Apples and Honey; An Inspired Apple Crisp

Almost a year ago I,  along with a few other bloggers were contacted by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to participate in some short Foodland Ontario videos featuring our blogs and small businesses.  It was a pretty great experience, and one of the best things about it was being introduced to some other fabulous bloggers.  Here it is if you haven't seen it, the garden pretty much looks the same right now; All beets:

One of the other Ontario bloggers featured was Dallas of South Western Ontario Foodie. Her video includes this awesome apple crisp, check it out:

We haven't met in person yet but after a year of chatting and cooking her recipes I'm ready to share the best crisp recipe out there and then the Cubit's version inspired by apples and honey.  

Here is how we do Dallas' Recipe; A perfect mix of maple syrup and cranberries really liven things up:

7 small sized apples unpeeled and chopped into thin slices

1 cup of fresh or frozen cranberries

1/3 cup flour

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup melted butter

Preheat the oven to 375F. Put the apples and cranberries at the bottom of a pie pan. Mix the other ingredients together but not too long or they will clump. Sprinkle the mixture over the fruit and pat it down. Bake for 20 minutes. Serve warm or cold.

This is seriously the best thing I have ever tasted and we make it weekly during apple season.

Sometimes you need a little variation.  So let me introduce you to the wonder that is apples, honey, raisins and cinnamon. We're using these lovely little apples from our heirloom apple adventure.  These ones keep their shape and colour while cooking and we think they are Chestnut Crabs or a close relation.

7 small sized apples unpeeled and chopped into thin slices

1/2 cup of raisins

1/3 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

1 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup melted butter

Preheat the oven to 375F. Put the apples and raisins at the bottom of a pie pan with half the brown sugar and the cinnamon mixed in. Mix the other ingredients loosely together, but not too long or they will clump. Sprinkle the mixture over the fruit and pat it down. Bake for 20 minutes. Serve warm or cold.

Now I make one of each every time. It's so easy and I have two pie plates so why not?  

Both versions are excellent for desert either alone or with some ice cream, or for breakfast, sometimes with yogurt.  I've made us some to eat while we press the cider tomorrow.

Make Your Own Organic Cranberry Sauce {Enough for both Canadian Thanksgiving and Christmas}

I had a lovely evening out last week with my friend Shana.  We went out on the town to a canning class put on by Bernardin in a local church kitchen. Although we're both becoming rather seasoned canners it's nice: 


1. To have a nice community event to go to.
2. We kind of like hanging out in church basements.
3. We need to start having real answers when we get asked questions about canning instead of having to admit to some of our bad practices and mishaps (see here, and here for details).



One of the recipes shared by Chef Emerie was for Spiced Cranberry Preserves.  The process is the same as this recipe for cranberry sauce off the rather useful home canning website.  The only difference is that this method uses 1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves and 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon so no need for cheese cloth. I actually used a 1/4 teaspoon of each. There's also a good recipe for straight up cranberry sauce which is basically just a larger amount without the spices.  

This is so simple.  Thanksgiving and Christmas Cranberries are essentially just jam so you really can't go wrong. 


The high pectin content of cranberries really makes this simple though; 10 minutes and you're set.  Get it? Set?  That's a jam joke. Really though, I had completely finished this project in one toddler nap and even had time to call my dad and a clean kitchen when she woke up.

I made this recipe twice; once with the spices and one without.  I think they are equally delicious but we'll be putting them to a taste test on Sunday at Thanksgiving dinner.

So the recipe is: 

4 cups of fresh cranberries {but frozen would work fine too}
1 1/2 cups of water
2 cups of sugar

1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon {optional}

1/4 teaspoon of cloves {optional}

makes 4x 250ml jars

Our version is entirely organic. The Big Carrot and Better Bulk {both on the Danforth in Toronto} have  awesome organic spice sections and it is getting easier and easier to find organic ingredients at the grocery store.


