Apple Spice Cake with Cinnamon Honey Buttercream

I was a prep cook for a retirement home, and was in charge of creating a monthly birthday cake for the residents, along with my best friend/coworker/fellow baker. We had tons of fun coming up new ideas and trying to top ourselves each month, and we succeeded. Fall came around, and I wanted to do an apple cake. My cookbooks failed to inspire, and I turned to the magic of Google, which brought me to this wonderful recipe: Applesauce Spice Cake. I was hooked by the wonderful photos, and the simplicity of the cake. I did make the following tweaks - ditched the golden raisins and added diced fresh apples, used a homemade apple pie filling between the layers, and added cinnamon and honey to the buttercream. The residents loved it, and I was to become addicted myself. The wonderful sweetness of apples with a medley of spices, all in a moist and delicate cake? I'm not sure if I like this or apple pie more. It was definitely a big hit at our Thanksgiving dinner!

Apple Spice Cake
Adapted from The English Kitchen

Cake - 
10 oz All-Purpose Flour
8 oz Sugar
16 oz Applesauce
3.5 oz Shortening
1/2 cup Water
2 Eggs
1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Ground Allspice
1/2 tsp Ground Cloves
1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg
4 oz Chopped Walnuts
2 Apples (Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, or Golden Delicious)

Filling - 
2 Apples (Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, or Golden Delicious)
1.5 oz Flour
2 oz Sugar
4 oz Brown Sugar
3/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
Pinch Allspice
Pinch Clove
1 1/4 cup Apple Cider
2 tbsp Butter

Frosting - 
3/4 cup Butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened
1 lb Powdered Sugar (approx.)
1/4 cup Milk
1 tsp Vanilla
1/8 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Honey

Directions - 


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of your mixer, combine the flour, soda, baking powder, salt and spices, and sugar. Before you add the next ingredients, take out a spoonful or two of the dry mix and set aside.

Spicy.

Drop in the shortening, and allow to blend with the dry goods for a couple minutes. Next I add the eggs, lightly beaten, followed by the applesauce and then the water. I have to say this is a slightly unusual mixing method, but it works. Allow it all to mix together for just a minute or two. 

Peel, core, and dice your apples into small pieces. I soak them briefly in a bowl of water laced with a touch of apple cider vinegar to prevent browning, then drain. Toss them in the reserved dry mix, this helps keep the apples from sinking to the bottom of the batter. 

Add the apples and walnuts to the batter, stir just to combine. Now prepare two 9 in round cake pans. I buy parchment rounds because I hate cutting parchment paper, but you can cut a piece to fit. If you don't have any parchment, well, just spray the pans really well. It won't be quite as good, and you run a risk of it sticking, but it's doable. I spray the pan with no-stick spray, lay in the parchment and smooth out, then spray the whole thing again. Yes, parchment is supposed to be non stick, but spray it anyway.

Divide the batter evenly between the two pans. I like to weigh the total batter than divide that in half to make sure the cakes bake evenly. Bake the cakes for 35-40 minutes, I rotate the pans at 20 min. Test for doneness with a toothpick. Allow to rest in the pans for about 5 min, then turn out onto a cooling rack (or plate lined with wax paper). Allow to cool completely before assembling the cake.

In the meantime, you can make up the filling. Peel, core, dice, and soak the apples like for the cake. You can go a slightly coarser dice for the filling, if you like. Put the drained apples in a saucepan with the rest of the ingredients, and cook while stirring frequently. The apples should be tender and the sauce nice and thick when it's done. I have to say my measurements for the filling aren't perfect, I'm still working on it. So taste it and adjust seasonings if you see fit. If there's not enough liquid, add in a bit more cider. If it doesn't thicken up enough, you can add a cornstarch slurry (cornstarch mixed with cold water) until it tightens up. A little goes a long way though, and whatever you do don't dump in dry flour! It will lump together and be nasty. When your filling is good, move to a bowl and chill.

