What to Cook in Autumn: A South African Seasonal Recipe Guide
Autumn in South Africa runs from March through May, and it is one of the most generous seasons in the kitchen. Stone fruits linger through March before giving way to citrus, pears, apples, quince, and pomegranates. The squash family comes into its own. Beetroot, aubergine, and figs are at their best. This is the season for slow cooking, for roasting, for puddings that make the most of fruit at its peak.
Below, you will find seasonal produce worth seeking out right now, with recipes from the blog for each.
Plums
Plums are the last stone fruit to around autumn and these two recipes are a delicious way to use them up:
Easy plum muffins with a hint of lemon & cinnamon
Easy plum & frangipane galette
Figs
I always know Autumn is here when figs arrive on shelves. I particularly love them roasted with blue cheese.
The best roast fig tartines with blue cheese, prosciutto and honey.
Pizette with blue cheese, figs & prosciutto
Baked Camembert and roasted figs with balsamic
The best sticky toffee, fig and walnut pudding
Apples
As soon as my fave Pink Lady apples come into season, I want to start baking with them.
The best apple and strawberry crumble
Easy pork pies with apple & sage
Apple & banana cake with caramel cream cheese frosting
Redicchio salad with roasted butternut, blue cheese and pickled sultanas
Baked camembert with caramelised Pink Lady® apples & thyme
Baked apples with brandy soaked raisins
Sausage rolls with apple & sage
Chicken Normandy, with cider, apples and cream
Pears
Along with apples come pears. Catch them while they are at their peak – and they don’t have a very long window of this. I love to poach them or add them to cakes.
Pear & halva loaf with pecans, honey & maple is my best sweet loaf
Brown sugar pavlova with pears poached in muscadel
Pear tartines with blue cheese & honey
Caramelised pear & gorgonzola toasties
Pear, blue cheese, and walnut salad
Dukkah baked pears with goat cheese & honey
Malva pudding with ginger & pears poached in Rooibos tea
Oranges
I love cooking and baking with oranges, eating them straight up or adding them to salads. Here are few recipes that make the orange sing.
Roast chicken with orange & ginger
Chicken & rice pilaf with oranges & spices
Baked yoghurt with spicy brandy oranges
Orange cake with orange buttercream
Avocado & orange salad with fennel
Mussels steamed in orange & fennel
Roast chicken with Italian sausage & orange
Lemons
Lemons are a standard stock item in my kitchen and get squeezed over almost all my salad & meat dishes. I could not survive without this incredible fruit that brings everything to life.
The best roast chicken with wine, herbs & garlic
Lemon & pistachio cupcakes with honey meringue frosting
Rooibos and mint iced tea with lemon & ginger
Lemon & poppyseed madeleines with a lemon glaze
Quince
Quince are inedible raw but so delicious when poached and added to desserts
Poached quince tarte tatin with vanilla
Vanilla cake with poached quince
Pomegranate recipes
The most delectable and visually beautiful fruit, I am always excited when it’s in season.
Pink swirl meringues with pomegranate syrup
Broccoli pilaf with pomegranate & almonds
Sweet potatoes, pumkin & squash, beetroot and aubergines
Now is the time to embrace the orange variety of sweet potatoes and the squash family. Beetroot is in season along with aubergines.
Sweet potato gnocchi with creamy mushrooms
Oven-roasted sweet potato fries with orange salt
Easy roast sweet potato with parsley walnut pesto
Roast butternut, ricotta and feta phyllo pie
Butternut scones with cheese & herbs
Roasted pumpkin (squash) with chilli yoghurt and coriander sauce
Spicy pumpkin & apple cake with cream cheese & maple frosting
Pumpkin rolls with rosemary & sea salt
Roast beetroot & onion galette with shaved pecorino
Beetroot falafel on toasted pita
Moroccan spiced chicken with rice and aubergine
Chermoula aubergines with bulgar & yoghurt
Grilled aubergine pizza with basil pesto & goat cheese
Bananas
The best banana bread with pecans and raisins
This is part of a series of seasonal recipe guides for South Africa.
Also see my summer recipes collection, and coming soon: winter recipes and spring recipes.
My favourite citrus recipes for winter.
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Wow, Sam ~ what absolutely exquisite photographs! You have depicted autumn to perfection.
Your food looks almost too good to eat. Goodbye summer body *sigh*
My goodness! You have absolutely outdone yourself with Autumn Harvest! What an absolute pleasure to browse through, and the pics are stunning!
Lovely post! I really enjoyed reading it all
You can start making your summer body in July x
Thanks Sharon – glad you enjoyed
Thanks you Maria – I’m so glad you enjoyed my post 🙂
Wow, what a collection of photographs. I can’t stop but sharing these with my girls at the photography class. I like how all these photos have a vignette-effect and it instantly uplifts the mood. The one with vegetables is truly remarkable. Thanks for compiling this.
Thanks, Jane, Glad you like them. I took all the images and re-edited them so that they were all more aligned in look and feel for this post. Best Sam