Tag Archives: apples

Apple Cinnamon Gooey German Butter Cake

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Cinnamon Apple Gooey German Butter Cake

Cinnamon Apple Gooey German Butter Cake




I think I’ve mentioned before (probably many times. I’m getting old and forgetful. Hey, did I mention that I’m getting old and forgetful?) that I was lucky enough to live in Germany for three years in the mid 80’s. Yes, I’m well aware that many of you were barely crawling in the mid 80’s. Just get me my Geritol and call me Granny.

I had my first two children while there and when my oldest was little, one of my favorite things to do was to go to the local Konditorei and by a pastry or nine two. My sons favorite was always one that was similar to American Mallomars but 900 times better. It had a thin wafer bottom covered with a mound of fresh soft marshmallow then coated in chocolate. It was delicious.

My favorites however were anything gooey, messy and preferably with crumbs on or in it. No way to go wrong with gooey and/or streusel, now is there?

German Butter Cake is one of those desserts that you can also serve for breakfast based simply on the fact that it resembles a coffee cake/crumb cake and it is a yeast based cake. Anything with yeast means it’s a bread and you can always serve bread for breakfast. This gooey cake is, as I said, yeast based instead of baking powder, but don’t let that scare you away. It’s extremely easy to toss together. The most time consuming part of this recipe is peeling, slicing and sauteing the apples. The rest is pretty much wham, bam, thank you ma’am.

This isn’t the prettiest cake but it’s delicious. I covered the base with a layer of sweet buttery sauteed apples before I coated it all with the crunchy, crumbly topping. The topping stays partly gooey, as it’s supposed to, but it also get a nice crunchy, crackly edge.

Serve this as it or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. You’ll devour it no matter what. 🙂

You know the drill… git to cookin’!

Apple Cinnamon Gooey German Butter Cake

  • Cake-
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temp
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1 packet dry yeast
  • 1/2 cup milk, warmed to between 110-115 degrees
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon each of cloves, cardamom and nutmeg
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • Apples-
  • 4 small Granny Smith (or other tart) apples, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • Topping-
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
  • 2/3 cup flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon Fiori De Sicilia flavoring (optional. If you don’t have it, don’t sweat it)
  • 2 eggs
  1. Start your apples first so they have time to cool. In a medium pot, melt your butter. Add in the sliced apples and cinnamon. Cover the pot and saute the apples over low heat until the apples are crisp tender.
  2. Toss in the sugar, mix well and crank the heat up to medium. With the cover off, saute until they start to caramelize, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool.
  3. Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk. Let sit for five minutes.
  4. For the cake, in the bowl of a stand mixer (this can all be done by hand or hand mixer if need be), combine the butter, sugar and salt. Mix on low speed until creamy. Add in the milk mixture, then the egg and vanilla extract, then the flour and spices.
  5. Put your dough hook attachment on and let it knead the dough for a minute or two. It is not a dry dough, so expect it to be a bit sticky and tacky. Remove it to a small bowl and let it rise until double, about one hour.
  6. In the stand mixer bowl with the beater hook, combine the butter, flour and sugar. Mix on low for a minute; just to get it all combined.
  7. Add in the eggs, vanilla and Fiori De Sicilia (if using). Beat at low speed until you have a mixture that rather resemble s crumbly cake batter. Set aside.
  8. Spray a 13×9 inch pan with cooking spray. Punch the dough down and then press it onto the bottom and half an inch up the sides of the pan. Pour the cooled apples and any saucy mixture in the pot over the top of the base. Use your fingers to arrange the apples so they cover the bulk of the dough.
  9. Carefully spread the topping over the dough, taking care to not move the apples all over the place. After this is done, let the cake alone for 20 minutes or so so that it can rise a bit. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
  10. bake the cake at 375 degrees for about 20 to 25 minutes, just until the base is cooked through and nicely golden brown. The topping will still look gooey. Thus the name 😛
  11. Let cool for about 20 minutes before trying to cut it or it will just ooze everywhere and you’ll end up with half the topping in the pan rather than on the cake.

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Caramel Apple Toffee Dip

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Caramel Apple Toffee Dip

Caramel Apple Toffee Dip

My family has a serious apple addiction. We are equal opportunity fruit lovers but apples always seem to be eaten the most by the guys in the house. Well, except for my husband for whom fruit means Blueberry flavored coffee, though I CAN get him to eat some if it’s cooked or covered in homemade caramel :-P. We’re working on the line between good for you and dessert with him. But the rest of us love it. As I age, I unfortunately have to cut my apples up before I eat them because aging teeth and jaws don’t do whole ones well lol. I look like a mouse trying to eat an elephant whole  Excuse me while I go get my walker and take some Geritol, you young whippersnappers!

