It’s been a few weeks since the unfortunate apple picking of thanksgiving weekend. I have since picked through and eaten all the crisp and tart mutsus and am left with several pounds of mediocre empires and golden not-so-delicious.
I’ve been scrambling to think of some things to make with my apples.
I’ve made some apple sauce that was so good because it was far too sweet to be apple sauce and was venturing close to pie-filling territory.
I’ve made some apple and sweet potato fritters with poached eggs . A favourite dinner of mine, but I imagine it would be just as delicious for breakfast.
I also made some pumpkin dip for sliced apples that I put out for a Hallowe’en party that Matt and I hosted.
But for the most part I have been lazy and have decided to just eat them raw with some peanut butter (more as an excuse to eat peanut butter in a more refined way than off a spoon from the jar, to be honest).
I think this caramel apple & pumpkin cake is the best thing that I’ve made with my apples so far. This past week, as I mentioned , was my Nonna’s 88th birthday. I had printed out a few recipes for cakes that I thought she might like. I narrowed it down to a sachertorte, a chocolate bread cake with nuts and booze, and an apple upside down cake.
I asked Matt’s opinion but it was one of those cases where I was really asking for no reason—I was planning on making the apple cake regardless. Luckily he told me to go with the apple upside down cake because Nonna loves apples and everyone was happy. This recipe seemed the easiest to make of the three and plus, I could get rid of some of those apples.
This cake is very moist with a rich, spiced flavour. It makes a good coffee cake (or birthday cake, as the case may be)
Topping
2 apples
4 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup light corn syrup
Cake
-
3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 apple, finely chopped
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare a 9" round cake pan by greasing it, lining it with parchment paper, and then greasing the parchment.
Cut the top off of one apple and set it in the middle of the pan, skin up. Cut the remaining apple into wedges and place them in the bottom of the pan in a ring around the apple top. I used one and a half apples for the top and cut up the remaining half to use in the cake.
Topping:
In a saucepan over low heat, cook the topping ingredients until the sugar is dissolved. Pour 1/2 cup of the topping over the apples into the pan, and set the rest aside.
Cake:
Combine pumpkin, sugar, eggs, spices, and salt together in a mixer at medium speed for about 2 minutes. Stir in the flour and baking soda. Add the chopped apple and stir until just combined. Drop scoops of the batter over the apples in the cake pan, and spread evenly.
Bake the cake for 35 to 50 minutes (my oven gets very hot so the cake only took 35 minutes, but the original recipe called for 50)
Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then invert it onto a serving plate, bottom side up. Reheat the remaining caramel topping and pour it over the cake.
It’s been a few weeks since the unfortunate apple picking of thanksgiving weekend. I have since picked through and eaten all the crisp and tart mutsus and am left with several pounds of mediocre empires and golden not-so-delicious.
I’ve been scrambling to think of some things to make with my apples.
I’ve made some apple sauce that was so good because it was far too sweet to be apple sauce and was venturing close to pie-filling territory.
I’ve made some apple and sweet potato fritters with poached eggs . A favourite dinner of mine, but I imagine it would be just as delicious for breakfast.
I also made some pumpkin dip for sliced apples that I put out for a Hallowe’en party that Matt and I hosted.
But for the most part I have been lazy and have decided to just eat them raw with some peanut butter (more as an excuse to eat peanut butter in a more refined way than off a spoon from the jar, to be honest).
I think this caramel apple & pumpkin cake is the best thing that I’ve made with my apples so far. This past week, as I mentioned , was my Nonna’s 88th birthday. I had printed out a few recipes for cakes that I thought she might like. I narrowed it down to a sachertorte, a chocolate bread cake with nuts and booze, and an apple upside down cake.
I asked Matt’s opinion but it was one of those cases where I was really asking for no reason—I was planning on making the apple cake regardless. Luckily he told me to go with the apple upside down cake because Nonna loves apples and everyone was happy. This recipe seemed the easiest to make of the three and plus, I could get rid of some of those apples.
From King Arthur Flour
Makes one 9” round cake
This cake is very moist with a rich, spiced flavour. It makes a good coffee cake (or birthday cake, as the case may be)
Topping
2 apples
4 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup light corn syrup
Cake
3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 apple, finely chopped
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare a 9" round cake pan by greasing it, lining it with parchment paper, and then greasing the parchment.
Cut the top off of one apple and set it in the middle of the pan, skin up. Cut the remaining apple into wedges and place them in the bottom of the pan in a ring around the apple top. I used one and a half apples for the top and cut up the remaining half to use in the cake.
Topping:
In a saucepan over low heat, cook the topping ingredients until the sugar is dissolved. Pour 1/2 cup of the topping over the apples into the pan, and set the rest aside.
Cake:
Combine pumpkin, sugar, eggs, spices, and salt together in a mixer at medium speed for about 2 minutes. Stir in the flour and baking soda. Add the chopped apple and stir until just combined. Drop scoops of the batter over the apples in the cake pan, and spread evenly.
Bake the cake for 35 to 50 minutes (my oven gets very hot so the cake only took 35 minutes, but the original recipe called for 50)
Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then invert it onto a serving plate, bottom side up. Reheat the remaining caramel topping and pour it over the cake.