Double Apple Bundt Cake

 
I love Fall. It is most certainly my favorite season. I've always loved everything associated with autumn and this hasn't changed over the years. The smells of cinnamon, and other spices, lighting candles, being able to wear jeans and boots, all those things are special to me. I had to give up a few things that I always enjoyed during this time of year by living in Arizona, like the changing of the leaves or dark, rainy days, but even here fall has it's benefits and there is certainly something to be said about sitting around a fire pit on cooler (like 70 degrees F) evenings and finally being able to enjoy the outdoors without melting.

One of the things I think of immediately when it comes to fall are apple desserts. I love, any and everything apple and always look forward to being able to come up with new recipes and ideas to incorporate them. Since apples harmonize so incredibly well with all of my favorite spices, you will be seeing quite a few apple recipes over the next few weeks. One of the challenges I face when it comes to apple desserts is that my two older ones don't care for the texture of traditional apple pie. With this in mind, I tend to look for recipes that incorporate the apples in a way so that my kids don't complain. 

Dorie Greenspan once again to the rescue. This recipe caught me eye right away because it was a pretty economic cake that only required what I already had in my fridge and pantry. The cake gets double the apple flavor by incorporating not only grated apples, but also apple butter into the batter. Warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger only enhance the cake without being overpowering. I left most of the cake as written but made a few tiny adjustments by dusting my Bundt cake pan with sugar instead of flour, soaking my raisins for about 30 minutes in a couple tablespoons of brandy before adding them to the batter, and last but not least, adding a couple of shakes of cinnamon to my glaze.

This cake ended up being the epitome of fall and everyone in the family loved it, even my "cooked apple challenged" kids. Most of all, I was impressed by my "I hate raisins" teenager who exclaimed that by soaking the raisins prior to baking they weren't half bad and she wasn't forced to pick them out of the cake before eating. Now that is what I call success! One small change that I would add the next time (and there will be a next time) is to reduce the sugar by about one third. I thought the cake almost bordered on being too sweet, but that's certainly nothing that can't be fixed. Great cake that will certainly make any cup of tea or coffee just a little bit better during autumn!

Double Apple Bundt Cake
(adapted from Dorie Greenspan)
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup store-bought apple butter, spiced or plain (I used spiced)
2 medium apples, peeled, cored and grated (I used Granny Smith Apples)
1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped (I used pecans)
1/2 cup plump, moist raisins (dark or golden), soaked in 2 tablespoons brandy for 30 min.

For the icing:
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 - 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preparation:

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9- to 10-inch (12 cup) Bundt pan. Dust the interior of the pan with sugar, then tap out the excess. Set aside.

Whisk together the flour; baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt.

Working with a stand mixer; preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed, scraping the bowl as needed, for 3 minutes, or until the mixture is smooth, thick and pale. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for about 1 minutes after each addition; you'll have a light, fluffy batter. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the apple butter  don't' worry if it curdles the batter. Still on low, add the grated apples and mix to completely blend. Add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear into the batter. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the nuts and brandy soaked raisins. Turn the batter into the Bundt pan and smooth the top of the batter with the rubber spatula.

Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted deep into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack to cool for 5 minutes before unmolding and cooling the cake to room temperature. If possible, once the cake completely cool, wrap well in plastic and let it stand overnight at room temperature to ripen the flavors. Ice the cake just before serving.

To make the optional icing: Put the confectioners' sugar in a small bowl and stir in a squirt or two of orange juice. Keep adding the juice a little at a time until you have an icing that falls easily from the tip of a spoon. Stir in the ground cinnamon. Drizzle the icing over the top of the cake, letting it slide down the curves of the cake in whatever pattern it makes. Let the cake stand until the icing dries, a matter of minutes, before serving.

Ice Cream Fridays: Oatmeal-Raisin Ice Cream

Today I'm introducing you to Ice Cream Fridays. Every Friday during the next few months (or until I get tired of it) you can look forward to a new ice cream recipe which will hopefully inspire you to break out your old dust covered ice cream maker that is hiding somewhere in a closet (yes, I'm talking about you). Since I'm always looking for inspiration and ideas, feel free to leave me a comment here on my blog or on my facebook page, and let me know what ice cream flavor you would like to see. Who knows, you might just get lucky and it will be featured the following week.

To kick this series off I chose Oatmeal-Raisin Ice Cream, which is another amazing recipe from the incomparable David Lebovitz. This ice cream is so delicious, that once you have your first bite you might never consider eating any other frozen confection.

There are practically three components to this ice cream, but all of them are easy enough that you can work ahead and let them hang out for a few hours if needed. First you have your plumped up raisins, then the oatmeal praline and last but not least your ice cream base. Even though this recipe is more labor intensive then vanilla ice cream, I didn't mind the work. I made the oatmeal praline first, then started on the raisins, and while those got nice and fat I worked on the custard which then had to cool for a few hours before churning everything in my ice cream maker.

