Baked Almond and Asian Pear and/or Liberty Apple Pudding

Cold weather and desserts seem to go hand in hand. Here's a recipe for a warm and comforting fall treat

-Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Generously butter a medium pie pan.

-To make the topping, coarsely grate 4 TBS butter into a bowl.

-Add 1/4-1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup chopped almonds, 1/4 tsp salt, some freshly grated nutmeg and 1/2 tsp freshly grated lemon rind.

-Work the above ingredients in with the butter until you have a coarse crumbly mixture, then set aside.

-In a blender, combine 3 eggs, 1/4 cup honey, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1/4 tsp almond extract, a small pinch of salt, some freshly grated nutmeg, 1 1/2 cup milk and 1/3 cup flour and puree until smooth.

-Scrape down the sides and blend for a few more seconds. Set-aside until ready to use.

-Core and thinly slice about 1 1/2 pounds Asian pears and/or Liberty apples into a pie pan.

-Pour the batter over top, add the crisp topping and bake until puffed and golden, about 50 minutes.

-If desired, sprinkle tart with a few TBS Amaretto as soon as it comes out of the oven.

-Serve warm with a pitcher of fresh organic cream or vanilla ice cream.

Apricot-Brandy Cobbler

-Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

-Butter an 8-inch baking dish.

-Slice up about 8-10 apricots.

-Toss the fruit with ½ cup sugar and ¼ cup brandy.

-Spread the apricots in the buttered baking dish.

-In the bowl of a food processor, combine the following:

½ cup flour

½ cup sugar

½ tsp baking powder

A pinch of salt

-Pulse once or twice.

-Add 4 TBS cold butter cut into bits and ¼ cup sour cream or yogurt and process for 10 seconds.

-By hand, mix in 1 egg and ½ tsp vanilla.

-Drop this mixture on to the fruit by TBS, do not spread it out.

-Bake until golden yellow and just starting to brown, 35 and 45 minutes.

-Serve immediately with a dollop of whip cream or ice cream.

Apricot Plum Tart with a Shortbread Crust

-Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

-For the shortbread crust:

-In a mixing bowl combine the following:

1 cup flour

1/3 cup butter

2 TBS powdered sugar

-Mix until crumbly and with no pieces bigger than a pea.

-Press into a 9-inch pie pan or tart pan.

-Cut and halve about 1 pound of plums and 1 pound of apricots, removing pits.

-Arrange in the crust, cut side up, making slightly overlapping concentric circles starting at the outside.

-Fit as many apricots/plums into the pan as possible.

-Mix together ½ cup sugar and 2 tsp ground cinnamon.

-Pour over the fruit.

-Bake for 45 minutes until plums are soft and filling is boiling.

-Cool on a wire rack and serve with whipped cream.