Apple Cider Donut Cake

Directions

1/2 cup of unsalted butter, softened

1 cups apple cider

1 T boiled cider

1/4 c unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla bean paste

For the Cider Glaze:

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup sugar

1/8 cup water

1/4 cup apple cider

1 T boiled cider

For the Cinnamon Sugar Coating:

6 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350ºF and spray a bundt pan with baking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, sugar, and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until incorporated. Add the oil and mix well.  Add the applesauce and mix again. 

Stir together the apple cider, boiled cider and buttermilk.

In a separate bowl add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cloves & cinnamon.

Add the flour mixture and apple/milk mixture alternatively in three additions, scraping the bowl as needed and mixing after each addition. Add the vanilla and beat once more, just to combine.

Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Place the cake in its pan on a cooling rack for ten minutes. Turn out onto a plate and brush with glaze.

While cake is baking, prepare Cider Glaze. Melt butter, sugar and water over medium high heat. Bring mixture to a boil and let boil for 1-minute. Remove from heat and immediately add the ciders, stirring to combine.

Prepare the Cinnamon Sugar Coating. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle the warm, glazed cake with cinnamon sugar, using fingers to rub it onto the sides of the cake, if necessary…I used a sugar shaker and it hits all sides of the cake perfectly.

 

Recipe adapted from Runcible Eats.

Enjoy!

Salted Caramel & Brown Butter Snickerdoodles

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose Gold Medal flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup unsalted butter, sliced
1 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon plain Greek yogurt
1 cup caramel squares, cut into 1/4's

For Rolling the Cookies:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Sea salt, for sprinkling on top of cookies

In a medium bowl, Whisk together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

To brown the butter, heat a thick-bottomed skillet on medium heat. Add the sliced butter, whisking frequently. Continue to cook the butter until melted. The butter will start to foam and browned specks will begin to form at the bottom of the pan. The butter should have a nutty aroma. Watch the butter carefully because it can go from brown to burnt quickly. Remove butter from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the brown butter and sugars. Mix until blended and smooth. Beat in the egg, yolk, vanilla, and yogurt and mix until combined. Slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

 Form the dough in a ball and cover with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. You can chill the dough overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Measure about 2 tablespoons of dough and roll into balls. Flatten the ball with the palm of your hand and place a piece of caramel in the center of the dough. Wrap the cookie dough around the caramel, making sure the caramel is completely covered with dough.

 In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon and sugar. Roll the balls in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place dough balls on a large baking sheet that has been lined with a baking mat or parchment paper. Make sure the cookies are about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle the cookie tops with sea salt.

Bake the cookies 8-10 minutes or until the edges of the cookies begin to turn golden brown. The centers will still be soft. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes, or until set. Transfer cookies to a wire cooling rack and cool completely.

(Recipe taken from Two Peas and Their Pod)

Delicious!

Pretty Pink Applesauce

Applesauce is the easiest thing in the world to make and tastes so much better than store-bought.  A huge return for little effort.  Well, yeah, there are the apples and the fact that you need to remove their peels, or do you?  If you have a food mill at home, even that step can be skipped which narrows it down to coring and quartering.  Of course that is made simple by using the apple corer tool available everywhere for purchase.  I add the reddest of the peels back to the pot and cook along with the apples.  This gives the applesauce its pinkishness.

I do not add anything to my applesauce while cooking it as I am never sure of all the recipes I will use it for, and not everyone wants the sugar.  On the plate, however, I add a little brown sugar, a tab of butter and some ground cinnamon.  I like to serve it over top of homemade biscuits or Johnny Cakes.  Fabulous for breakfast!

If you are so inclined to make the best of everything, including the cores, refer to my recipe for Apple Peel & Core Jelly Jars!

