Instructions: Make filling: Toss together all filling ingredients.

Make dough: Preheat oven to 425F. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and 3 tablespoons granulated sugar into a bowl. Blend in butter and shortening with a pastry blender or your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 1/2 cup milk and stir with a fork just until mixture is moistened.

Turn out dough onto a floured work surface and gently knead 7 to 8 times, or until a soft dough forms (do not overwork dough, or dumplings will be tough). Roll out dough on a well-floured surface with a floured rolling pin into a rough 16- by 11-inch rectangle

(about 3/4 inch thick). Trim to a 15- by 10-inch rectangle. Halve dough lengthwise, then cut crosswise in thirds (to form 6 squares).

Fill dumplings: Divide filling among centers of squares. Bring all 4 corners together over filling and pinch together to seal. Transfer dumplings to a well-buttered 13- by 9- by 2-inch ceramic or glass baking dish and arrange about 1 inch apart. Brush tops with remaining 1/2 tablespoon milk and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar.

Make syrup and bake dumplings: Bring cider and brown sugar to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Pour syrup around dumplings, then bake dumplings until golden brown and syrup is bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve immediately.

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