TWD: Apple Season

This is apple season in the NE and other areas of the US. And the apples are delicious, available, and affordable. Perfect for making Dorie’s Caramel Apple Crisp. And it was super easy.

There are three parts to this recipe.

The Caramel Sauce. I could drink this easily!!

The Topping.

The apple prep.

Put those three together and you have a wonderful, not real sweet, and DELICIOUS!!!

It’s wonderful with Sea Salt Caramel Ice Cream!

The recipe is on page 250 of Dorie’s Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple

Visit Tuesdays with Dorie for more Crisps or see if they made the other choice: Blue Cheese Bites.

Advertisement

 

WWDH: cinnamon apple sour cream cake

Wednesday means we are cooking with Donna Hay. She has such wonderful recipes for everything – cakes, shrimp, meat, ice cream. So many recipes. So little time

Anyway… tonight is supper night for our church so I made Donna’s cinnamon apple sour cream cake. Super simple.

The cake mixture is poured into a 9″ springform pan and then topped with thin apple slices tossed with almond meal, turbinado sugar and cinnamon. The turbinado adds a nice crunch to the topping. One hour and you have a delicious cake you can eat warm or cold. Perfect with ice cream.

The recipe is in Donna’s flavours (page 178).

Check with Kayte and Gaye for their dishes this week. IF you want to cook with us just leave a link in a comment and we will include you in our list.

 

TWD: Apple Pandowdy

This week some of the bakers at Tuesdays with Dorie made an pandowdy. What is a Pandowdy? It is a pie with just a top crust. And the top crust is usually made with odd shapes/pieces of dough. Which means it is an easy pie to make because you don’t really have to roll out that perfect circle of dough to put on top of the pie. I LOVE that!! While I can make a good crust (usually one of Dorie’s) I can never seem to get it on to the pie just right.

While many bakers choose to use rectangles or triangles I wanted something pretty as it was going to church for our after service treat. I found a small flower cookie cutter and used that to make lots of flowers for the top. It was then brushed with milk (as per instructions) and I sprinkled the top with demerara sugar which gives the top of the pie a pretty texture and shine.

I like apple pie and this was the first time I had made one as a pandowdy. I may just make all my apple pies this way from now on.

I did use a mixture of apples (Ambrosia and Sweet Tango) along with some pears I had canned earlier in the year. There was nothing left after the social hour at church. You may think that is odd but there are only 12 people in our little church and there was another dessert (with lots left).

While I liked the pandowdy I thought it was TOO lemony and I really couldn’t taste the apples. I would rather do it with cinnamon and cardamom. But they like it and that was all that mattered.

The recipe is on page 257 of Dorie Greenspan’s new (and inviting) book – Baking with Dorie : Sweet, Salty and Simple. We are not publishing the recipes as we did with Baking from my Home to Yours. You will just have to purchase her book and join us every other Tuesday.

We had a choice of making the pandowdy or English Muffins.

You can see how the muffins or the pandowdys turned out HERE.

 

{EwE} It’s a Garden Party!

This week, thanks to Peggy, we are having a Garden Party at Eating with Ellie.  And what better time than late Spring before it gets rather warm for the summer.

A Garden Party doesn’t have to be fancy.  It can be just good  food shared with friends outdoors.  In light of that I brought a simple Apple Crisp for dessert.

Not bad.  I used Fugi, Golden Delicious, and Pink Lady Apples.  The topping is supposed to be a dough of sorts but, since I wasn’t totally focused when I made it, it turned out to be a sweet oatmeal topping.  How on earth I forgot the butter and oil and water is beyond me.  I didn’t have my mis en place ready I supposed. But it was still good.  It was especially good with some Vanilla Ice Cream melting on top of the warm crisp.

I bet some blueberries would be good in this….

I will make this again – with ALL the ingredients next time.

The recipe is from Ellie’s Comfort Food Fix. {page 280} Also HERE!

More dishes for the Garden Party?  Visit Eating with Ellie.

 

{EwE} Apple Cookies

This week’s theme for Eating with Ellie is Apples.  We’ve been cooking with Ellie for so long that we, or at least I, are running out of yummy recipes in some categories.  Like apples.  I had planned to make the Apple Crisp from Comfort Food Fix but we were invited to a Church Supper and I made dessert and I still had some left so I had to make something LESS sweet and less like dessert.  Too many sweets in the house means trouble.

Enter Ellie’s Harvest Breakfast Cookies. These cookies are huge and more like a muffin in cookie form.

Each cookie uses almost 1/2 cup of batter so they are quite large.  And they are chock full of apples, cranberries blueberries {because I couldn’t find my cranberries} along with pecans and dried cranberries.  They are supposed to contain rolled oats as well.  I noticed my cup of oats on the counter just as I was putting the cookies in the oven.  oh, well.

They are sweet but not too sweet.  The only sweetener is 1/2 cup of Maple Syrup.  These are on the menu for breakfast in the morning.

