There is a particular kind of October Saturday in New England: a drive out past the stone walls, a line at the orchard farm stand, and a paper bag of warm doughnuts that turns translucent with butter before you reach the car. Apple cider doughnuts are the edible souvenir of that day, and they are better made at home than most people expect.

The doughnut itself came to America with the Dutch, whose olykoeks, or oil cakes, were fried in New Amsterdam long before anyone thought to put a hole in the middle. New England added the cider. The region has pressed apples since the colonial era, when cider was the everyday drink of farm households, and orchards from the Berkshires to coastal Maine still sell fresh, unpasteurized cider every fall. Reducing that cider to a syrup and folding it into a cake doughnut is the farm stand’s great contribution to American baking.

Where to taste them first

Make a day of it. Our New England foliage itinerary passes some of the region’s best orchard country, and our list of fall weekend escapes from Boston includes towns where the cider mill is the main event. In late October the stands are busiest on weekends; go early, when the first batches come out of the fryer.

The secret is reduced cider

Fresh cider alone is too thin to flavor a dough. Simmer it down to a quarter of its volume and you concentrate the apple into something closer to a syrup. Do this a day ahead if you can. Buttermilk keeps the crumb tender, and a short chill makes the sticky dough easy to cut.

Ingredients

Makes about 14 doughnuts and their holes.

• 2 cups (480 ml) fresh apple cider
• 3 1/2 cups (440 g) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp fine salt
• 4 tbsp (55 g) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup (150 g) light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) buttermilk
• Neutral oil, for frying

For the coating

• 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon

Method

1. Reduce the cider. Simmer the cider in a wide saucepan until reduced to about 1/2 cup, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool completely.
2. Mix the dry ingredients. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
3. Make the dough. Beat the butter and brown sugar until smooth, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the reduced cider and buttermilk, then fold in the dry ingredients until just combined. The dough will be soft and sticky.
4. Chill. Turn the dough onto a well-floured sheet of parchment, pat it to 1/2 inch thick, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5. Cut. Stamp out doughnuts with a 3-inch cutter and a 1-inch cutter for the holes. Re-roll the scraps once.
6. Fry. Heat 2 inches of oil to 350°F in a heavy pot. Fry three or four at a time for about 90 seconds a side, until deep golden. Drain briefly on a rack.
7. Coat. Mix the sugar and cinnamon and toss the doughnuts in it while they are still warm.

How to serve it

Within an hour, ideally still warm, with a mug of hot cider. They will keep until the next morning in a paper bag, but no longer.

What to pour

Hot mulled cider for the morning. In the evening, a Calvados Cider Sour carries the same orchard flavors into cocktail hour.

Make a menu of it

For a full autumn table, follow the doughnuts with our red wine braised short ribs and finish with a tarte tatin. Find every seasonal recipe At the Table and our favorite fall travel in the Fall Edit.

Photo: Veganbaking.net, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0