Apple Cider Doughnuts

Growing up it was an annual fall tradition to make the trip to Eberly's Orchard, near my grandparents' house in North Liberty, Indiana. Don Eberly was my mother's school bus driver, and ran an orchard and cider mill on his family farm. I have such fond memories of walking into the barn and watching the apples go up a long conveyor belt to be pressed into cider that would come out fresh from the spout and into tiny Dixie cups for sampling. While no orchard can quite compare to the one of my childhood nostalgia, I consider it a necessary autumn ritual to make a trip to a nearby orchard with friends.

While Eberly's didn't have doughnuts that I can recall (I'd likely remember if they did), I got used to them as orchard treat from my time in Michigan and Vermont. When I moved to North Carolina, I was shocked that I couldn't find apple cider donuts anywhere, so I started making my own. In the past few years, they've become a staple for backyard shows, brunches, and Halloween parties. 

I use smitten kitchen's recipe, adapted only slightly, the main difference being that I like to add a little cardamom to my dough and to the sugar coating. Getting the hang of frying can be tricky at first if you've never tried it-- don't be afraid to sample the first few to make sure you're hitting the sweet spot of a little crisp on the outside while still soft and cakey on the inside. 

Apple Cider Doughnuts

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Makes 1 1/2 dozen, depending on size

Ingredients:

1 cup apple cider

3 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 scant teaspoon cinnamon + 1 1⁄2 Tablespoon additional for topping

1⁄2 teaspoon sea salt

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon cardamom

4 Tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar + 1 cup additional for topping

2 large eggs

1⁄2 c. buttermilk

A lot of veggie oil for frying

Directions:

1. Pour apple cider into a medium-sized saucepan, and over medium heat, bring cider to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low so the cider is gently simmering. Let simmer about 30 minutes until it has reduced to about 1⁄4 c. set aside and let cool.

2. In a medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients except for sugar and extra cinnamon and set aside.

3. With an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs, beating after each addition. Once the mixture is well-combined, reduce the speed to low and add the reduced apple cider and buttermilk, beating until just incorporated. Add the dry ingredients and mix until the dough is well-combined, smooth, and begins to come together in a ball.

4. On a cookie sheet lined with floured parchment paper, roll out the dough to about 1⁄2-inches thick. Move the dough and paper to a cookie sheet and put it in the freezer for about 20 minutes. Once the dough has firmed up in the freezer, remove and cut with a doughnut cutter (or ball jar and a shot glass). Place the doughnuts onto another cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Once you’ve cut all the doughnuts, place them in the fridge for about 20 minutes while you prepare your oil.

5. Now before we get to any hot grease situation, make sure you are wearing closed-toed shoes and are properly clothed—hot oil can be dangerous so be careful!  Using a pot or pan with tall sides, pour in enough veggie oil to reach a depth of approximately 3-inches. Put a candy thermometer in the side of the pan and slowly heat the oil over medium heat until it reaches 350 degrees F.

6. Meanwhile, prepare your post fry set-up: stack a few layers of paper towels on a plate for doughnut blotting. Mix the 1 cup sugar and 1 1⁄2 Tablespoon cinnamon (I like to add a pinch of cardamom too) together in a wide shallow bowl and set aside.

7. Now you're ready to fry. Add a few doughnuts at a time (3-4) to the hot oil and fry until they turn golden brown (this may take some testing and sampling), approximately 1 minute. Flip the doughnuts over and fry the other side for about 30 seconds-1 minute. Use a metal slotted spoon to remove the doughnuts from the grease and blot them on the paper towels. Then dip them into the cinnamon-sugar. 

8. Though tempting to eat right away (and you should definitely eat them while fresh and warm) try stringing the doughnuts using a sturdy rope or twine and tie them up, like a hammock, between two trees or posts. Challenge your pals to eat them from the string, no hands. Just a way to make a party that already has doughnuts, even better.



Related recipes:
Apple Galette
Apple Pie with Salted Caramel Glaze
Apple Slump
Cardamom Doughnut Muffins

The Friday Pie Slice

Inspired by Morgan, the genius at PandaHead, I'm serving up a new weekly series here on Nothing-in-the-House--The Friday Pie Slice! Each Friday, I'll post a round-up of pie and pie-relevant stories, links, and news from the past week. Expect historical articles and recipes, food events and interviews, music and art. If you've got something you think might be a good fit for The Slice, don't hesitate to get in touch. Got your plate? Let's eat!

1st slice. Check out Phoebe Lawless of Durham's Scratch Bakery (previously featured on the pie blog here and here) in the latest issue of Garden & Gun with recipes for 3 late summer pies and lovely illustrations to boot.

2nd slice. My pal April McGreger of Farmer's Daughter Brand Pickles and Preserves shares her preserve-making philosophy on A Chef's Life.

3rd slice. "Some made good pies, some made good applesauce. And some, made really good cider." Orchardist Lee Calhoun talks about his preservation of "old-timey apples" on WUNC.

