Wellesley Apple Butter & Cheese Festival

Before heading out to Stratford I decided that we'd make a stop in Wellesley for the Apple Butter and Cheese Festival. It was only 1/2 hour northwest of Stratford so it just made sense to also support the smaller festival. Well, I thought it would be a smaller festival just because I'd never heard of it. But no, it was much, much busier than I had expected.

There were dancers, musicians, a horseshoe tournament, a boat reggata, vendors inside the arena selling crafts, cheese, and condiments and many more vendors outside selling apple fritters, pancakes and sausages, and, of course, apple butter. Our morning snack consisted of a cored and sliced apple topped with hot butter toffee. Yum, Yum, Yum! 1 tbsp butter1 cup apple butter3/4 cup brown sugar (I used a little less than 1/2 cup maple syrup instead)3 tbsp oil1/2 cup raisins1/2 cup buttermilk1 egg2 tsp vanilla extract2 cups + 2 tbsp flour2 tsp baking soda2 tsp cinnamon2 tsp ground ginger1 tsp all-spice1/4 tsp salt

Melt the butter in a small saucepan until the butter turns a nutty brown. Pour into a mixing bowl and add the apple butter, sugar and oil and whisk until combined. Add the raisins, buttermilk, egg and vanilla extract. Once mixed add the remainder of ingredients and mix until combined. Transfer batter to a baking dish (I used a cake pan) and bake 40 minutes at 350F.