Which brings this dip into play. There are variations of  this all over the web. I won’t claim to be the first nor will I claim that the changes I made make this into an entirely new dip and oh my gosh, I’m unique! Lol. That wasn’t the point. I saw it, I thought it sounded yummy and figured some of you would like it too. I DID make some changes, one of which was to add some Kahlua to this, making it a perfect treat for an adult Halloween party or a fruit tray some other time of the year (Christmas buffet maybe?). But you can easily omit the booze and make this kid friendly. Just pour the small amount of Kahlua into a cup and drink it yourself. 😀 See how I make your day better? I also added some caramel bits to it to make this even more of an Autumnal treat. The toffee chips and the caramel combine so well with the apple slices. The original recipe called for cream cheese but 1) I adore Mascarpone and 2) I had some I needed to use up, but feel free to sub cream cheese in this. This is good when it’s first made but it’s even better when the flavors have time to meld and the toffee chips get softer. YUMMY! Also, this isn’t just good with apples. Try some on a cinnamon bagel or one of the limited edition (out right now) Pumpkin Spice Bagels. Oh, my gosh, it’s good. It kind of melts right into it and…*swoons*

You know the drill… git to cooking! Or erhmmmm, mixing in this case.

Caramel Apple Toffee Dip

  • 8 ounces mascarpone or cream cheese, room temp
  • 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
  • a scant 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons Kahlua (optional)
  • 3/4 cup toffee bits (in the baking aisle near the chocolate chips)
  • 1/2 cup Kraft Caramel Bits
  • sliced apples for dipping (dip them in a lemon juice/water mix to prevent browning)
  1. In a medium bowl, combine the mascarpone (or cream cheese), both kinds of sugar, the vanilla and the Kahlua if using. Beat well, until smooth and creamy.
  2. Fold in the toffee bit and the caramel bits.
  3. Sprinkle top with more toffee bits and caramel.
  4. Serve with the apples for dipping or just sit down in front of the TV with a spoon and the bowl. I won’t tell. But I’m also not buying you any new fat girl pants. Just sayin’.

Copyright Notice: From Cupcakes To Caviar images and original content are copyright protected. Please do not publish these materials anywhere without prior permission.

 

 

 

 

Caramel Apple Snack Cake

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Caramel Apple Snack Cake-001

…Or dessert cake, or breakfast cake, or eat this when the kids aren’t looking cake, or late night snack cake or..well, you get the idea. I mean it has apples in it so it can be for ANY meal, right? So what if the apples are really a can of pie filling and they are surrounded by ooey gooey bits of caramel!

I know I’ve mentioned before that I have never been one to cook by the seasons. If I want Pumpkin Bread in July, I’m having pumpkin bread. If I want to grill out in January, I grill out. Hey, I never claimed sanity. So when I decided to make something appley  (what? Appley is a word… honest it is!) for my husband because he loves apple desserts, I didn’t give a darn that according to blogger standards, the time for apple desserts is in the Autumn. I’m a rebel! A rebel I say!!! Or something like that.

Right away,  I knew what I wanted to do. I have a recipe from Food.com that I use often for Chocolate Covered Cherry bars  that my husband loves. So I played around with it and changed it to apple. I then added a healthy disgustingly large dose of caramel and a bag of cinnamon chips. I have to admit, this is really good. Not fancy by any means but so darn yummy! It’s moist, filled with apples and caramel and cinnamon chips. The edges are slightly crispy and sticky from the caramel and you never get the same bite twice. this one has apples, this one caramel, this one both and so on. This is a great family dessert and one I know I’ll be making again…probably tomorrow 😀

Caramel Apple Snack Cake

  • 3/4 cups butter, room temp
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 can apple pie filling
  • 1 bag cinnamon chips
  • 1 bag caramels, cut into quarters
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and then line a 13×9 inch pan with parchment paper. Grease the parchment paper well.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the butter, sugars, vanilla and eggs. beat well
  3. Combine the flour & baking soda in a small bowl. Combine with the butter mixture.
  4. Fold in the apple pie filling, cinnamon chips and caramel pieces.
  5. Spoon into the prepared pan. Bake at 350 for about 35 to 40 minutes or until top is nicely golden brown and a wooden skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
  6. This is good warm, served with ice cream or room temp..or cold..or frozen stiff..or boiling hot..or…or..or..


