A Recipe for Autumn

Autumn, My Happy Place

Wild winds rustle fading colours

Foraged berries for crumbles

Candles softly light nights by the fire

Solitary sea swims with beaches no longer oversubscribed

Bursts of sunshine all the more enjoyed

Blankets and jumpers, life layers up as we lean into the dark

Alice Collyer, Oct’22

I don’t know about you but I absolutely adore seeing the seasonal changes reflected in my food. The desire for comfort is hard to ignore; Stews, spices, puddings and hot drinks. The need to fuel and prepare for the colder, darker months to come.

There’s something quite primal about the wish to create a safe, warm space, readying the home for Autumn and Winter.

Despite how detached we can become from nature, protected from many aspects of the seasonal shift in our modern homes, living our modern lives, many of us no longer reliant on preserving and storing our own food, approaching Winter, for me at least, triggers an innate need to nest.

I need my safe spaces just right, to aid my mood and envelop me in a comforting calm. (As much as that is possible with young children anyhow!)

Tia Tamblyn - self confessed seasonal food obsessive, Breakfast & Beyond Podcast creator and host, Massage Therapist and, lucky for me, member of my extended family, has given me a wonderfully versatile apt recipe to share, to be eaten and enjoyed any time of day - breakfast, snack or pudding.

A great way of using up autumnal fruits, the version Tia has given us uses pumpkin flesh, left over from Halloween, along with windfall apples - did you know that around 180,000 tonnes of pumpkin are thrown away each year (Guardian)? A mind boggling fact Tia shared with me.

“The compote can be eaten on its own, perhaps accompanied with yoghurt; added to cereals, muesli or granola at breakfast time; and it also makes the perfect fruit base for a crumble.

In the recipe below I’ve included details of how to make the crumble topping if you wish to use some or all of the compote in this way. It also stores in the fridge for a good few days so you can come back to it and use it in different ways. This recipe is refined-sugar free, and can be made vegan by replacing the honey with maple syrup, and gluten free by using GF oats.”

- Tia Tamblyn

“Eating with the seasons inspires my cooking” - Tia

Recipe: Pumpkin & Apple Compote

Serves 8 (8 generous compote portions, or with crumble topping added, 8 portions of crumble)

Ingredients:

• 400g pumpkin, peeled, seeds removed, cut into bite-size pieces

• 500g apples, cored & cut into bite-size pieces

• 2 tsp ground cinnamon

• Few shavings fresh ginger (or 1 tsp ground ginger)

• 80g raisins (or other soft fruit eg dates or apricots, chopped into small pieces)

• 100g honey (or maple syrup for vegan version)

• 400ml water

• 1 lemon

• 2 tsp chia seeds

If you wish to make a Pumpkin & Apple Crumble, for the topping you will need:

• 300g oats

• 100g mixed nuts, roughly chopped

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 100g honey (or maple syrup)

• 80ml sunflower oil

To make the compote:

1. Place pumpkin and apple pieces in a large saucepan, add the water, cinnamon, ginger, raisins, honey and juice of the lemon. Stir well, bring to the boil then turn down heat and simmer for approx 20 minutes until pumpkin and apple have softened, but still keep their shape.

2. Remove from the heat, add the lemon’s zest along with the chia seeds, allow to sit for 10 minutes.

3. The compote will be ready in 10 minutes once the chia seeds have absorbed some of the liquid. You can eat it straight away, cool it and refrigerate, or place it in the base of a baking dish and add the crumble topping. You may wish to eat it on its own, add to cereals or muesli, or serve with yoghurt or ice cream - great as a breakfast or a pudding!

4. If making a crumble: preheat oven to 180C. Warm honey and sunflower oil together in a saucepan. In a large bowl mix the oats, nuts and cinnamon, then pour over the honey and sunflower oil when melted, stir well. Spread the compote mixture in the bottom of a baking dish, add the crumble on top, bake in the oven for approx 30 minutes until the top turns golden.

Thank you so much to Tia for this beautifully seasonal recipe, I can’t wait to enjoy for brunch, on a slow, weekend morning.

You can see and hear much more from Tia via her website and Instagram. Tia interviewed me for her Podcast last year, you can listen to that episode here.

Alice in Scandiland Shop