Harvest Time Equals Baking Time With Pears and Apples

I love this time of year in Sacramento. We get tons pf produce year round but in September it is the best time for apples from Apple Hill, just above Placerville, California, and pears from Courtland, California. Although the weather here has been in the upper 90's and often times triple digits I found that I could not resist when I went to the Farmers Market this weekend. The apples and pears were abundant and all I could think of was baking with them. The aroma of cinnamon, brown sugar together with butter and pears and apples is enough to make me completely wild! I purchased so many pears and apples that I was forced to create two dishes with the majority of them. First I made pear and apple muffins for the next morning's breakfast and then I made pear and apple crisp for tonight's dessert.  Although I will say that both Michael and Autumn could not wait for breakfast the next morning to sample the muffins.  The aroma that wafted through our home was absolutely incredible!!

Gluten-Free Harvest Pear and Apple Spice Muffins

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup butter

3 cups diced pears and apples

3 cups Amy's cake flour mix (see recipe below)

1 cup brown sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1.2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Whick together eggs, milk, and butter until blended completely.  Stir in diced fruit.  Combine remaining ingredients in separate bowl.  Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir just until blended.  Do not over mix.  Let batter sit for 20 minutes in order for the batter to soak up the pear and apple flavor.  Pour batter between 19 and 20 greased muffin cups and bake at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown on top.  Serve warm with cinnamon-sugar butter.

PEAR AND APPLE CRISP

FILLING

3 pears, peeled and chopped into bit-size pieces

3 apples, peeled,and chopped into bit-size pieces

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2-3 Tablespoons lemon juice

4 Tablespoons to 1/4 c. white sugar or turbinado sugar (to taste)

2 Tablespoons to 1/8 c. brown sugar (to taste)

2 Tablespoons (more or less) GF Flour mix - depending on juiciness of the apples

CRISP TOPPING

6 Tablespoons butter, slightly softened

1/2 c. GF quick oats, roughly ground almonds, walnuts, or quinoa flakes

1/4 c. Featherlight flour mix 

2 Tablespoons white sugar (to taste)

2 Tablespoons brown sugar (to taste)

optional: ground cinnamon (1 tsp) and freshly ground nutmeg (1 tsp)

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 375*F. Peel and chop pears and apples into small pieces.  Put into a medium bowl and sprinkly with lemon juice. Mix. Add sugars, flour and cinnamon. Mix together very well. Pour into medium (for thin) or small (for deep) baking dish. Put softened butter into the same bowl where you mixed the apples. Add oats (or other option), flour and sugars and “squish” together well until crumbly. Pour and crumble over apples in baking dish evenly. Bake for 23-30 minutes. Cool slightly before serving (5-10 minutes).  Serve over all natural GF vanilla ice cream.

Amy's Gluten-Free Cake Flour

This is simply a slightly altered version of Bette Hagman's Featherlight Rice Mix-with less tapioca, to prevent a bouncy texture when baking cakes.

For 9 cups:

3 cups rice flour

3 cups cornstarch or arrowroot

2 cups potato starch

1 cup tapioca starch

3 tablespoons potato flour

Bette Hagman's Featherlight Rice Mix

1 part white rice flour (or brown)

1 part tapioca flour

1 part cornstarch

Potato flour (not starch), 1 teaspoon for each cup of other flour

For Nine Cups

3 cups white rice flour (or brown) If 3 cups tapioca flour

3 cup cornstarch

3 tablespoons potato flour

Cinnamon Sugar Butter

4 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teasppons sugar