Tag Archives: apple

apple cider donut cake

Posted on by

12

Fall is full of apples, and apple orchards, and fresh-pressed cider, and hot apple cider donuts and fresh apple fritters.

For most of the country, at least.

The closest I can get is store-bought apple cider… and this apple cider donut cake, which is delicious, and not deep-fried, and still super full of fall flavors.

The original recipe calls for cooking sliced granny smiths in cider, and pureeing them, and adding that to the cake.  Since my stores apple selection could be described as dismal at best, I decided to replace the fresh pureed apples with applesauce, which also means you make this any time of the year, in any part of the world, because I’m pretty sure that even if you don’t have fresh apples readily available, you will still be able to find some applesauce.

I also added buttermilk to give it a nice, tender crumb, since anyone who may have tried to substitute applesauce in a recipe may know it can make things a little on the “chewy” side.

This cake is like a fresh cider donut, and since it has “donut” in the name that means you are allowed to eat it for breakfast.  And any recipe that allows me to sneak cake into my breakfast regimen is considered a win in my book, especially if you then cover that cake in a layer of sweet cinnamon-sugar.

This cake would be the perfect brunch item, providing you and your guests something to snack on while they wait for your turkey to roast, or it would make a delightful alternative as a Thanksgiving dessert for those of you who don’t care for pumpkin, I know you’re out there.

Apple Cider Donut Cake

Print
apple cider donut cake

Ingredients

    For the cake:
  • 8 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room-temperature, cubed
  • ½ cup applesauce
  • ¾ cup apple cider
  • ½ cup buttermilk, room temperature
  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ cup brown sugar, packed
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs, room temperature
  • ¼ cup vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • For Cinnamon-Sugar Coating
  • 6 Tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ? teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ? teaspoon salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F and prepare bundt pan with butter or spray.
  2. Put applesauce in liquid measuring cup. Fill with apple cider to 1 cup mark. Stir to combine. Add buttermilk and vanilla to cider mixture and stir to combine again.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
  4. In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating to incorporate after each addition. Add oil and continue beating until incorporated.
  5. Decrease mixer speed to low and add flour mixture alternating with apple mixture (flour-cider-flour-cider-flour), scraping down the bowl as needed. Remember to scrape up from the bottom too to catch any flour pockets that may be hiding down there.
  6. Scrape batter into greased bundt pan and bake 35-45 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto rack, coat with cinnamon sugar mixture (I sprinkled it over the top, then poured into my hand and rubbed onto the sides), leave on rack until it has cooled completely.
  7. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
https://wee-eats.com/2012/11/12/apple-cider-donut-cake/

 

[ Adapted from Serious Eats ]

caramel apple pie

Posted on by

5

caramel apple pie 1

Few things are associated with America, fall, or thanksgiving quite like apple pie. There is something about the time of year that requires apple pies to be made. May or may not have something to do with apples being in season… nah, I’m sure it’s completely unrelated. Definitely something to do with pilgrims and indians and apples… then America was made and everyone feasted on apple pie a la mode… yeah, that sounds about right.

>.>

<.<

>.>

Back east, we have tons of apple orchards, you just go and pick your very own apples, watch some turn into cider, pet some farm animals, get a hot apple fritter, and bring however many pounds of apples you’ve acquired home for fresh apple pie, apple cobbler, apple sauce, or just plain apples.

The apples here are sad when compared to the ones back home, but just like lemonade from lemons, when life gives you apples…. No, don’t make apple-aid. Pie will do just fine. There are a lot of different apple pie camps. Not only is there debate over which apples to use – granny smith, macon, macintosh, golden delicious… So many varieties of apples are available they’ll make your head spin. And then there’s the crust – single crust, double crust, thick or thin crusts… Where’s a girl to start.

Well, for this girl at least, it starts with streusel. Not only does streusel make everything infinity better, it gives this pie a welcome ‘crunch’ that accents the soft apples and makes your mouth go “wow”. Not literally, of course, because then you’d be spilling apple pie out of your mouth, and what a waste of apple pie that would be, I don’t care how shocked you are. Swallow first, then “wow”. There will be no wasting of apple pie in my home. None.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE! Just when you thought you were done, a drizzle of caramel takes it to the next level  – taking the pie up a notch from “apple pie” to “caramel apple pie”… That’s right. I went there. Mmmm … caramel… (did anyone else hear Homer Simpson in their head?)

For my pie, I used a mixture of pretty much whatever I could get my hands on at the store. The apples here don’t carry the same heft as back home, but they worked out just fine. I used, I believe, 2 granny smiths, 2 macintosh, and perhaps even a pink lady. With the added sweetness of the streusel and caramel though, feel free to stick with the tart granny smith for more flavor contrast. Otherwise, mix and match to your heart’s content.

Caramel Apple Pie

Printable Recipe

For the filling

  • 1 recipe single-crust pie dough
  • 3 tablespoons AP flour
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 6 c thinly sliced, peeled apples (about 3 large, or 6 small apples)

For streusel

  • 1 c packed brown sugar
  • ½ c AP flour
  • ½ c quick-cooking oats
  • ½ c butter
  • ½ c granulated sugar

For topping

  • ¼ c caramel topping

Preheat oven to 375F and prepare a pie pan for use.

1. Make pie crust and roll dough to 12-inch circle. Transfer to 9” pie plate.

OR … unroll thawed store-bought pie crust… blasphemy, I know

Make the streusel:

  1. Stir together brown sugar, ½ c AP flour and oats and cut in butter until crumbly.

Prepare the apples:

  1. Stir together sugar, 3 tablespoons of flour, cinnamon, and salt.
  2. Add apple slices and toss to coat. Transfer mixture to pie crust & sprinkle w crumb topping.

Bake

  1. Cover edges of pie with crust covers or aluminum foil and bake 25min @ 375F.
  2. Remove foil and bake additional 25 – 30 min until top is golden.
  3. Remove from oven and drizzle with caramel. Cool before serving