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I Need To Go Back To Work

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Ok, it’s been nine days since I had the stroke. I still walk like a monster from a 1930’s horror movie when I walk (yeth mathter…what do you need, mathter? *insert insane cackle here*) and my hand has a tendency to curl into it’s own version of the hand fetal position BUT I am able to do housework more or less (ever tried  military crawling to hand wash wash a bathroom floor? OMG, I had to have looked hilarious!) so it’s time to get back to work here. Well, work may not be the best word since I love what I do in here and love all the people insane enough to read it 🙂

So I wanted muffins today. I printed one out ages ago from food.com for apple pie muffins. When my daughter was here this past weekend helping us get the bedroom painted (ok, I didn’t do crap myself… I have wonderfully laughable humorous visions of what would have happened had I tried to wield a paintbrush or roller… paint on the walls (in God knows what way), paint on the ceiling, paint on the kids, paint on the cats, paint up my tush when my hand spasmed -P ). As I was saying (tangent alert, tangent alert!) when they were here, my daughter saw it and said that she had tried it and it wasn’t very good. So that meant i just HAD to make it… but better. 😀 I’m ornery that way. Not sure you noticed that in me *cough cough*

I tihnk I did pretty good with them. I realized when I put them in the oven that I had forgotten to add the egg. Umm…oops? But ya know what? It didn’t matter. They were still moist and rich from the other changes I had made. So hey, less fat and cholesterol works for me and I’m sure it does for you too. These are mildly spicy (sweet spice, not hot spice) and I think next time I’ll add more cinnamon then I did this time. Also, I think raisins would be excellent in here. They’re moist with a light apple flavor and would be a great breakfast muffin, especially if you add some raisins and maybe some flax seed or wheat germ to up the nutrition. They aren’t pretty and dainty but they taste great! So let’s have it here… enjoy!

Spiced Apple Pie Muffins

  • Topping-
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup butter, melted
  • Muffins-
  • 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup oil
  • 1/3 cup melted butter
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons molasses
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup cake flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 3 medium apples, finely chopped (I used my food processor and didn’t peel them, just deseeded them)
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup raisins (optional; haven’t done it yet but know it would work)
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12 cup muffin pan or line with liners. This made 12 muffins and 3 mini loaves for me so if making all muffins, I’d say it would make about 16 to 18.
  2. In a small bowl, mix together the topping ingredients and set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients (including the brown sugar).
  4. Add in the oil, vanilla and buttermilk. Mix just until combined.
  5. Fold in the apple pieces. Again, mix just until combined.
  6. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full.  Sprinkle topping evenly over the batter. Bake at 350 for about 22 minutes or until firm on top and golden brown.

“I need to go back top work for the American people” 😛

And I really never did have sexual relations with that woman 😀


Are You Feeling Crafty??

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Hello dear readers, fellow bloggers and those who come here to roll their eyes and sneer. I need some advice. We have realized that we can not afford even one Christmas present for my boys who still live at home. Not even one. I thank God that we tend to be food stockpilers so that I have an ample supply of baking foods and other stuff to make Christmas (and the blog) merry with yummy foods. But it still kills me to have to tell my boys that I can’t afford to give them Christmas presents, especially since my youngest, at three, is having his first year of talking about Santa Claus and asking what Santa is going to bring him. Moving tapped us out money wise and our bills are higher now. We can make ends meet but there is absolutely NOTHING in the budget for extras and since we moved rather quickly, I hadn’t thought to save extra towards Christmas or to stockpile gifts early. So I need your advice.

I absolutely SUCK at crafts. I mean, really really bad with no artistic bent whatsoever. I can crochet but I can only crochet straight lines. I can draw but only if it’s in a coloring book and even then I go out of the lines 😛 I can use scissors but I am probably better off with the safety type they give kids in Kindergarten. I don’t want to use food as gifts because 1) I make goodies anyway so it wouldn’t feel like a gift to my boys, just more food momma made and 2) they would scarf it down in five minutes flat and that would be that until the aching tummies happened.

But I know that some of you are the crafty sorts. So my hope is that some of you can give me ideas on some crafts to make that are doable by Christmas by a woman who can only crochet straight lines. I don’t have a whole lot in the way of supplies (that pesky money thing again lol) but I have old clothes I can cup up, paper, pens and pencils and even some fabric paints (the kinds you squeeze out of tubes) from a time when I was deluded enough to think I might be able to use them w/out covering everything in paint.

So there is where I am hoping that you, my much more talented and creative friends, can help me. I am also looking for just general ideas for Christmas gifts that aren’t necessarily crafts but are doable for free or so cheap as to make a penny cry. I think if I have to wake up Christmas morning and have my boys see a tree that is empty underneath it, I will crawl under a rock and stay there forever.

So moving on. I have an amazingly yummy and easy recipe for you today. We all know I went through an apple phase earlier in the Autumn season. Well… it’s backkkkkkkk! I found a recipe in a Southern Living Baking magazine that I had been wanting to try. I wish now I had tried it sooner because it so so simple yet with a taste that made me want to stick my face down in the frosting and never come back out. I didn’t do much to change it though what I did do made this even better than what it would have been, I believe. I added some crystallized Ginger to the cake batter, used Gala apples instead of Granny Smith because that’s what I had, added more vanilla and a slug of bourbon and added maple flavoring to the frosting. These changes put this into the realm of ove the top wonderful. Yet still very homey, very comforting and very easy with just enough batter to hold the apples together. Another bonus is that this smells like a big gigantic snickerdoodle cookie as it bakes. So give this a try. I think you’ll like it.

