Ripe from the picking! These seasonal goodies will certainly impress guests (or just yourself!), perfect for any party or informal affair. 

From pumpkin pies, to plum crumbles, apple turnovers to pear and chocolate puddings, these recipes will fill your heart with warmth this autumn. Why not give them a try?

Pumpkin Pie

Prep Time: 40 mins

Cook Time: 1.5 hours

Serves:

Ingredients

- 700g pumpkin, deseeded and cut into chunks
- 2 large eggs
- 400g shortcrust pastry 
- 140g caster sugar
- 25g butter
- 170ml milk
- sprinkle of salt 
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- icing sugar to decorate

Method

Step 1 - Add your cut up pumpkin to a large pan, cover with water and bring to boil. Let the water simmer gently, cooking the pumpkin for 15 minutes (or until it's tender). Drain and let it cool once it's done.

Step 2 - In the mean time, heat your oven to 180C/ 160C fan/ gas 4. Lightly dust a surface and roll out your pastry. Use pastry to line a pie tin - loose bottomed is easiest. Pop this in the fridge for 15-20 minutes. Then, cut some baking paper to size of the tin, adding some baking beads into the tin and bake for 15 minutes. Remove beans and paper, cooking for another 10 minutes. Ensure base is a light golden colour before removing. 

Step 3 - Turn up the oven to 220C/ 200C fan/ gas 7. Time to make the pumpkin part of the pie! Push the soft pumpkin through a sieve into a bowl. Separately, add your sugar, salt, nutmeg, and just half of the cinnamon. Mix in your eggs, butter, and milk, combining it all. Add this to your pumpkin puree, and mix it all together. Pour this mix into your pastry tin, cooking for another 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, reduce the temperature to 180C/ 160C fan/ gas 4, cooking the pie for another 35-40 minutes. 

Step 4 - Leave the pie to cool and sprinkle on your icing sugar. Serve with a nice helping of ice cream or whipped cream. 

Apple Turnovers

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 50 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

- 2 bramley apples, cored, peeled and chopped
- 1 gala apple, cored, peeled and chopped
- 50g caster sugar
- 1tbsp butter
- 320g puff pastry
- 1tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp milk
- 2 tbsp demerara sugar

Method

Step 1 - Grab a small pan and add to it your Bramley apple pieces, sugar, and cinnamon with a table spoon of water to cover it all. Cover it with a lid and let it simmer on a low heat for 10-15 minutes until it reduces to a appley paste. 

Step 2 - To this paste, add your butter and gala apple pieces. Let this cook and simmer for another 5 minutes, until the remaining apple pieces are soft but not falling apart. Remove the pan from the hob and let it cool. 

Step 3 - In the meantime, heat the oven to 220C/ 200C fan/ gas 7. Take out the pastry and cut it into four equal rectangle shapes. Pop your filling on one side of the rectangle, leaving a 1 cm space from the edges. Brush this 1 cm edge with your milk, folding over the clear side over the filling and crimping the edges so they stick. Brush the tops with more milk and sprinkle over your demerara sugar. Stab the top with a fork a couple of times to give it a steam hole. 

Step 4 - Pop your apple turnovers onto a lined baking sheet and put them in to bake for 20-25 minutes. Leave them to cool before serving with ice cream or just cream! 

Plum & Apple Crumble

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 25 mins

Serves: 6

Ingredients

Filling

- 6 plums, de-stoned and chopped into bite-size pieces
- 3 Bramley apples, cored, peeled, and cut into squares
- 50g caster sugar
- 1tsp cinnamon

Crumble topping

- 175g plain flour 
- 125g butter
- 50g rolled oats 
- 75g demerara sugar

Method

Step 1 - Preheat your oven to 200C/ 180C/ Gas 6. Cut your pears in half and get rid of the stone. Then cut the pears into small squares or pieces. Do the same to the apples (take out the cores, peel them, and chop them into squares). Add all the fruit to a pan, as well as the sugar, cinnamon, and 5 tablespoons of water. Let that softly simmer for 5 minutes until it softens. 

Step 2 - Empty the softened fruit into a medium or small sized oven-proof dish and set it aside to make the crumble topping. 

Step 3 - For the crumble, add flour and butter into a bowl, rubbing the butter and flour with your fingers till it creates a mixture that looks like breadcrumbs. Mix in the oats and demerara sugar. Add this mixture on top of your fruit in the dish. 

Step 4 - Bake the crumble for 25-30 minutes, or until the crumble topping has a golden crust. Serve with ice cream or custard for a family-favourite dessert! 

Pear Chocolate Pudding

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients

- 300g golden caster sugar
- 200g butter
- 4 large eggs
- 50g cocoa powder
- 75g plain flour 
- 3 pears, halved and cored
- 100g plain dark chocolate

Method

Step 1 - Pre-heat your oven to 190C/ 170C fan/ gas 5. Grease a shallow oven-proof dish. Put your butter in a pan and melt it over a low heat on the hob. Stir in the sugar once the butter has melted. 

Step 2 - Break your eggs into a separate bowl and whisk them. Add the eggs to the butter and sugar combo, stirring in between additions. Sift the flour and cocoa powder into your liquid mix and combine until it's nice and chocolaty. 

Step 3 - Pour your mix into the dish. Cut your three pears in half, taking out the cores. Pop each pair half into the mix, the inside of the pear facing up. 

Step 4 - Cut up your dark chocolate into chunks and sprinkle them over the batter. Put your dish into the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Make sure you don't overcook it, as it will be spongy rather than gooey. Serve fresh out of the oven with ice cream or cream!

Tip - Short on time? You can by ready-made crumble toppings in any supermarket! We won't tell.