I wish I could have found Ontario Cranberries today as they certainly grow pretty close to home, but it seems there are only three commercial cranberry producers in Ontario. The store had frozen and organic from BC, Some from Maine, and then the fresh organic Quebec ones I ended up choosing. I'm going to keep my eye out at the farmer's market this weekend as I have a few more cranberry recipes I need to make and the foodies & farmers of twitter tell me there are smaller scale cranberry growers to look for.

Let's can some cranberries while there's still enough time to do this for Thanksgiving dinner this weekend:


Prepare your jars and lids by washing and bringing your jars to a boil and in a separate pot bringing your lids to a simmer.


In your best non-reactive pot, combine all your ingredients over medium heat.

Cook for 10 minutes or so.  You'll see / hear the cranberries burst / split / explode. Here's a photo of them splitting. They really pop.

I then squished a few up with the back of my spoon just to mix things up a little.


Quickly jar up the preserves with a 1/4inch head room, wipe the rims, put on your warm lids, screw finger tight and then heat process for 10 minutes.  That's it! You're done and the star of Thanksgiving dinner with some extra to bring again at Christmas; Ensuring that you remain your parent's favourite daughter.

All kidding aside, I'm really pleased with how these turned out and would recommend making some both to the seasoned canner and the tenderfoot who is looking for an easy to make preserve that will certainly be well received.


If you would like detailed step by step canning instructions just check out www.homecanning.com.  I really couldn't lay it out any better and there are even instructional videos.

Recipe: Perfect Cinnamon rolls AKA Cinnamuffins

After many glorious failures on the cinnamon bread front, I have finally found and tweaked a great recipe for cinnamon bread.  Not to stop there, we have now developed the perfect recipe for cinnamon rolls.   Ryan calls them cinnamuffins and Rebecca likes to unwind them and share them with the dog.

This is a real bread recipe so there is some waiting around while it rises but it is easy-peasy when you use a stand mixer.  Should yield about 2 dozen buns.

For the bread

½ cup of milk

3 tablespoons of raw sugar

2 teaspoons of salt

3 tablespoons of butter

4 ½ teaspoons of dry yeast (that’s 2 packages)

1½ cups of warm tap water

5 ½ cups of unbleached all-purpose flour

For the filling

butter

4 teaspoons of cinnamon

1 cup of brown sugar

½ cup of raisins

1 teaspoon milk

1 egg white

Heat milk, butter, sugar and salt in a small saucepan over low heat until sugar is fully dissolved.  This should take less than 5 minutes.  Cool until lukewarm.

Dissolve yeast in warm water in a warm mixer bowl.  Add the milk mixture to the bowl. Using the dough hook attachment on low speed, mix in the flour ½ cup at a time.  After about 5 minutes total, you should have a nice smooth and elastic lump of dough that cleans the sides of the bowl.

Make a nice ball with your dough and place in a greased bowl, we use sunflower oil, roll it around so the top is greased too.  Cover well and place in a nice warm spot where there is no chance of a draft.  After about 1 hour it should have doubled in size.

Punch the dough down and divide in thirds.  Roll out one piece on a well-floured surface.  We have a tiny kitchen so I like to use a cutting board over the sink.

Spread butter on dough and cover with cinnamon sugar mixture and raisins. Cut into strips as wide as your muffin tin is tall.  A pizza cutter really works well for this.  For regular muffin tins, 10-12 inches is about the right length and for the mini ones, 4 or 5 inches is all you need.

Roll up the dough while paying attention to optimal raisin placement.

Place rolls in well buttered muffin tins.  They do not need to be perfect, as when they rise for the second time they even themselves out.  

Brush egg white and milk mixture on top.  Cover with a tea towel and put back in that warm draft free spot from earlier for another hour until doubled again.

Bake a 375 for 25-30 minutes.  Remove from tins immediately and cool on wire racks.  

Devour, preferably with a cup on tea on the deck while the baby naps.