Apple Ginger Cake With A Browned Butter Maple Frosting

  • 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup crystallized ginger
  • 1/4 cup bourbon (optional)
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 2 1/2 pounds Gala apples, cored, cut into 8 wedges then each wedge cut in half (the original recipe called for peeling but I didn’t bother)
  • Frosting-
  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 16 ounce box powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup milk (I had to use like a tablespoon or so more)
  • 1/2 tsp. maple flavoring
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toast the pecans in a single layer on a cookie sheet until lightly toasted and smelling yummy, about 5 minutes.
  2. In a large bowl, stir together the 1/2 cup melted butter, sugar, eggs, bourbon and vanilla extract.
  3. In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and crystallized ginger.
  4. Add the flour mixture to the butter/egg mixture. Stir just until combined then add in the apple pieces and 1 cup of the pecans. The batter will be very thick; that’s who it’s supposed to be.
  5. Spread batter into a lightly greased 13×9 inch pan.
  6. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and cake it golden brown. Cool completely in the pan.
  7. FROSTING-
  8. While the cake is baking, start your frosting.
  9. Cook the 1 cup butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly until the butter turns a golden brown. This will take about 6 minutes or so. Immediately take off of the heat and pour into a bowl. Refrigerate until the butter is just beginning to solidify.
  10. Beat the butter in a medium bowl until fluffy. Add in the sugar, milk and maple flavoring. Beat together until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Trust me… the more you beat, the lighter and fluffier most butter based frostings become. Keep beating.
  11. Spread the frosting on the cooled cake and sprinkle on the 1/2 cup of pecans.
  12. Eat. Moan. Repeat.

 

Yes, You MUST Have Marshmallows…

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This TASTES 9000 times better than my horrid photo attests to. Like I said, use GOOD quality sweet potatoes, not cheap ones. Mine just looks like a casserole dish of caramel sauce covered in marshmallows lol

When you have sweet potatoes on Thanksgiving, you HAVE to have marshmallows on top of them. I am pretty sure it’s the law in all 50 states as well as 492 small countries, all 7 continents and the planets surrounding Earth (this includes Pluto because it IS a planet darn it no one will ever make me say otherwise!)

Sorry… tangent there. Erhmmmm… where were we? *Rewinds head cassette* Yes btw, my head works on cassette. I’m old. Be glad I don’t rewind my mind via 8 track tape or 78 rpm albums. We’d be here all day. I mean… you DO rewind your brain don’t you? Or am I the only one special enough for that?

I just went into tangent mode again didn’t I? Sigh. Well, we’re used to that, you and I. Aren’t we? I was thinking that….

ARGHHHH!! Marshmallows Janet! Marshmallows!

As I was saying about three pages ago before I got distracted… ooo, shiny things! , marshmallows are the law on top of sweet potatoes on Thanksgiving. If not, there SHOULD be a law and I may just go petition congress on this issue. If for no other reason than they look pretty on top of them, all toasty and gooey. One can never have enough gooey.

I normally make the typical sweet potato casserole on Thanksgiving. You know the one. Brown sugar and butter mixed with either fresh cooked or canned (depends on my time constraints) sweet potatoes, then covered in a bag or so of mini marshmallows. Everyone then eats it and falls immediately into a diabetic coma even if they aren’t diabetics. (And yes, I know sugar doesn’t cause diabetes contrary to popular legend. Literary license here people… if we can call anything I do literary… or even literate.) The only thing I do differently is to add unsweetened crushed pineapple to mine because it adds a nice tart taste and kind of gives it a sweet potato/pineapple upside down cake taste.

But in planning to post that one for you, I came across a recipe for sweet potato casserole that while basically the same, had enough difference to make it worth trying. And it had marshmallows on it! Though I suppose if you are really strange and in massive need of marshmallow haters rehab, you could leave them off.

This has sweet potatoes as well as apples all smothered in a caramelly sauce, then baked and topped with marshmallows. This was really quite good. The apples add that tart flavor that I crave when I eat the very sweet sweet potatoes and marshmallows. The original recipe came from
Just Get off Your Butt And Bake and her photo is much much prettier than mine. The blog is great; go give it a look if you never have! I didn’t change her recipe much at all. Just swapped out cream for some of the water and used some spices in it and also increased it some because I live with gluttonous pigs aka teen males :-P. Otherwise, this is all hers. If you make this, I suggest using a good quality canned sweet potato if using canned. The ones I used were from a low cost chain; the kind that specializes in bulk buy and while the casserole TASTED delicious, the sweet potatoes were so overly processed in the can that they practically dissolved into the casserole as it cooked and it really didn’t have any nice chunks in it. Thus why you are only getting a photo of the casserole as a whole lol; not of individual servings 😛 .