Ingredients

6 lbs. red apples, peeled, cored & quartered (reserve peels)*
    Note: If you are using a food mill you can keep the peels intact
4 c water

Brown sugar
Butter
Cinnamon

Add prepared apple pieces to a dutch oven.  Add several of the reddest peels to the pot and add the water.  Bring to boil on high heat.  Reduce and continue to cook until all the apples are very tender (about 40 minutes).  With tongs, take care to remove all the peel from the pot.  If you like your sauce on the chunky side as I do, take a potato masher and go thru the apples until you reach the desired consistency.  If you prefer a smoother consistency, you can put small batches in a food processor or blender and process until smooth.  You can also process only half the batch if you want some chunkiness.  If you are using a food mill, process according to manufacturer's directions, leaving peels behind.

Store in container with lid in refrigerator up to one week.  When ready to service, heat in pot or in microwave safe dish.  Add brown sugar, butter and cinnamon to taste.

Spiced Apple Pumpkin Butter

Ingredients

2 c of fresh pumpkin puree or (1) 15oz. can
1/2 small apple, peeled, cored and chopped into small pieces
1/3 c pure maple syrup
2 T brown sugar
1/2 c apple cider
1 T fresh lemon juice
2 T boiled cider (optional)
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/8 tsp. salt

Combine all ingredients into a large, heavy bottom sauce pan.  Bring to simmer on medium-low heat; then reduce to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30-45 minutes or until liquid is reduced and mixture turns dark.  If a smoother consistency is preferred, use an emulsion blender or a regular blender and process until desired consistency.  Divide among 2 jars and secure the lids.  Bring to room temperature before refrigerating.

Spiced Apple Cider Poached Apples

I apologize as I forgot to take photos of my poached apples when they were in the pot and first served to my guests looking their best.  This is the last of them and not especially photo-worthy.  I will make again in the near future and post better photos.

These are delicious and have many flavors coming together to make these a fall favorite.  Easy to make, you can substitute pears, peaches or both.  Firm fruit works best.

Ingredients

1/2 gallon apple cider, farm fresh preferred (rinse and set the container aside for use later, See 2nd note below)
1/2 c brown sugar
Zest from an orange, in large pieces
3 whole cloves
2 small cinnamon sticks
3 star anise pods
1 vanilla bean slit down the middle and cut in half
6 firm apples, peeled, halved and centers removed.  Try to keep stems in tact for presentation.
Cinnamon, optional
Nutmeg, optional
Sweetened Whipped Cream, optional

Bring all except apples to a boil in large pot.  Lower to a simmer, add apples and cook apples for approximately 20 minutes; turning occasionally, until tender.  Turn off heat and let come to room temperature before serving.  Sprinkle with cinnamon or nutmeg if desired.  Can also service with fresh sweetened whipped cream.

Note: Soft apples, like McIntosh, will begin to fall apart and cook down after only a few minutes. They will not hold their shape and the spices will not have time to permeate the liquid.

Another note:  Strain the reserved cider mixture back into the container.  Now you have wonderfully delicious Spiced Apple Cider!

Gourmet Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Swirl and Pecan Praline Crunch

Ingredients:

Pumpkin bread:
1 15oz. can pumpkin
1 3/4 C sugar
2/3 C vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 C all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/4 C chopped dates (I used candy coated dates I had on hand)
1/4 C dried cranberries
1/4 C toffee pieces
1 T flour

Cream Cheese mixture:
4 T cream cheese, room temperature
3 T sugar
1 egg

Pecan Praline Crunch:
5 T butter
3 T brown sugar
1/2 C toasted pecans, finely chopped
1/4 C confectioners' sugar
Set 4 tablespoons aside

Preheat oven to 350.
Grease and flour 2 loaf pans

Place 1/4 batter in each pan.  Add half the cream cheese mixture on top of batter; then half of the pecan praline crunch (reserving the 4 tablespoons).  Top each with half the remaining pumpkin batter.  Sprinkle the tops with 2 tablespoons pecan praline crunch.

Bake 50-60 minutes or until tester inserted near center comes out clean.

Remove from oven. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Turn out and cool completely.

Yield: 2 small loaves

It's always nice to break bread with friends, baking bread is even nicer!