Fruit Butter or Sauce

I like to collect wild apples in the fall and cook them into butter or sauce.  If you know of some trees that bare fruit in the fall, begin tasting them to see when they will be ripe.  Summer rain helps them to be juicy, dry apples don't work as well.  Very tart apples take lots of sugar.  When they are ripe, pick a bag, wash and pare out dark spots.  You don't need to peel or cut out cores.  Just quarter and drop into a large pot.  If they are juicy, you need no extra water.  Cook over medium until tender.  Once cooled enough to safely handle, put through a fruit mill.  Oxo 1071478 Good Grips Food Mill.  This is easy but messy.  Best to do this part over the kitchen sink.

Now you have lovely sauce to add a bit of sugar or honey and cinnamon to taste.  If you want fruit butter, put back on the stove and cook until thick.  Use a wooden spoon to stir. Freeze or can in a water bath.
Enjoy!

Deep Dish Apple Pie

Pare 6 to 8 Granny Smiths and pack into buttered baking dish.
Season with 1/4 to 1/2 C. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 Tbl. rice flour (if apples are juicy)
Dot with 1 Tbl. butter or ghee

Cover with a top crust and bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes.

Crust:
1/4 C. ghee
1/4 tsp. sea salt
3/4 C. brown rice flour
1 tsp. baking powder

This non-gluten dough is very tender and crumbly.  I'd add more flour to get it to a handling texture, then try rolling or pressing between waxed paper.  Carefully lie crust over apples and bake until apples are tender.
Serve with coconut ice cream.

Christmas Coffee Cake

Set oven at 350.  Butter a 9 inch pan and set aside.

Mix together:
1 cup applesauce (I like making my own)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter or ghee (melted) or oil (no canola, naughty list)
1 egg (optional)

Combine:
1 cup rice flour
3/4 millet flour
1 tsp baking soda  (I use non-aluminum baking powder, unless I need the soda to react with something acidic, and in this recipe, it will react with the applesauce.  Still, I prefer baking powder.)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp powdered cloves
1 tsp ginger

Optional:
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or other nuts

Add the applesauce mixture to flour and blend quickly.  Spoon into pan, smooth, and bake for 30-40 min.

This recipe adapted from Fanny Farmer cookbook.  I'd penciled in the cookbook the changes in flour and oil, but haven't made this cake in awhile--so the liquid to dry volume may need some adjusting.  Cake batter should be thinner, but not too thin.  Fanny says you can also add 1/4 finely cut candied ginger to the batter, if you like.  I've cut the sugar by 3/8 cup--which you could mix with cinnamon, butter and walnuts and spread over the top of the baked cake, broil until bubbly and golden brown; Yummy!

 Have a nice rest of your Christmas.
Nancy