Not done yet. Sorry, never said my cakes were uncomplicated! Time to make up some frosting. This is a simple and straightforward buttercream recipe. Put your softened butter in your mixer with the beater and let it whip around for a bit to get pliant. Add in your vanilla, then slowly add in the powdered sugar, go too fast and it'll fly back out at you. Drizzle in a lit bit of the milk from time to time to keep it from getting too stiff. Keep going until it's the consistency that you like - more sugar makes a stiffer frosting, more milk keeps it creamy. You want about a medium consistency, it should be spreadable but also hold it's shape if you're going to pipe. When I'm close, I like to turn the speed up higher and let it whip and get nice and fluffy. Add the cinnamon and honey to taste, it won't take very much cinnamon at all and a bit more honey, but you don't want it too sweet it's there for flavor.


All right, that's all the pieces. Assembly time! Put one layer of cake on a cardboard round (or plate). I think I did this one upside down to give me a more even top. If your cakes come out with a serious hump though, level it off with a bread knife.

Since I did a filling, and a fairly liquid one, I spread a VERY thin layer of icing over the top of this. Then I pipe a ring around the outside, this keeps the filling contained and from mixing into the outer frosting.

Don't be too generous with the filling, I actually did put too much on and had a problem with it wanting to leak out. It shouldn't be higher than your containment field, that frosting provides some support for the top layer. 

Again, the bottom of the cake gave me a more even surface, so this one's upside down too. 

Plop a BIG chunk of frosting on top. It's better to remove excess than try and add on when it spreads too thin - you get a lot of crumbs that way. I'm still not perfect, so don't be too hard on yourself. This takes practice.

Work from the center out, pushing the frosting down to the sides. I add more dollops to the side as I go around, making sure it stays a thick layer. Keep working around, smoothing out the sides and then the top. I spend way too much time going over it again and again, and I still don't get mine super smooth. I mentioned practice, right? 

Now, are you brave enough for piping? Actually it's not too hard. Fit your piping bag with a star tip (#32 Wilton is my standard). Fill about half full with icing, then twist the top and squeeze evenly. I just do some swirly loops, it's pretty simple and if you don't try to go too fast they should be pretty regular. 

  Shells are harder, and mine aren't super pretty. Start with your tip stationary, piping out and letting it build up and slowly move the tip away while lessening pressure. For the next shell let it double back a little bit. Google cake decorating instructions for better guidance, this is not my forte. I bake well, only passable at the decorating.

Oh, and colored sugar makes everything pretty. Wheeee!

Blondies

AKA - A little piece of heaven on earth. I remember when I first made these, it was in bulk for my job as a prep cook. We had blondies show up on the menu, no recipe included, and my boss asked me if I could come up with something or if he needed to find a mix. A mix! Insulting. So scouring my sources, I came across the same basic formula with only a few variations. And they were all easy and fast, huge pluses. If I spent one more second baking then my boss thought I should take - boy would I hear about it. Never mind the raves that would pour in once they sampled my goodies. I remember my first bite of these wonderful bars, I practically melted into a puddle. Moist, chewy, like a cookie but so different. Definitely faster - melted butter skips the softening, and there's no scooping and freezing and multiple batches to go through the oven. I went with a combo of chocolate chips, walnuts, and pecans and the flavors just melded together beautifully. These probably rival brownies for my favorite bar, but then again I've yet to find a brownie recipe that I truly love. Enjoy.


Blondies
Adapted from Whipped


4 oz all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter
8 oz brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 oz chopped walnuts
1 oz chopped pecans


(I usually double the recipe and bake in a 9x13 pan, but here's the original batch for an 8x8 pan)


Heat oven to 350. Melt butter and add to mixer bowl. Add brown sugar and mix until well combined. 

Butter and sugar. Sin in a bowl.

In a small bowl, lightly beat egg and vanilla together. With mixer on low, add egg to sugar mixture, let run until completely incorporated.

Whee, drizzle drizzle drizzle. I'm getting better at these action shots.