This ice cream took us all by surprise, and is probably one of the best ice creams I have had in the last year. It tasted just like an oatmeal raisin cookie but in ice cream form. My husband couldn't get enough of this one, and I'm already planning on making another batch soon. Please give this one a try, you won't regret it!

Oatmeal Raisin Ice Cream

(Print this Recipe)

Ingredients:

Raisins:

1/4  cup (60 ml) water

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup (80 g) raisins

2 teaspoons dark rum

Ice Cream:

1 cup (250 ml) whole milk

1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar

Pinch of salt

2 cups (500 ml) heavy cream

1/3 cup (70 g) packed light brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

5 large egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Oatmeal Praline (Recipe to follow)

Directions:

To prepare the raisins, heat the water and sugar in a small saucepan. Add the raisins and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until all but about 2 tablespoons of the syrup has been absorbed, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the rum.

To make the ice cream, warm the milk, granulated sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk the cream, brown sugar, and cinnamon together into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm milk mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as your stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream. Mix in the vanilla and stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. During the last few minutes of churning, add the raisins and Oatmeal Praline.

Oatmeal Praline

(makes 1 cup)

3/4 cup (75 g) rolled oats (not instant)

1/2 cup (100 g) sugar

Pinch of coarse salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a baking sheet with foil, spread the oats evenly on the sheet, and bake for 10 minutes, stirring once or twice while baking, until the oats are fragrant and nicely toasted. Remove from the oven.

Spread the sugar in a medium, heavy-bottomed skilled and cook over medium heat, watching it carefully. When it begins to liquefy and darken at the edges, use a heatproof spatula to stir it very gently, encouraging the heat of the liquefied sugar around the edges to moisten and melt the sugar crystals in the center.

Tilt the pan and stir gently until all the sugar is melted and the caramel begins to smoke. Once the mixture is deep golden, remove it from the heat and immediately add the oats to the skillet (lift the foil to guide them in quickly). Return  the foil to the baking sheet.

Stir the oats gently but quickly, coating them with the caramel. Scrape the oats onto the foil-lined baking sheet and spread them as well as possible. Sprinkle with the salt and let cool completely. Once firm, break the pralined oats into small pieces by pulsing them in a food processor or placing the pieces in a heavy-duty plastic bag and smacking them with a mallet or rolling pin. 

Adapted from: The Perfect Scoop

Gingered Carrot Cookies

For this weeks BWD: Baking with Dorie Challenge, it was Grapefruit's pick and she decided on Gingered Carrot Cookies on Page 162 in Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From my home to yours . 

When Grapefruit emailed me a while back about her pick I have to honestly admit that I wasn't thrilled. Ginger isn't my most favorite spice and after reading through the recipe and finding that it had raisins in it as well,  I decided right there and then I was not going to like this cookie. In fact I told my husband this one was going to be all his to take to work.

I guess I owe Grapefruit and Dorie Greenspan a giant apology. These cookies were anything but ordinary and they are in fact out of this world. My oldest child who hates raisins was scarfing these cookies down without complaint and needless to say my husband didn't get to take any of them to work.

The cookies are almost like a mini carrot cake minus most of the normal carrot cake spices. It only calls for ginger and a little bit of freshly grated nutmeg, but it is packed full of flavor with grated carrots (I shredded them), coconut, toasted pecans and raisins. My husband kept saying it was the most perfect mix of flavors that keeps you wanting more and more.

The cookie dough is pretty simple with butter, sugar, egg, vanilla and a flour mixture, but by adding all these other wonderful ingredients it takes the cookie from ordinary to extraordinary. One thing I was really glad to have with this cookie is my trusty Kitchen Aid stand mixer. Without it I think you either need some serious muscles or hope your motor won't burn out on a little hand mixer as the dough gets really dense towards the end.

Baking time for these cookies was spot on for me and as always, Dorie's instructions are precise and easy to follow. Fresh out of the oven the cookie had a nice crunch with a soft interior probably due to minimal spreading during baking, but even the next day which turned the cookie more "chewy" overall it was still good. This cookie now has a permanent spot in my cookie file and will be made many more times in the future. So thank you Grapefruit for picking this cookie and thank you Dorie for inventing it. This cookie has easily made it into my top 20 all time favorite cookies.

Check out Grapefruit's page for the recipe and Elizabeth's page to see what they thought about this cookie and what new and interesting things they came up with.

For our next BWD in two weeks (the 12th of April) it is Grapefruit's pick yet again with Lots-of-Ways Banana Cake on Page 204 and 205. So if any of this has peeked your interest and you want to join the fun with us next time, just shoot me or Grapefruit an email and we'd be more than happy to have you.