By Keighley’s Mike Armstrong, an award-winning master baker with a big passion for baking...

WELL it's that time of the year again folks, when the nights are drawing in, the temperatures are dropping and the central heating comes on.

It's also time to dig out the hot water bottles from under the bed, and wear those corduroy pants, striped jumpers and cosy socks!

Yes it's official, autumn has arrived.

There couldn't be a better time than now to snuggle up with tasty, comforting foods, and when it comes to autumn recipes, you'll find plenty of inspiration here over the coming weeks – so make sure you don't miss out and buy your copy of the Keighley News!

So let's kick off the new season with apple and cinnamon pastries tossed in cinnamon sugar and baked to perfection, taking advantage of the apple season.

It's true to say early autumn is one of my favourite times of the year – there's something about being on the cusp of seasonal change, when winter crops start to get going as autumn darkens, yet there are still summer fruits reaching their end.

Saying goodbye to summer inevitably is hard, and even harder this year as we didn't get one! Still, with the proliferation of fruit at this time of year, it puts many a person into a frenzy of freezing and bottling.

Preserving food for later consumption is a habit that's sadly disappearing today, so do your best to save as much as you can.

It's always a thrill to watch my little apple tree come into fruit, with apples dangling dangerously, ready to fall. If you have any kind of garden, it’s worth putting in an apple tree (or two or three, or even four, perhaps more?).

Apples have been grown in the UK since Roman times and the British over centuries have cultivated an extraordinarily diverse range of them. But despite this diversity, it can be hard to get your hands on the vast majority of British apples. UK supermarkets largely carry only the most popular apples and these are not British. The Cox Orange Pippin, which was once the dominant British favourite, has been in decline for years now.

Apples played an important role in Britain’s cultural heritage, and the Victorians in particular took the cultivation of the fruit seriously and turned it into something of an art form – like this week's recipe!

RECIPE

APPLE AND CINNAMON PASTRY RINGS

Makes 6

Ingredients:

1 x 320g pack of ready-rolled puff pastry

2 large sweet apples – Pink Lady, Gala or Braeburn

4 tablespoons caster sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/Gas Mark 4 and line a large baking tray with baking paper.

2. Unroll the puff pastry and cut 12 long stripes using a pizza wheel or a sharp knife.

3. In a small bowl, mix together the caster sugar and cinnamon and set aside.

4. Slice each apple into 3 rings, discarding the ends, and core out the centre using anything round; I used a plastic milk container top.

5. Dip the apple slices into the cinnamon sugar to coat both sides and wrap two strips of pastry through and around the hole, until it has fully covered the apple.

6. Place them onto the baking tray, egg wash and sprinkle them with the remaining cinnamon sugar, and bake for 20 minutes or till golden brown and firm to touch.