So if you’re wanting something traditional yet not quite, give this a try. Sweet tart apples, tender sweet potatoes, caramel sauce and marshmallows all combine to make this yummy to the max!

Apple & Sweet Potato Casserole

(Covered In Gooey Marshmallows Cause I’m Not A Law Breaker)

  • 3 15 ounce cans sweet potatoes (or about half a dozen fresh ones, cooked, peeled then cut into chunks)
  • 4 tart apples such as Granny Smith, sliced thick (I used an apple corer & didn’t bother peeling them)
  • 2 1/3 cups boiling water
  • 2/3 cup heavy cream (brought to boiling with the water)
  • 1 cup Brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
  • 1/2 teaspoon cloves (optional)
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
  • 4 Tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 2 Tablespoons Butter
  • 1 cup mini marshmallows
  1. Mix the brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, salt & nutmeg with the cornstarch in a large measuring cup & blend well. Add the water/cream mixture to the sugar.
  2. Mix until well blended. Microwave at full power for about five minutes, taking out and stirring every minute, or until the sauce has thickened and is translucent.
  3. Combine the apples and sweet potatoes in a large greased baking dish (mine is a 2 quart ceramic dish)
  4. Pour the glaze over the yams and the apples.
  5. Bake for 1 hour at 300 degrees, or until the apples are tender.
  6. Sprinkle the marshmallows on top and broil until the yummy marshmallows that are totally legal are nicely browned. Do not NOT use them or I WILL call the law on you.
  7. Eat. Enjoy. Buy more marshmallows.

I Have A Confession To Make

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Darn turkey was trying to eat my cake!

You ready for this? I’m hoping that none of you leave and never speak to me again because this is a big one.

*Takes a deep breath*

Ok, here goes.

I’m glad Halloween is over! Glad!! Glad I say!!

There!! I said it!!

*Sobs uncontrollably and hides under a blankie, peeking out to see how many of you left*

You’re still here!? To quote my three year old, “Awesome, dude!”

I really am though. Beyond the candy, as a holiday it really doesn’t do much for me. I get tired of trying to catch something decent on TV and only finding scary movies and things titled “The Exorcism of The Three Legged Emu That Ate Manhattan”. I find myself longing for Thanksgiving and Christmas movies and TV shows. I also get tired of every food product being based on the idea of how gross can we make this? Mind you, I get/got a kick out of seeing how creative my fellow bloggers can be with Halloween treats and some sounded amazingly good but I was aching for something that was homey and cozy and Autumnish.

Like I said though, the candy part? Yeah, I can deal with that. Especially the day after sales when you can snag 73 pound bags of assorted Hershey products for less than the national debt. I grab those bad boys and save them to put in Christmas stockings and pray that the kids don’t really notice the Halloween wrappers. Honest… I really do save them. Ok, most of them. There usually aren’t many any Kit Kats left. But who can blame me!? I mean… it’s KIT KATS!!!

With just two teens and a three year old at home, there wasn’t any trick or treating. I figure Joshie can start going when he starts school. I’m mean that way. Plus, he is pretty timid and I really didn’t want to carry him as he clutched me in traumatized fear and then had nightmares for a year or twelve.

So I’ve moved on. I’m back to loving the idea of cozy Autumn style dishes; things that can be served to the family or maybe put on the table when Thanksgiving comes around which is getting here quicker than I’m ready for. So today I made an awesome (awesome, dude!!) caramelized apple pound cake. This is an older recipe that I only slightly adapted from Food & Wine magazine and it’s a bit more time consuming than things I usually make but it’s well worth it. I added a cider & ginger apple compote to this and it works wonderfully to add that extra pizzazz to the cake. I also didn’t use their glaze because it just sounded too sweet and heavy.

