October 2021 Indy Style: Celebrating Halloween and National Apple Month
Oct 08, 2021, Updated Jan 31, 2022
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It’s National Apple Month! Apple season is in full swing, making it the perfect time to cook up some tasty apple recipes and enjoy this crunchy fruit. And with Halloween just around the corner, we thought it was a good time to create some spooky treats for trick-or-treating and costume parties. We brought all these ideas and more to the Indy Style kitchen for our October 2021 segment! Watch below and read on to find all the recipes we presented on Indy Style.
The Flavors of National Apple Month
Fruit and chocolate are the perfect pair. We love both apples and oranges dipped in chocolate. They taste just like fall! And to celebrate National Apple Month, we have more fall-flavored recipes, including this Baked Brie with Caramelized Apples from our partners at Crunch Pak.
This recipe is like autumn in your mouth. Melt-in-your-mouth caramelized apples are the perfect compliment for rich baked brie. The secret ingredients to this recipe are rosemary and Kahlua, which provide the perfect blend of flavors. Your guests will absolutely love it!
Baked Brie with Caramelized Apples
Ingredients
- 1 bag of Crunch Pak Sliced Apples, diced
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp of Kahlua
- 1 tsp of cinnamon
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1 tsp of nutmeg
- Sprigs of rosemary
- Brie
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- In a medium saute pan add apples, butter, Kahlua, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg and let them simmer for 5 mins
- Bake brie for 5-10 mins or until the center is soft to the touch
- Top with apple mixture and rosemary
- Serve with apple slices, baguette or crackers
Sweet and Savory apple dips
Our Baked Brie with Caramelized Apples is great for entertaining, but what else makes a tasty compliment for gatherings? A charcuterie board, of course! Because it’s National Apple Month, we wanted to make our charcuterie board apple-centric. To do that, we spread out some apple slices along with nuts, candies, and other snacks to dip in three delicious Apple Dips.
You can find our favorite apple dips in our brand new free eBook, Flavorful Harvest Apples and Dips. For this board, we made three of our favorites: Bacon Cheddar, Honey Ricotta, and Pumpkin Pie. Each is a unique and flavorful way to celebrate fall. You won’t be able to stop dipping your favorite snacks into them!
Apple Animal Art
Are your kids always begging for salty chips or sugary sweets? Get them excited about more nutritious snacks by turning apples into animals! What child could resist these cute critters?
We came up with these fun Apple Animals using SweeTango apples from our partners at Applewood Fresh. We put together a bull, an owl, and a fish to show off in the Indy Style kitchen. They’ll be a hit with animal-loving kids everywhere!
Be sure to pick up a bag of Applewood Fresh + The Produce Moms Apple Bags. These make apples an easy and nutritious choice for kids when they’re ready for a snack. When you whip up a couple of our Apple Animals, they’ll be the fun choice, too!
Spooky Fruits for Halloween
You’ll find spooky-looking fruits like rambutan and dragonfruit in your produce section around Halloween. They’re perfect for costume parties or scary movie nights!
To enjoy a rambutan, just peel the skin off and bite into it, avoiding the long seed inside the flesh. It has a mild, tropical, refreshing flavor that will instantly transport you to a relaxing beach.
To eat a dragonfruit, start by selecting one of the three color varieties: white, pink, or magenta. They look the same on the outside, but each variety has a different color on the inside. We love the magenta variety: not only is it tasty by itself, it also looks great in drinks or as part of a Halloween fruit spread!
Cookie Pizza with Mango Icing
This cookie cake looks like a pizza covered in sweet, tasty fruits! This Cookie Pizza is easy to make. Start by pressing cookie dough onto a pizza pan (don’t forget to spray the pan first!) and bake it in the oven until it’s a little crispy.
When it’s ready, cover the cookie crust with marshmallow fluff. Next, top your “pizza sauce” with tasty toppings. We used strawberry slices, mandarin orange pieces, and blackberries for ours. To finish off this tasty treat, drizzle some homemade Mango Icing across the top. Fresh mangos like those from our partners at Mango Board give this icing the best fruity flavor. This sweet icing has a natural bright color and gives your cookie pizza some Halloween spirit!
Mango Icing
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups diced fresh mango
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 cups confectioners sugar
- 1 tablespoon whole milk, or more as needed
- 1 pinch fine sea salt
Directions
- In a medium pot over medium heat, stir together the mangos and sugar.
- Cook until the fruit is soft and begins to release some juice, 6 to 8 minutes.
- Using a large fork or a potato masher, coarsely mash the fruit.
- Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve placed over a medium bowl, pressing to release as much of the juice as possible (discard the solids). You should end up with about 1/3 cup (100 g) puree.
- Add the powdered sugar to the mango mixture and whisk to combine.
- Add the milk to adjust the final consistency, and whisk in the salt. You want the mixture to be thick enough to hold a line when you drizzle it, but thin enough that it’s easy to dip into. (To adjust the texture, whisk in additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until the desired consistency is achieved.)
- Transfer the glaze to an airtight container and cover with plastic wrap until ready to use. Make sure the wrap touches the surface of the glaze.
Instant Pot Pumpkin Puree
Canned pumpkin is just fine, but the best cooks and bakers know that fresh pumpkin puree can’t be matched. If you can’t find canned pumpkin this year or you simply want to take your pumpkin treats to the next level, try this easy recipe for Instant Pot Pumpkin Puree.
The big pumpkins you see at the grocery store are meant for carving jack-o-lanterns, while the gourds you can find are usually just for decoration. They aren’t very flavorful or good for eating. But every other pumpkin you see at the store is meant for cooking and eating! A smaller pumpkin like the one we used on the Indy Style set is both delicious and just the right size for your Instant Pot.
When we say easy, we really mean it! All it takes is a pie pumpkin, a cup of water, an Instant Pot, and a spoon. In just thirteen minutes, the Instant Pot softens the pumpkin so the skin peels right off and it effortlessly blends into a silky puree. It’s perfect for Halloween treats – but be sure to save this recipe for Thanksgiving, too!
Blackberry Bourbon Lemonade
Wash all these tasty treats down with a Blackberry Bourbon Lemonade cocktail! This is a tasty treat for the grownups at your next costume party. It has a beautiful coloring and even better flavor. Mint leaves and a floating Naturipe blackberry garnish give it some tasty freshness.
The key to this Blackberry Bourbon Lemonade is homemade simple syrup. All you need to make it is fresh blackberries, sugar, and water. Boil it down, strain it, let it cool, and add it to your drink to make a refreshing, tangy beverage that’s perfect for autumn!
What are your favorite dishes and drinks to make in the fall? Do you have any special recipes to celebrate National Apple Month? Tell us about them in the comments below!