Scrape sides of bowl. Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate dish. Add to mixer and stir just to combine. 

Like most batters, go in stages with the flour. Tap in a little.

Then oops, a little more. 

All right, looks good. Just BARELY mixed, got it? You still have chunks to go. 

Throw in the nuts and then the chocolate chips, let it mix for a minute or two to let the chunks get all the way through the batter. It will be very very dense. Scrape out into a pan lubed with some non-stick spray, and spread evenly. 

It is possible! It's sticky and loaded with stuff, but it will spread! Mmmmm look at all those chunks. 

Bake for 25-30 min, or until a toothpick comes out clean or almost clean. Overbake and your blondies will be very dry. Let cool, then cut and enjoy! 

Golden brown and delicious. Still moist and chewy in the middle. 

Mom's Peanut Butter Balls

All right, all right.... so it doesn't involve baking. But I do expand my horizons to candy making and other general dessert goodness, so there.

While nothing about these candies scream "Christmas" these are a holiday goodie to me, because as long as I remember my mom would make mountains of them every December. My brothers and I would be there in the kitchen rolling and dipping (and eating, of course) for hours. We wouldn't have a spare cookie sheet or pizza pan in the house, and every bit of fridge space was taken over with precariously balanced sheets of candies. They're easy to put together, though a tad time consuming, and they're generally well received by the multitudes. If you like peanut butter and chocolate, you'll love these.

Mom's Peanut Butter Balls

1 lb Butter, melted
18 oz Creamy Peanut Butter
9 1/2 oz Powdered Sugar
2 14.4 oz boxes Graham Crackers (Honey flavored)
24 oz Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
2 tbsp Vegetable Oil

Yes, a whole pound of butter. Disclaimer: These are not good for you.

Crush the graham crackers into fine crumbs. The easiest way is in a food processor, I do about a package (1/3 of a box) at a time, break into somewhat even pieces and then just let it run. A few chunks won't hurt anything, but the finer the crumb the smoother the consistency of the finished candy. Also, larger crumbs won't absorb as much liquid and could lead to a runny mixture, needing some extra crumbs to thicken it up. My mom was old-school and always did it with wax paper and a rolling pin, and by the end of the day she'd get tired and wouldn't crush them as much as the first batches, and they were never as good of quality.

Combine all ingredients except chocolate and oil in a mixing bowl - I like my stand mixer of course, but this is totally doable by hand. If you choose the power tool option, layer your ingredients so that at least a 1/3 of the graham cracker is on top and go at the lowest speed to start, the melted butter can have a tendency to splash and powdered sugar likes to fly everywhere. After it starts to come together boost it up to medium or medium-high until it starts to firm up and come away from the sides of the bowl.

It should be wet looking but still firm, if it's exceptionally gooey add a little extra graham cracker to tighten it up. Again, differing from my mom, I weigh all my ingredients and make sure my graham cracker is dust, so I haven't encountered this problem near as often as she does. 

Now the fun part! Scoop (I use a #40 disher, or Oxo medium size) into even amounts and roll into balls. Place on a waxed paper lined cookie sheet and chill for at least an hour, or until firm. It makes a lot of candies, about 5 dozen. And if you're impatient, I think they're totally delicious plain and I'll munch on them now.

When you're ready to start dipping, melt your chocolate in a double boiler with the little bit of vegetable oil. The oil allows for a smooth and even coating of the candy. Double boilers come packaged as sets or you can just use a stainless steel mixing bowl and a regular saucepan. Make sure the bowl is bigger than the pan, you do not want the bottom to touch the water. Add about an inch of water to the bottom pan, set it over low heat, and slowly melt the chocolate while stirring frequently. When all the chips are ALMOST melted, pull from heat and stir until smooth. Dip the candy one at a time, completely coating in chocolate and then letting the excess drip back into the pan. I use a large serving fork, and tap it against the side of the pan to make sure the coat is even. The more you let it drip into the pan, the less of a puddle you'll have on the bottom of your finished candies. 

