Tag Archives: fall

apple cider donut cake

Posted on by

6

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

[ Printable Recipe ]

For 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
  • 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
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 F and prepare bundt pan with butter or spray.

Put applesauce in liquid measuring cup.  Fill with apple cider to 1 cup mark. Stir to combine. Add vanilla to cider mixture and stir to combine again.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

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.

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.

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.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

[ Inspired by Serious Eats ]

cinnamon pumpkin bundt cake

Posted on by

3

You may have noticed a few changes around here… if not, you might want to take a look around. Turns out that changing your site layout is harder than it seems… a bunch of my older posts are now, well let’s just say they are in need of some extra TLC. Moving things around a little bit, so I guess I apologize in the mean time until I get it all straightened out, or when I get tired and just switch back to the old format. Either one is equally likely, really.

In the mean time, I’ve been needing pumpkin like woah. So I made this pumpkin bundt cake. I put cinnamon chips in half of the cake (I wasn’t sure if the BF would want them in there). So, I should say I put cinnamon chips in my half of the cake… I won’t tell you if I ate an entire half. AND YOU CAN’T MAKE ME!

What I will tell you is to please enjoy this cake with freshly-whipped cream … coffee-flavored whipped cream is especially delicious.

The cinnamon chip amount in the recipe is if you want to put them in the whole cake. Oh, and ignore that finger mark in the powdered sugar. It’s not really there. You’re just seeing things.

Cinnamon Pumpkin Bundt Cake

[ Printable Recipe ]

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 stick butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup cinnamon chips (optional, chocolate chips would also be delicious)
  • whipped cream, for serving
  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Prepare your bundt pan with spray or butter (I like PAM for baking)
  3. In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice.
  4. In a separate mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until creamy.
  5. Add the eggs, one at a time, and continue to mix until smooth.
  6. Turn the mixer to low and gradually add the pumpkin puree, scraping down the sides as necessary.
  7. Gradually add half of the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture until just incorporated.
  8. Slowly pour in the milk and mixing on low until incorporated, then add in the rest of the flour mixture.
  9. Beat until fully mixed, scraping down the sides and making sure to get any flour that might be stuck at the bottom of the bowl and stir in cinnamon chips.
  10. Pour the batter into the prepared Bundt pan, smooth the top, then bake the cake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. This is exceptionally delicious when served with whipped cream.

thursday things

Posted on by

6

God bless Trader Joes: I finally found a delicious turkey bacon.  The most delicious turkey bacon in all the land.  I used it to make this “healthy” breakfast with a fat free english muffin, and a perfectly-poached egg.

Drooling?

Side note: What’s the deal with measuring cups these days? My recent guest star, Kabrina, and I were discussing these recently. Here is her measuring cup, less than one year old and my measuring cup, also very young:

      

The difference?

I can see the faint lines in mine (if I hold it up to the window) and then draw them on with a marker. I essentially paid for a blank piece of glass. Thanks.

I know for a fact that when I was a child, we had one measuring cup, and it lasted for my entire childhood. So what gives? The cup has one job: measure things. And it fails. It fails at its ONLY REASON FOR EXISTING.

Ok Pyrex, whatever cheap paint you’ve switched to, I’m sure it’s saving you buttloads of money, but it’s time to stop. I promise that I will drop my measuring cup and it will shatter into 1,000 pieces and I will have to buy a new one… eventually. You don’t have to attempt to expedite the process with horrible paint.

Know what else has to stop? Communal tables in restaurants. Oh, how they fill me with a fiery rage. I am happy to see that I am not the only one who despises communal seating at restaurants… I realize it saves you money, and I realize that it’s “convenient” (for the restaurant) but it’s SO UNCOMFORTABLE! It’s like being on an airplane, you’re surrounded on either side with people you don’t know and you have to decide which is more awkward: ignoring the people two inches away, or interrupting their dinner by talking to them.  Let’s just stop the madness now.

On a much happier note, there’s a new video of my golf boyfriend (that’s two links btw). I’ve never been a fan of golf, but I would watch it if he was my man. How could you say no to charm like that?

This insanely cute pillow from A Beautiful Mess almost motivates me to be crafty enough to make it. I’ll put that on my pinboard to forget about and probably never make…

Speaking of pins, the Fall Flavors board is up and running! Which means that this is basically me for the next three to four months:

… Like my pumpkin muffins with cream cheese filling or the best pumpkin cheesecake in the world! (yes, i stand by that statement)

    

Speaking of pumpkin, my friend posted this hilarious picture on Facebook. I promptly died from laughter.

That’s all for this week, have a fabulous weekend!

caramel apple pie

Posted on by

5

 

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

Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispy Treats

Posted on by

2

So I’m on a little bit of a pumpkin kick, so sue me. Get off my back, it’s fall and, honestly, this isn’t the last pumpkin recipe you’re going to see up here…

I was having a really off day in the kitchen this Sunday, so I decided it was probably in my best interest to stick to “simple” recipes. Isn’t it weird how that happens? Some days it’s just like no matter what you make, even if it’s a recipe you’ve made 100 times before, something is just… off. Like I had kitchen amnesia or something… it was really annoying. Eventually I just gave up and sat on the couch for the rest of the day. Upsetting.

Once I saw this autumn twist on a classic treat I just had to try it. It looks easy enough, relatively difficult to mess up, I mean… it is a rice krispy treat, after all. Given my list of other krispy treat creations, how could I pass it up? Plus, um hello – PUMPKIN!

If you want an easy treat to take to a work potluck or just want a creative way to use up the rest of your crisp rice cereal (or leftover pumpkin puree), go ahead and give these bars a whirl.

Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispies

[ Printable Recipe ]

  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
  • 1 (10 ounce) bag mini marshmallows plus one cup
  • 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • Pinch of allspice
  • Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
  • Pinch of kosher salt
  • 6 cups puffed rice cereal

Butter a 9×13-inch baking dish (I like to line mine in plastic wrap – no mess to clean up!)

Melt butter over medium-low heat. Add the pumpkin puree and continue to cook until it is warmed through. Fold in 10 ounces of the marshmallows, stirring frequently until almost completely melted. Stir in vanilla, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and salt, and remove from heat.

THIS NEXT PART IS IMPORTANT…

Allow the marshmallow mixture to cool 10 minutes; fold in the remaining cup of marshmallows. Continue to cool the mixture for another 20 to 25 minutes until it is room temperature (failure to cool the mixture will result in soggy rice crispy treats.)

Add the puffed rice cereal and stir, using a silicone spatula, until combined.

Press the mixture into the greased rectangular baking dish. Let set for 30 minutes before cutting and serving.

* I suspect the world will not come to a screeching halt if you use pumpkin pie filling, just reduce or omit the other spices (except vanilla)