The cookies are in Ellie’s you have it made.  page 45

More apples -> An Apple a Day…

We would love to have you join us for Eating with Ellie.  The themes are listed on the right of the Eating with Ellie page.  We don’t print the recipes.  We’d rather you bought Ellie’s books.  She has 6 out now.  And they are all good.

 

{CC#13}Apple Rhubarb Crisp

When I was 8  and we lived east of Liverpool in the little village of Rainhill my Mom had a garden.  Not unusual to have a garden.  Except it was the first garden my Mom ever planted.  And it contained rhubarb which grew wonderfully in that area of England.  I loved it.  It was sour and sweet at the same time.  I haven’t had rhubarb but twice since then.  Both for Tuesdays with Dorie.  You don’t find it in the stores much.  But I have a friend who grew some and I had just enough to make this Crisp.

Mix together two cups chopped apple and two cups chopped rhubarb with 1/2 cup sugar and 1 Tbl cornstarch.  {I added a heaping tsp of cinnamon.  Cinnamon and Apples are perfect together.}  Let this sit for about an hour.

With a pastry blender mix together 2/3 cup uncooked oats, 1/2 cup AP flour, 1/2 cup packed brown sugar. and 2 1/3 Tbl tub margarine until it resembles coarse crumbs.. {while I have enjoyed the recipes from this cookbook I will NOT miss using this awful  sub for butter!!!}.  

Sprinkle the topping mixture over the apple/rhubarb mix in a 1 quart casserole dish. Bake at 375 until the topping is light brown. {Mine took about 30 minutes.}  Let cool four about 2o minutes before serving.

I will tell you that this was NOT very good.  While The Man said it got better after a few bites I thought it was awful.  It could be that the rhubarb was picked too early and had no sweetness.  It could be the crumble which seemed stale.  It could be I just don’t like rhubarb anymore….There won’t be a repeat on this one.

The recipe is from Low-Fat, Low-Cholesterol Cookbook – my book for February Cookbook Countdown –  page 306.  The last recipe from this book as Countdown 14 starts tomorrow.  Still looking at a book for that one.

I’m linking this post with Cookbook Countdown 13 hosted by Kitchen Flavours and Emily’s Cooking (Makan2).

 

{#Bundt Bakers} Cinnamon Apple Streusel Cake

It has been a while since I have participated in Bundt Bakers. Mostly because we had cut down severely on sweet treats. But I have learned to bake with less sugar now and am looking forward to baking again.

This month’s theme was APPLES which is great since apple season is starting in some places.  We eat a lot of apples usually one a day so making this particular bundt just adds more fruit to the diet.  Of course it IS in the form of cake…..

I adapted a recipe from Bundt Classics and it turned out to be very tasty.  Especially after I drizzled it with caramel sauce….

There are TWO layers of cinnamon apples in the cake.  With streusel.

For the Cake:

3 cups all purpose flour

{I subbed in 1 1/2 cups of WWF for some of the AP flour}

2 cups sugar

{I subbed 1 cup Splenda for 1 cup sugar}

1 cup vegetable oil

 

1/2 cup water

 

1 tablespoon baking powder

 

2 teaspoons vanilla

 

1/2 teaspoon salt

 

4 eggs

 

4 cups peeled, thinly sliced

 

apples

 

1 Tbl cinnamon, or to taste

Heat oven to 325°. Grease and flour a 10 or 12 cup Bundt” Pan.If using a 10 cup pan, fill 3/4 full and make 3 to 4 cupcakes with the remaining batter.

Mix 1 tbl of cinnamon with the apples and set aside. You can use cinnamon to taste if you would rather.

In a small bowl, stir together all streusel ingredients; set aside.

3/4 cup backed brown sugar

 

1 cup flour

 

1 cup rolled oats

 

1 stick melted butter

In a large mixing bowl, mix all cake ingredients except apples. Mix 2 minutes on medium speed.

Spoon 1/3 of the batter into prepared pan. Place 1/2  of the apple slices over batter; sprinkle with 1/2 of the streusel. Spoon another third of the batter over the streusel; top with remaining apples and streusel. Gently spoon remaining batter on top.

Bake at 325° for 75 to 85 {mine only took about 70 minutes} minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan. Remove from pan; cool completely on rack. Drizzle with caramel.. 16 servings. Bundt Classics. Page 24.

If you are using the WWF sub the cake may be a little ‘coarser’ than usual. Just saying. And more than 70 minutes will make it dry.

But the Hubs and The Boy loved it. I was thinking it would be perfect with some nice cinnamon/vanilla ice cream on top. Or maybe some chopped pecans in the streusel. But that’s just me…..