Place the dipped balls back onto a waxed paper lined cookie sheet. You will need about twice as much space for the dipped candy as for the rolled balls. I can fit one batch of balls onto one 18x13 cookie sheet, and then need two when I dip. If the balls won't come off your dipping tool easily, use a toothpick to slide them off gently. 

Ooohhh, shiny.

Now, just chill until firm then package as you please. Store in refrigerator. 

Enjoy.

Thanksgiving Dessert Marathon Week!

So, here's a quick preview of the many treats I'll be prepping for this week.

For the in-laws' Thanksgiving dinner: a double layer Apple Spice Cake, with a sweet apple pie filling and a cinnamon honey buttercream.

For my parents' Thanksgiving dinner: Chocolate Mousse Pie (3) and No-Bake Cherry Cheesecake Pie (2).

For our visit to out-of-town relatives: Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake, Cherry Pecan Oatmeal Cookies, and Mom's Peanut Butter Balls (at least I did that one last week, whew).

Sound exhausting? You bet. Sound typical of me? Most definitely. No guarantees I'll have posts up by Thanksgiving, but I'll get to them as fast as I can. A girl's gotta breathe.

Have a delicious Turkey Day!

Banana Coffee Cake

So having indulged in a super low price on bananas, I had a couple bunches of nicely ripe bananas sitting on my counter. Therefore this week's recipe was dictated - banana.

But what? Banana muffins, banana cake, banana cookies... So many options, but only time for one.

I turned to my favorite baking tome, the Taste of Home Baking Book, and started flipping. I saw this recipe for Banana Coffee Cake, and it caught my eye. I had never actually done a coffee cake before (bizarre, I know), and this one seemed easy and yummy, and best of all I had everything on hand. Being me, I couldn't resist a few alterations - a nice streusel topping and a sweet icing - it didn't seem like a coffee cake without it.

The result? A soft, moist, tender cake with a little cinnamon kick and lots of yummy chewy pecan chunks. It reminded me of my mom's banana nut muffins - which were more a cake then a muffin, taken from an old banana bread recipe. A solid recipe which will go into my file for future reference.

Also excuse the lack of starting photos, I got distracted. But refer to my cookie recipes for more on the Creaming Method.

Banana Nut Coffee Cake
Adapted from Taste Of Home: Baking Book


Cake:
8 oz Cream Cheese, softened
4 oz Butter, softened (1 stick)
10 oz Sugar
2 Eggs
1 cup Banana, 3 medium ripe bananas pureed
1 tsp Vanilla
9 oz Flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
2 oz Pecans, chopped

Topping:
4 oz Butter, softened (1 stick)
4 oz Brown Sugar
4 oz Flour
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
2 oz Pecans, chopped

Icing:
8 oz Powdered Sugar
2-4 tbsp Milk
1/2 tsp Vanilla

In the bowl of your mixer beat the butter on medium for a minute, then add cream cheese. When the mixture is beaten fairly smooth, add the sugar and cream until light and fluffy. Lightly beat eggs with vanilla, slowly add to the creamed mixture with mixer on low. Add the banana puree. Mix together flour, powder, soda, and cinnamon. Add to the bowl slowly, in stages, allowing it to incorporate before adding the next amount. On lowest speed add in pecans and allow to fully mix. Please do not overmix batter, will create a tough cake. Pour into a sprayed 9x13 pan, and spread evenly.

Now make your streusel topping. Cream together your butter and sugar, then add your flour and cinnamon all at once. Mix until the mixture becomes crumbly, then throw in the pecans. Sprinkle liberally over the top of the cake. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 min, or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely, then prepare your icing. Put your sugar in a bowl, then add your vanilla. Slowly whisk in milk until desired consistency, it will not take very much at all because you want a thick icing. Whisk until smooth. You can either put it in a piping bag (which I did) or drizzle it with a spoon.

Mmmmmm. Golden brown and delicious. 

Look how moist that is, and all those yummy pecans and that sweet icing...