As the weather changes and the nights start drawing in I look for warm filling comfort food that gets me in the mood for the changing season.
Whilst America goes mad for pumpkin spice at this time of year, aside from the Starbucks pumpkin spice latte it isn’t yet a big trend here. We make do with other traditional Autumn fruits and foods instead.
Getting the kids involved with the cooking is always fun for them and a great way to pass the time on damp dark evenings.
One of the first dishes we make to mark the start of Autumn is the humble apple and blackberry crumble. The kids have a great time blackberry picking in the park and we are usually lucky enough to have a friend or neighbour that has an apple tree with apples to gift. Of course it has to be served with a hot custard.
Another pudding I have loved from childhood is baked apples. These are very quick and easy to make and make another warm comforting dessert. Baked apples mark the start of cinnamon season in our house.
We used the BBC good food website for ours as it gives all the nutritional information as well as being easy enough to follow for a useless cook like me.
The recipe we used can be found here
I was helped by my 3 year old and 2 year old nephews to make these so they are really simple and even the smallest of hands can get involved.
Hot soup is one of the first foods I crave as the temperatures drop. We add an Autumn twist to home made bread rolls with hedgehog rolls, we follow a standard bread roll recipe and add currants for the eyes and nose. The spines are simply created with scissors once you have formed the shape of your roll. My 8 year old daughter made the first batch this weekend with the help of her Grandad.
What are your favourite Autumn comfort foods?
