Every autumn needs apples

Fall is my favorite season. Aside from the weather, the football, the clothes and the colors, the flavors of fall are what make this time of year so wonderful.

Apples are my least favorite fruit. I can’t stand the texture or taste of biting into a plain apple. But the truth is, autumn needs apples. You have to go apple picking. You have to drink hot apple cider. You have to eat a caramel apple. This infamous fruit is the flavor of fall, and there are a few apple desserts that I must share.

Here in Nashville, the one place everyone knows about is Sweet Cece’s frozen yogurt. Every couple of weeks and throughout the seasons, it interchanges a few original flavors of yogurt. Like I said about cupcakes, I’m a chocolate lover to the core, so every time I go to Sweet Cece’s I’m guaranteed to get Hershey’s kisses chocolate with hot fudge. But I knew I had to try the special — Apple Pie. With a little advice from the employee, I added graham cracker crumbs, hot caramel and peanuts. If October had a taste, that would be it. Everyone needs to try it before it’s gone!

Located south of downtown Nashville on Edgehill is a local favorite among the college kids called Edgehill Cafe. It serves a variety of gourmet sandwiches and drinks. My personal favorite, especially mid-October, is Edgehill’s specialty coffee called “Just Like Fall.” It really is. What makes it? A hint of apple. It’ll complete your perfect fall day.

Pie is my least favorite dessert to eat and make. This is ironic because the most delicious dessert I have ever tried at a restaurant is just that. Cantina Laredo is an authentic Mexican restaurant and has a location in the Gulch in Nashville. Its food is incredible (I recommend the salsa con queso — best I’ve ever had), but the dessert is top notch. It serves chocolate cake, flan, a mexican brownie, mango cake, berry sorbet and, best of all, apple pie.

The server brings the pie on a plate alongside a steaming skillet. The pie is placed in the skillet with a scoop of cinnamon ice cream on top. The next part is like fireworks on the fourth of July! A saucer of melted butter is poured over and around the pie and sizzles in the skillet, filling the entire room with a savory scent of sweet butter. The steaming hot pie has the perfect mixture of salty and fruity, crispy and creamy, and it’s all brought together by the cool and refreshing cinnamon ice cream (you might want to wipe that drool off your chin).

What flavor of fall do you enjoy most?