Cider Caramelized Apple Pound Cake

With An Cider, Apple & Ginger Compote

  1. Cake-
  2. 2 cups apple cider
  3. 3 cups white sugar
  4. 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  5. 1 1/2 pounds granny smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced thin
  6. 3 cups cake flour
  7. 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  8. 1 teaspoon nutmeg
  9. 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  10. 1/2 teaspoon cloves
  11. 1/2 teaspoon salt
  12. 1/4 teaspoon baking soda (yes, you read that right)
  13. 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  14. 6 large eggs
  15. 3/4 cup sour cream
  16. Compote-
  17. 1 20 ounce package refrigerated glazed apples (the kind that is by the ready made meals)
  18. 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  19. 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  20. 1/2 cup apple cider
  21. 2 tablespoons crystallized ginger
  22. 1/3 cup heavy cream
  23. Glaze-
  24. 2 cups powdered sugar
  25. 1/4 to 1/3 cup apple cider (will vary depending on how thick or thin you want your glaze)
  • In a large saucepan, boil the 2 cups apple cider over high heat, stirring occasionally, until reduced to 1/2 cup. Add 1 cup of the white sugar to it and cook over moderately high heat until it is a dark amber color.
  • Take pan off the heat and add in the 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the peeled and sliced apples and cook over medium high heat until the apples are tender and translucent and most of the cider syrup is absorbed. Set the apples aside and let cool.
  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 12 cup bundt pan (I used Bakers Joy spray- I love that stuff!).
  • Sift together the flour, spices and salt.
  • In a large bowl, beat the 1 1/2 cups butter until creamy. Add the remaining 2 cups of sugar and the vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.
  • Add the eggs one at a time. beat well after each one.
  • Add the dry ingredients a third at a time, alternating adding it with adding the sour cream.
  • Stir half a cup of the batter into the apples to lighten them up a bit, then stir the apples into the rest of the batter.
  • Pour the batter into your prepared pan and smooth it out. Bake for 70 minutes or until the top is dry and cracked or a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
  • Let cool in pan for about 20 minutes then turn it out onto a rack to cool completely.
  • When cool, whisk the glaze ingredients together and drizzle over the cake… or just eat it with a spoon. WHAT?! Quit looking funny at me!
  • To make the compote-
  • In a medium saucepan, mix all the ingredients except for the cream. Bring to a simmer, stirring frequently and cook until the cider has been absorbed. make sure to stir this often or it WILL stick. Don’t ask me how I know this *cough cough*. When pretty much all of the cider is absorbed, stir in the cream. Heat JUST until the cream has warmed up; don’t boil it.
  • Serve the cake with a nice dollop of the compote on top.
  • Say yum.

Taking a decent picture at 2am with no natural light (obviously) & a point & shoot camera is pretty impossible. Sigh.

‘

When The Moon Hits Your Eye Like A Big Pizza Pie…

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Sigh. Have I mentioned recently that I REALLY need a good camera?

 

That’s so NOT amore as Dean Martin crooned years ago. It’s more like, sayyyyy, the apocalypse.  That moon thing might hurt. Well, ok, no it won’t because the whole Earth would go BOOM long before the moon actually hit your eye… or your nose… or even an outstretched “OMG, the moon is about to hit me!!!” sort of arm. Now the boom thing? That may hurt for a split second or so.

I am pretty sure that Mr. Martin was dead drunk when he sang those words. But then again, I don’t recall any sightings of him on TV where he WASN’T dead drunk.  Am I the only one who remembers the show he had on TV many many years back? Erhmmm, not that I’m old enough to recall it. I watched it on you tube. Yeah, that’s it. And in those shows…erhmmm, reruns, I remember him always being surrounded by gorgeous women, always lounging against a piano and always dead drunk. Ahhh, the days when men were men. Or something like that.

Now I’m feeling all nostalgic for old TV shows. I used to love all the old variety shows that came on during the Christmas season. My favorite was always the Bing Crosby Special. Oh Gawd, I loved those shows! I have on an old VHS tape one that came out a few years after Mr. Crosby died that was a compilation of all the shows. I kept it once I found it because for YEARS, and I mean MANY YEARS, I remembered the version of “The Little Drummer Boy” he sang with David Bowie ( go look it up on you tube. It’s beyond amazing!) and that was the only way I could hear the song. Then a few years ago, “Now That’s What I Call Christmas” came out with a CD that had that song on it. I was one happy Bing lover.

Back to that moon and pizza pie thing. I love pizza. Matter of fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever met anyone who DIDN’T like pizza. But if they did, I bet I could change they mind with this one. This doesn’t have sausage or pepperoni or extra cheese or mushrooms (damn. Now I’m hungry.) Nope. This one is covered in a nice cheesecake filling, apples, cinnamon and sugar as well as caramel and a delicious streusel topping. Drooling yet?

I saw a recipe for caramel apple pizza and while it sounded good, that genetically warped part of me took over (go figure huh?) and I had to mess with it. I mean c’mon, would you really expect anything different form me? I didn’t think so. So I added a nice sugar cinnamon sprinkle to the crust to give it some flavor and then topped it all off with an oatmeal crumb topping. The cinnamon sugar could be left off if you preferred but…why? 😀 This makes a great family dessert, especially this time of the year when apples are excellent. It would also be great at a kids Halloween party. This makes 2 pies so if you want to do the math, you could cut the recipe in half 😛

