathing in their poaching juice, or when they are drying off, languishing comfortably like ladies relaxing at the kenwood bathing pond?

Whether you call it fall or autumn (there is some intriguing etymology there and even though I’ve always thought autumn was much more sophisticated, fall is actually the older term in English), I’ve gathered some of the season’s best bakes for you to help soften the blow - literally and figuratively - of October’s chill.

Below you’ll find some of my faves from newsletter and SIFT (Order it here) And don’t forget, you always have the Kitchen Projects archive with hundreds of recipes and projects - big and small - to explore.

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Pear bars

So, it turns out that every single year I have to take a run at making some kind of orchard fruit and shortbread combination. This is a case of ‘sorry not sorry’ - it’s a classic duo worthy of remixing FOREVER AND EVER.

Maybe I’m always chasing the high of a childhood apple crumble (which I do have a recipe for here), maybe I just can’t commit to a whole frangipane tart, but these hit all the right autumn notes: Spiced, crunchy shortbread, gooey oat & almond frangipane, generous layer of poached pears. Eat as-is, or serve with a little spoon of creme fraiche or something tangy and creamy for dessert.

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Apple Butter

Well worth making, apple butter is made by cooking, reducing and blending apples until you get a thick consistency. It can be used to add a pure apple flavour to anything - from spreading on the base of galettes or pies, swirling into buttercream on a layer cake or whisking into caramels. You can make it with just apples (like Claire Dinhut does here) or you can add sugar and apple cider vinegar for a tangy profile.

I’ve shared a slow cooker version on KP+ , but you can find the original recipe for salted apple caramel bars here.

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Apple Butter Thins

You can use apple butter to make these rich, snappy oat biscuits. With frilly crisp edges and a warm undertone flavour from the apple butter, this is the kind of biscuit you’ll want to keep a consistent supply of. And they’re egg-free! If you don’t want to make apple butter or have the time, there is also a recipe for a lacey oat biscuit (aka my 3am oat biscuits) that doesn’t require it. Click here for the recipe

3am oat biscuits are my new personality

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Apple Charlotte

A very non traditional take on charlotte - layers of apple compote, vanilla mousse and light sponge with multicoloured apple slices on top. in SIFT, pg. 268

ANDDDDD a lil bonus wobbling GIF from the shoot just BECAUSE.

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Quince Recipe Index

Poaching quinces, a transformation

From how to poach quinces to a cheese and quince pie, to making membrillo to jelly, this newsletter will tell you how to find, what to do, and how to fall in love with quince. The first part is hard, but the other bits are easy! Click here to read it.

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Apple Tart

Combining Specuulos spiced tart dough, rye frangipane, apple custard compote and thinly sliced apples with reduced apple juice, this tart is a showstopper with heart. It has such a depth of flavour and feels like a slice of autumn. Click here to make it.

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Sticky upside-down walnut and pear cake

This might be the perfect Sunday lunch dessert. Served warm, it has incredible earthiness from the walnuts, and the sticky goo makes it a rival for sticky toffee pudding. The recipe is in SIFT—click here to get it.

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Pear Pies

I think pear loves being in a pie - here you’ve got two choices. A chocolate pecan frangipane pie, in mini form, or this caramel pear pie, one of my favourite recipes. Both noble options for October and the months ahead.

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Pumpkin & Parmesan Torta

In this edition of the newsletter, I get to grips with all the different varieties of pumpkins with a guide of what to buy and what to avoid (in my opinion), finishing with an Italian-inspired torta rich with parmesan and sage.

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Apple Cake

My perfect apple cake is baked in a low wide tray and has lots of thinly sliced apples on it to maximise the fruit-to-cake ratio. Let’s normalise thin cakes, guys, especially if you’re not a fan of that gummy apple-to-cake ratio. With a demerara crust, it’s a total treat. Click here to make it.

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Clodagh’s Tart Tatin

Clodagh Manning, former pastry chef of Lyles, London who now lives & cooks in NYC. The classic in question? Tarte Tatin. Glassy and perfect, it’s everything you could want in a TT recipe. Click here to make it!

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Caramelised Apple Custard Cake

Tender rye and brown sugar sponge meets caramelised apples and rich creme patissiere and crunchy, oaty streusel topping in this autumn showstopper. This recipe is a take on the rhubarb custard crumble cake in SIFT (pg. 252) and this newsletter is dedicated to showing you how to adapt your own recipes from ones you already love! Click here for the recipe.

or what about a Vol au Vent?

For the more retro minded, may I tempt you into the apple/custard/oat combo with these apple vol au vents? basically the cutest lil pies you ever did see.

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Sticky Pear and Ginger Shortbread

SEE, I TOLD YOU I LOVE PEARS AND SHORTBREAD! Herb-scented shortbread with a sticky ginger and pear filling, chocolate optional. I HAD to make these after finding this cute pear-shaped cutter, but any shape will do. Click here for the recipe.

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Fluffy Apple Creme Fraiche Pudding / Classic Apple Clafoutis

This newsletter has a 2-for-1 recipe - by altering the method, you can get a fluffy sponge pudding, or you can keep it classic with a dense custardy clafoutis. You do you! Click here to make it.

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Cissy’s cosy pumpkin pudding

I LOVE this recipe by Cissy Difford, a steamed pumpkin pudding with maple pecan caramel. Is this FALL