Aromas of Autumn
Published November 24, 2021
Thanksgiving - a day when hearts are as full as serving platters and warm as mugs of apple cider. We welcome the holiday season with a comforting cornucopia of food, family, and friendship. And with this roundup of festive recipes infused with aromas of autumn, you’ll turn to them again and again. Happy Turkey Day!
Roasted Stuffed Turkey Breast with Apple Cider Gravy
Sometimes, roasting a whole turkey is just too much of an undertaking. A stuffed breast though? It's surprisingly easy, super flavorful, and much easier to carve.
4 lbs Turkey Breast (Two 2 pound breasts), deboned and butterflied
1 cup panko
1 cup chicken stock
2 cups peeled and minced tart green apples
2/3 cups dried cranberries
2/3 cup walnuts
½ cup minced shallot
1 tsp minced sage
4 Tbsp maple syrup
1 Tbsp butter, melted
Salt and Pepper
Preheat oven 375°F. Place each butterflied turkey breast on top of a sheet of plastic wrap. Cover with 2 layers of plastic wrap. Pound with a meat mallet to thin and flatten to even thickness. Remove plastic wrap and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the panko and stock in a medium sized bowl. Stir in the apples, walnuts, cranberries, shallots, maple syrup and sage. Spread the filling over the surface of the turkey, leaving ½ inch to an inch margin around all sides. Starting at one end, roll up the roast, leaving skin side of breast exposed for roasting. Place carefully on sheet pan with roasting rack. Brush with melted butter and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 1 hour or until roasts reaches 150°F in the center (I check a few places to ensure doneness). Tent with foil while baking if browning too quickly. Let rest tented with foil for 15 minutes before carving ½ inch slices. Serve with Apple Cider Gravy, below.
For the Apple Cider Gravy:
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
1 cup apple cider
2 cups chicken stock
6 sage leaves
2 sprigs thyme
1-2 Tbsp dark brown sugar
Heat a saucepan over medium high heat. Melt the butter and add the flour, whisking well for 1 minute. Add in cider, stock, sage and thyme. Bring to boil and reduce to a simmer until slightly thickened. Add brown sugar, salt and pepper to taste and let thicken for 1 more minute. Remove herbs with a spoon or run gravy through a fine mesh sieve. Serve hot.
Apple Cinnamon Cake
Step aside Turkey…this stunning apple cinnamon cake draped in caramel apple sauce is about to steal the show. I turned my favorite carrot cake recipe into an apple and ended up with a moist and delicious cake so good you can serve it topless, just on its own.
The Cake – Recipe Makes 2 Cakes:
2 cups sugar
1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
3 extra-large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 cups shredded Macintosh apples, squeeze dried well
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease two 9-by-2-inch round cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment paper, and grease and flour the pans. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the sugar, oil, and eggs on medium-high speed for 2 minutes, until light yellow and thickened. Stir in the vanilla. In another bowl, sift together the 2 cups of flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ones. In a medium bowl, toss the walnuts with the 1 tablespoon of flour. Stir walnut mixture and apples into the batter with a rubber spatula. Divide the batter between the prepared pans and smooth the tops. Bake for 10 minutes, lower the heat to 350 degrees F, and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 15 minutes, turn out onto a baking rack, and cool completely.
For the Apple Rose Decoration:
2 lb McIntosh apples (about 6 apples, cut into ½ inch thick wedges)
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
Salt, pinch
2 Tbsp Butter
Toss apples with sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon. Melt butter in skillet over medium-high heat. Add apples and sauté until golden, about 5 minutes. Cool completely. Carefully arrange apples in circular pattern creating a rose shape on top of cooled Apple Cake. Drizzle with Caramel Apple Sauce below.
For the Caramel Apple Sauce:
½ cup light brown sugar
¼ cup butter
¼ cup heavy cream
Salt, pinch
2 Tbsp apple cider
1 Tbsp powdered sugar, sifted
Place sugar, butter, heavy cream, apple cider and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Whisk constantly for 1 minute. Remove from heat and whisk in powdered sugar. Run through fine mesh sieve if clumping from sugar occurs. Cool at least 15 minutes. The longer this sits the thicker it becomes. Choose desired consistency and drizzle over Apple Rose design on cake.
Spiked Cider
8 oz Apple Cider
5 oz Bourbon or Rum
2 Tbl Honey Syrup, equal parts hot water and honey, stirred until dissolved
2 Star Anise, plus more for garnish
1 Cinnamon Stick, plus more for garnish
Cranberries, for garnish
Apple Slices, for garnish
Add all ingredients to a pot over medium heat. Warm through and serve with extra cinnamon sticks, apple slices and cranberries for a festive flare.
Enjoy!
Renée Meuse Lovley