One Big Apple Dumpling

Back from vacation with some good news and some bad.  The bad news is that my camera is broken.  Sigh.  The good news is that, I have a new recipe to share that is YUM!  This comes from the kitchen of my sister-in-law, Diane.  She remembers her mother making traditional, individual apple dumplings in the beginning, but eventually this adaptation was made to feed eight children.  We ate this at our family gathering in Idaho and it is wonderful with vanilla ice cream!  Thanks, Diane!

One Big Apple Dumpling
4 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. salt
1 1/3 c. shortening
1 c. milk
7 medium apples, peeled and sliced
4 Tbsp. butter or margarine
sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg

Sift dry ingredients together.  Cut in shortening.  Add milk all at once and stir until flour is just moistened.  Divide dough in half and roll into two 9x13 rectangles. Place one rectangle in the bottom of a deep 9x13 pan.  Cover with apple slices.  Sprinkle apple slices generously with sugar and cinnamon and nutmeg.  Dot with butter.  Top with remaining dough.  Prick with a fork.  Make syrup.

Syrup: 
1 1/2 c. water
2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
Put these ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Remove from heat and add:
3 Tbsp. butter
10 drops red food coloring (opt.)

Pour syrup over dumplings;  sprinkle with sugar and bake at 375 degrees for 35 min. or until apples are tender.  Serve with ice cream while warm.

Notes:  Diane likes to use a pan just a bit bigger than a 9x13 if you have one.  It still has to be deep.  If you want to make traditional style dumplings, cut the dough into squares, fill with apple slices and form turnovers.  You can also encase a whole, peeled and cored apple in the dough.  In either case, you pour the syrup over and around the dumplings. 
Jenny