Streusel Caramel Apple Cheesecake Pizza

  • STREUSEL-
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup oatmeal
  • 1/3 cup flour
  • Cinnamon sugar topping-
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 heaping tablespoon cinnamon
  • PIZZA-
  • 2 store bought pizza crusts (yes you could make your own but this is meant to be a fairly easy quick to put together treat)
  • 2 8 ounce packages cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup caramel dip or topping
  • 3 large apples, cored, thinly sliced (Gala work well)
  • 1/3 cup finely chopped peanuts (I didn’t do this because I don’t like them but figured I’d add it to make it more caramel apple seeming)
  • more caramel topping for drizzling.
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a small bowl, combine all the topping ingredients. Mix well then cut in the butter using a pastry blender. Set aside.
  3. In a separate bowl, combine the cream cheese and the caramel topping.
  4. Spray the pizza crusts with butter flavored baking spray (regular is fine too) and put them on large cookie sheets.
  5. Combine the cinnamon sugar and sprinkle it over the two pizza crusts. Get annoyed at me cause I’ve made you dirty 3 bowls and 2 baking sheets.
  6. Spread half the cream cheese mixture over each pizza crust.
  7. Arrange the apple slices on each crust in a purty spoke design even though they are going to be covered in streusel and you won’t see them. YOU’LL know it’s pretty under there. It’s like wearing nice underwear in case you get into an accident.
  8. Drizzle the apples with more caramel topping. I didn’t give an amount for that because I am heavy handed with it. You may want less…. or more even, in which case call your dentist.
  9. Sprinkle half the streusel topping over each pizza crust.
  10. Bake at 350 degrees until the topping is browned and crispy and the apples are tender.
  11. Serve this with vanilla ice cream. Curse my name as your hips get bigger as you eat and your jeans button pops open. Know that I’m giggling over here.

Lucccccyyyyyy, I’m Hommmmmeeeeeeee! Cook Me Some Dinner!!

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Oooo, Ricky, can we go to the club tonight!?

No Luccceeeee! You need to be cooking dinner for me!

Ohhhhhhh…. Rickkyyyyyyy! WAHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Ummmm…. yeah. That’s my way of saying I’m back! Did ya miss me!?  huh huh huh!? Was there an emptiness in your life the past 2.5 weeks while you waited for my return? Did you mourn and eat lots of Twinkies in my honor?

Well…. moving is done. We are settled with nary a box in sight. Well, one box but it’s my husbands and I’m not touching it… unless it sits there too long. Then I’ll hide it.

I had forgotten how much I hated moving. The only thing it is good for is that you have a clean house for a while. I think from now on we will just move every time the house gets dirty. Easier than cleaning.

Seriously though; moving sucks. By the time I finished culling things in the old house and packing up I was already exhausted. Then once we got everything here, all the unpacking and setting up pretty much fell to me since my husband had to work. Talk about tiring! A three bedroom house…. unpacked in like 3 days. Why you ask? Because I am extremely anal and couldn’t handle the idea of living in box city for longer than necessary. So I practically killed myself getting it done. I am one of those people who HAS to have it feeling like home. I need a magic wand or a potion to create “instant cozy”. If you see one on ebay, keep me in mind.

Then, as life is wont to do, it used it’s massive sense of humor to add Bronchitis to the settling in process. I’m still recovering from that and 99% of the time, tend to sound like Minnie Mouse after she has been sucking on a helium balloon. Kinda funny actually. Except when I try to sing. Then it’s just frightening. I think I have traumatized Joshie and all the cats.

Butttttt… I have FINALLY been able to start cooking again. Between setting up and illness, I didn’t cook a thing for the longest time. So all my grand plans of having a backlog of recipes and posts when I got  internet access back were ruined. But that’s ok. I’ll still be cooking for you. Have a new one for you right now as a matter of fact. 🙂 I wanted a cobble the other day but didn’t have the things I needed to make a good home made one so I improvised. I guess it must have worked since my non sweets liking husband had two servings. Yay me!

This is supremely easy to throw together and a perfect Autumn cobbler. It is rich, decadent and smooth (starting to sound like I cloned George Clooney) with a crunchy biscuit topping that goes over the top by taking a dunk in butter and then a cinnamon sugar mix (omit the cinnamon on if you don’t like it {I see you Ann!} or can’t eat it.). Add in a shot (or so) of Butterscotch Schnapps and this is one tasty cobbler!! So get to cooking! Then get to eating. Then get to telling me how yummy it was!