• Apple & Nuts Bundt Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce by kidsandchic
• Apple & Peanut Butter Bundt Cake by Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Apple Almond Coffee Cake with Honey Glaze by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Apple and Toasted Pecan Bundt Cake with Rum Syrup by Patty’s Cake
• Apple Blossom Bundt by Living the Gourmet
• Apple Crumble Bundt by Jane’s Adventure in Dinner
• Apple French Cruller Bundt Cake by All That’s Left Are The Crumbs
• Apple Sharlotka Bundt Cake by Spiceroots
• Apple Streusel Bundt Cake by The Freshman Cook
• Apple-Cream Cheese Bundt Cake by The Queen of Scones
• Candy Apple by I Sugar Coat It!
• Chocolate Chip Apple Cake by Making Miracles
• Cinnamon Apple Streusel Cake by Tea and Scones
• Cinnamon Pecan Applesauce Bundt Cake by Magnolia Days
• Clotted Cream & Apple Spice Bundt by Baking in Pyjamas
• Double Caramel Apple Bundt by The Crumby Cupcake
• Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy Apple Bundt by Food Lust People Love
• Jewish Apple Cake by I love Bundt Cakes
• Jewish Praline Pecan Apple Cake by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Lighter Jewish Apple Cake by Cookaholic Wife

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on the BundtBakers home page.

 

{IHCC} apples and pears

This weeks’ theme for I Heart Cooking Clubs was Fresh and Fruity.  Which is a great theme for this time of the year.  So many fresh fruits and veggies everywhere.  But here in the south while we have plenty of veggies coming in we don’t really have any fruits.  Watermelon is about all.  Fortunately for me I have some ‘fresh’ fruit that I canned last year so I used that.

For these….

apple and pear upside-down caramel tarts

They are mini versions of a tarte Tatin and they are easy to put together.  And delicious.

Caramel sauce:

1 ½ cups sugar
4 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup whipping cream

Tarts:

2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, quartered, cored and cut into ½-inch–thick wedges
2 Anjou pears, peeled, quartered, cored and cut into ½-inch-thick wedges
1 frozen puff pastry sheet (half of 17.3-ounce package), thawed

{SRC} Cooking in Jammies

Hard to believe it is already March 18th.  I am constantly astounded at how quickly time goes by.  Seems like just yesterday I received my ‘assignment’ for The Secret Recipe Club and now it already time to post about it.  This month I cooked with Sarah.  She is the cook/baker and mother of three adorable kitties who blogs over at The Pajama Chef.  Lucky for her husband she  loves to try out new dishes and he becomes her sous chef.

As usual I found more recipes than I had time to make.  For some reason I gravitated toward sides and sweets this month so that is what I went with.

First the veggies:  How about Baked Cauli-Tots Two Ways

Cauliflower is one of my favorite veggies.  As a child I only ate three – cauliflower, broccoli, and corn. And the only way I would eat the cauliflower was with cheese.  Times haven’t changed much except this time the recipe is different.  Shredded cauliflower baked with herbs and cheese.  Good Stuff!!  I made mine in mini cupcake tins and they were perfect bites.

And then two sweets.  The Man has been asking for something to eat with lunch.  Just a little bite of something sweet.

How about Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies and not just any filling but dulce de leche – Caramel!  Yep, made from Sweetened Condensed milk.  Cooked until it is thick and super sweet.  Fortunately I keep several cans in the pantry already to use.  While she empties the can into a double boiler and cooks it until it is very thick I have always just cooked 3 – 4 cans in boiling water so I always have some.  These are very sweet and one or two are all you need to satisfy that sweet tooth.  I don’t think I will make just plain cookies again.

One night I needed something just for the two of us.  Something that would be gone in one night.  Sarah’s Twice Baked Apple Crisps were just the thing.  They were good, but the crisp just would not cooperate for me.  So we had Baked Apples in Sauce.  :(.

I don’t know what happened here.  But it was still good, especially with a little whipped cream.  Sarah suggested ice cream and that would have been so much better.

Next on my list:

Butternut squash and quinoa salad

Stovetop Mac and Cheese with Broccoli
Sausage Pepper Penne”

Amish Cheeseburger Soup

and lots more….. I’ll be going back to visit Sarah because I know I will want to make more of her dishes. Too good to pass up.

Please visit the rest of Group C and see what they cooked up this month.

If you want to join in the fun visit The Secret Recipe Club to find out how.

 

{EwE} Apple-Cranberry Turnovers

Phyllo Dough is NOT my friend.  Really NOT my friend! It’s not the phyllo’s fault.  I just have had trouble working with it.  I think it’s because my phyllo had been in my freezer too long.  Some of it was dried out, some of it was doughy.  I think I just need to work with some fresh phyllo.  That being said I won’t hesitate to use it whenever it makes a good dessert better.  Flakier.  Lighter.  Like these turnovers from Ellie.

Apples, cranberries, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg.  All cooked together.  Making my house smell sooooo good.  And so were the turnovers.

The only change I made was to use some pears I canned this summer instead of the apples. The Man does love pears and since I was making these for him….. Served warm with some vanilla ice cream, YES PLEASE!!

And… AND… only 200 calories each!!

The recipe is on page 294 of Ellie’s The Food You Crave and I found it on the FoodNetwork as well.