The tasty crumbs. My friend and fellow folklorist Ashley Melzer and I just finished a short film for the Southern Foodways Alliance on DC's historic Maine Ave. Fish Market. If you watch closely, you'll notice that they do, in fact, sell pies there...

Illustration by Elizabeth Graeber from our book Pie: A Hand Drawn Almanac, available on Etsy

Apple Pickin' Recipes in Luri & Wilma

Ah....October at last. In my opinion, it's the best month of the year-- for woods walks in sweaters 'n' boots, Brit folk on the stereo, and a huge pot of apple butter cooking down on the stove (oh, also Halloween, duh!). But it takes a lot of apples to make all those jars of preserves, so you'd better make your way to your nearest orchard and pick yourself a bushel or two.

Growing up, we took a yearly visit to Eberly's Orchard, a place I've often mentioned and documented here. Since then, I've always tried to keep that annual tradition alive, finding a nearby apple orchard wherever I may be. Sometimes it's required convincing friends to spend a whole day in the car, and no orchard quite measures up to the one of my childhood, but I still consider it a necessary autumn ritual.

For Luri and Wilma's Fall Issue, I wrote a little piece about that tradition, and what to do with your apple pickin' haul i.e. make apple tarts, apple cider doughnuts, and apple butter! Above and below are pages from that story, and you can find my rustic apple tart recipe here, but for the full scoop, check out the issue online. Then gather up some friends, lace up your boots, and head out for the apple trees!

Eberly's apples, last days of summer, and pie

Photos by Abbi Hoiles Gee. See more of her photos of Eberly's here.

Every fall growing up, my family would drive out to Eberly's Orchard (previously blogged about when by friends Abbi and Michael made a visit with my parents a few years ago), near my grandparents' house in North Liberty, Indiana. Don Eberly, who still runs the orchard, but on a more limited scale, is a local hero former-school bus driver and a farmer, with a penchant for puns and folksy sayings. His apple barn is full of bags of apple varieties (including some heirloom varieties, like Northern Spies), folk art and handwritten signs with witty political messages and jokes.


As I recall, there were old metal toy tractors for kids to ride on, and bins of gourds and pumpkins. My favorite part though, aside from using the straight wooden ladder to reach the high-hanging fruit, was probably watching the apples go through the cider press, and tasting a sample, which Don would give us, straight from the spout. Eberly's is still my favorite orchard, hands down, even after my time in Vermont-- land of apples.

In keeping with our family tradition, my mom, grandma and aunt went out to Eberly's last weekend to pick apples and share stories of the old North Liberty days. This is my grandma Georgette, talking to Don at his cash register.

My mom made a pie from Eberly's apples they collected on this trip. Her apple pies always have the most delicious crumb topping. I've never tried to replicate it, because I'd always just rather eat hers.

A Tale of Two Tarts

Let's begin at the start of these tarts, which was for me, an apple picking adventure to Ayers Orchard in Cana, VA, the closest orchard I could find. Apple picking is THE quintessential fall tradition in my book, and I convinced 2 carloads of friends to drive 2 hours (plus) to humor me in my stubborn adherence to it. After being led on a wild goose chase by the Australian woman in the GPS, we stopped at a country gas station, where we got directions ("up the hill, down the hill, up the hill, and down the hill") to "his mama's house" from whence we were told to take "all lefts except for the right" to the orchard warehouse, where we were drawn a puzzling "map" by the orcardist, we FINALLY found the grove, enjoyed a lovely picnic, and picked a bushel each of Fujis and Arkansas Blacks.

Stuffed my spoils in my (mama's) shirt

Back home on the Piedmont, I turned these apples into butter, grilled-cheese apple sandwiches, daily snacks, and tarts. For the first I used this recipe from Alice Waters/Smitten Kitchen.   It calls for a food processor-mixed pastry, of which I was skeptical, but I had heard a lot of advocates of this practice, so I decided to give it a try. The dough came together easier than by hand, and the whole tart looked rather nice with its spiraled delicate apple slices, but I just don't think there's any comparison to pastry dough mixed by hand. The butter stays chunkier and melts less, making it so much flakier. It was still a tasty treat, and Neale and James came over to enjoy.

Neale and James in the TEZ

For the second tart, I decided to go with what I know--the standard crust recipe, and the apple butter my friend Lora and I had just made and canned. Plus Miss Lapidus was visiting. We opted for the rustic tart, being the rustic tarts that we are. Here's the approximate recipe we used:   Simple Rustic Apple Tart

Ingredients
Nothing-in-the-House pie crust (at right), using all-purpose flour
2 lbs. apples (we used Arkansas Blacks)
5 Tblsp. sugar: white and turbinado mixture
1/2 c. homemade apple butter
1 Tblsp. lemon juice

Directions 1. Make pie crust and once chilled, roll out in 10-in circle. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  2. Core and cut apples into delicate thin slices. Toss apples with lemon juice and 3 Tblsp. sugar.  3. Brush apple butter onto pastry dough and arrange apples on top of the apple butter in concentric spiraling circles. Fold crust over edges. Sprinkle 2 Tblsp. sugar over top of apples and crust.  4. Bake for 35-45 minutes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Enjoy!