 Apple, Pear & Butterscotch Cobbler

  1. 1 20 ounce can apple pie filling
  2. 2 15 ounce cans pears in juice, drained (reserve juice from one can)
  3. 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  4. 1/3 cup sugar
  5. 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  6. 1 cup butterscotch chips
  7. 1/3 cup butterscotch schnapps
  8. 1 7.5 ounce ten count can buttermilk biscuits
  9. 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
  10. 1/3 cup sugar
  11. 2 teaspoons cinnamon (or more if desired. Can also be omitted)
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly butter a 13 x 9 baking dish.
  • In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch, 1/3 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Whisk in the reserved juice from the can of pears.
  • In a large bowl, combine the apple pie filling and pears. Mix in the cornstarch mixture.
  • Pour in the butterscotch chips and the schnapps. Combine well then spoon into the buttered baking dish.
  • In a small bowl, combine the last 1/3 cup sugar and the 2 teaspoons cinnamon.
  • Open biscuit can. Dip each biscuit in the melted butter, then in the cinnamon/sugar mix. Lay on top of fruit in baking dish.
  • Bake at 350 until the biscuits are golden brown and the fruit is bubbly and thickened, about 35 to 40 minutes.
  • Serve with ice cream or whipped cream. Say yum many many times.

Don’t Mess With My Hydrogenated Oils, Man!

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I was feeling nostalgic today and remembering the good old days. You see, I’m an old fart compared to many of you. Quite possibly I could have been your mother. Oh my, I did NOT say that out loud did I? I was lying. I’m really only 29 and just have premature wrinkles and I color my hair gray on purpose. Ok, that’s a lie too. I really AM 46 (47 in August) but to my credit, I am a vampire who hates the sun (well, the hating the sun part is true anyway. I’m full of lies today ehh? 😛 ) and I don’t have a whole lot of wrinkles. There’s my motherly advice for today. Take care of your skin. We won’t discuss the gray hair part. Let’s just say that I love the word Loreal and leave it at that.

Moving on… I say that a lot don’t I? Can’t imagine why. Moving on (see? I said it again. I wonder how many times I can fit those words into one post.)… I was feeling nostalgic for things that were a part of my long ago past. NO, not dinosaurs and stone tablets… don’t be smart! I was feeling nostalgic for beef fat. Now haven’t I told you before that your face is going to freeze like that? Stop it right now or I’ll give you something to make faces over!

Back in the day, when you went to someplace like say McDonalds and ordered fries they were cooked in beef fat. They were also delicious and it was very easy to eat 15 packages of them in five minutes. It was also very hard to get a hold of an ambulance when you had a heart attack before your arteries were clogged with beef fat. But as you died, you could lick your lips and say “my, that was yummy! MEDIC!”

They also had pies. Not that crap they sell now and call pies. These weren’t baked. They were deep fried in pure fat, mannnnn! And O…M…G… they were good. Te outside got all bubbly and crisp and the inside..well, the inside made it up to approximately 3000 degrees and many people had to have tongue transplants because of it. If you ever run into someone with out a tongue who is past a certain age, if they could talk and tell you, they’d say it was due to a fried pie.

Damnnnnnnn, did I wander today. But you’re used to that by now right? What was I saying? Oh yeah, moving on (giggles*), I LIKE my fats. I LIKE my hydrogenated oils. they may kill me, but I’ll die of eating crispy goodness like this fried pie. These are so simple and very tasty. they come from dear old (and she IS heading towards old 😛 ) Paula Deen. I mean, it’s fried; you were expecting it to be from “Hungry Girl”? If Ms. Deen could have found a way to fit a few sticks of butter in this, I’m sure she would have. But barring that, she DID manage to stuff some pie crust with apples, sugar, cinnamon and butter and then deep fry it. I added the glaze to these myself because I wanted a glazed apple fritter effect. Try them. You must. For me and my nostalgia. Because you love me. 😀

Mini Fried Apple Pies

  • 1 4.5 to 5 ounce package dried apples
  • 2 cups water
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 to 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 15 ounce package premade rolled pie crusts
  • 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil (more if needed to get an inch of oil in pot)
  • GLAZE-
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • enough apple juice to make a thin glaze
  1. Cook the apples in the water over medium low heat for about one hour or until water is cooked out and apples are tender.
  2. Add the butter, sugar and cinnamon and mix well. Let cool.
  3. Meanwhile, unroll your pie crust and using either a big biscuit cutter (or a glass like I did because my biggest biscuit cutter was still too small) cut rounds out of each pie crust. I got 7 from each with scraps that I was too lazy to reroll.
  4. Heat oil to 350.
  5. Place one tablespoon on each round. Moisten edge of the rounds with water then fold over to enclose filling. Seal well so they don’t pop open in the oil. Don’t ask me how I know that that can happen. I must have read it somewhere. Yeah, that’s it.
  6. Fry 3 to 4 pies at a time in the hot oil for about 2 minutes or until golden brown. Lay on a paper towel lines cookie sheet while you make glaze.
  7. Mix the powdered sugar with enough apple juice to make a thin glaze.  Dip each pie into the glaze and thoroughly coat it.
  8. Eat one. Then eat another. Then another. Erhmmm… moving on. HEH! I got it in one more time!