You are what you eat: rustic tart for a rustic tart

In other news, I look forward to seeing what pies our Nothing-In-The-House correspondents will make for Thanksgiving, the #1 biggest pie day of the year!

Indiana Fall: A story in One Act

Last weekend, Michael and I paid a long overdue visit to Elkhart. Thanks to Emily's insistence that we re-live her childhood, we found ourselves traversing the back roads of Indiana in search of an old apple orchard. And then, gold:









Or so we thought. The late frosts this spring and lack of rain this summer have left parts of Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan shy on apples. Jacqueline was comforted by the gourds we found for sale, but Michael was inconsolable.




After we knocked on the door of the old house, however, and J reacquainted herself with the Eberlys, we were told to scavenge for whatever we could find:








In the midst of our frolicking, Don met us with a WWI-era shotgun (and his dog, I think from the same era). In jest, of course--or so he claimed. Walking through the orchard, we heard stories of elephants, crooked politicians, and hardy hibiscus.










The stories continued into the barn, where Don supplemented our meager fruit supply and sent us home with wishes for a delicious evening.

Jacqueline's pie did not disappoint.

Apple Pie: The Quest For Success!

how do ya like them apples?

Last Saturday, Louis, Marina and I met Carrie and Dana at Shelburne Orchards for some apple picking. There we ran into Nick, the quirky gentle giant and owner of the orchards who plays in a bluegrass band called "The Meat Packers." He knows us a little bit from when we (Hammer & Saw) played at the Small Farms Food Fest this September. We got to talking about pie, and I noticed a beaming twinkle in his eye, "I LOVE making pies," he exclaimed in his squeaky voice, unexpectedly high(though perfect for bluegrass) for such a giant of a man. "ME TOO." I told him--(*BING!* kindred spirit alert!) He put his arm around me, "I like you more and more." He then turned to Louis, "Do you make pies too?" he hesitated..."eh..sometimes." Louis had hardly uttered his reply when Nick gave a huff and completely turned his back. "Let's talk about pies," he said to me, as if we were in some secret society. I told him I wasn't completely satisfied yet with my apple pie, and he proceeded to give me detailed instructions--secrets not mentioned on his pie recipe featured on the orchard's apple bags. When he was finished, I promised him I'd let him know how it all turned out. So here it is. I followed most of his directions, though I kept my crust recipe basically intact and added my own twist. 

Nick's Apple Pie 

For the pie crust
makes 2 crusts, 1 double-crust apple pie

In a large mixing bowl, combine:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt

In a small bowl mix:
1/2 beaten egg (save other half to brush on top of crust)
1/4 cup ice cold water
1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

add:
1 1/2 sticks cold butter (cut into slices)

As per Nick's instructions, everything must be cold. Make a pond in the middle of the flour mixture for the liquid mixture. Add the cut up butter and salt. With 2 butter knives or a pastry cutter(Nick prefer's knives), chop the butter into the flour mixture, using the knife to keep the water from running off. Chop until mixed, but not overly mixed--the butter chunks are what makes the crust flaky! Knead into ball, cover and cool in fridge.

For the filling
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

8 good size apples, cored, peeled?(I like to leave the skins on. It saves time and is the most nutritious part of the apple, though some people are opposed to this practice) and cut into 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch pieces.
very lightly simmer in large skillet with....
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice to taste
1 tablespoon instant tapioca
Simmer until apples have just barely softened
Let cool.

Directions
Take the ball of crust dough and cut in half. There should be enough in each half for a bottom crust and a top crust. Roll the first one out using extra flower on the rolling pin(or wine bottle if you don't have one!), and on the dough. When the size is right, (10’ circle for a 9’ pie.) brush off extra flour and set in the greased and floured pie plate. Add the apple mix, slightly wet the top edge of the bottom crust, lay on the top crust , pinch and trim. Then with thumb and first finger of right hand and thumb of left hand or a fork, work your way around the crust pushing the edge between your fingers making a ruffled edge. Slice holes in the top of the crust for air to escape and add your personal design. Put the pie in the oven, 35 to 40 minutes. Check for doneness by poking a fork through one of the holes in the top into an apple piece inside to see if it is soft but not sauce.

Special crust treatment
Soften 3 tablespoons of butter. mix with remaining egg. If the butter is soft enough, this mixture can be brushed right on the crust while the crust is hot, Brush it right on the ruffles and all over the top after 15 to 20 minutes of cooking. Nick said to do this 15 minutes through the cooking time, otherwise the crust absorbs the butter and doesn't produce the glossy glow! Sprinkle turbinado sugar over this and return to the oven. When the pie is done the crust will be slightly golden brown and the filling will bubble and ooze a little. Let cool... and eat!

Here's the result of my first attempt with this recipe. I served it at the Superior Concept Monsters workday at Rokeby this Saturday--eaten around a bonfire in the milkbarn yard. I think my apple pie is on its way up.