Apple: The Other Fall Flavor

Okay, with all the pumpkin love going on, I'm sure you're wondering if I'm even aware of that other versatile fruit that dominate fall recipes: apples. Let me assure you, I have not forgotten about those deliciously crispy, sweet and juicy treasures that are so abundant around this time of year, particularly here in New England, where apple picking is a required part of fall (one I seem to have missed out in four out of five Boston autumns...). I have nothing against apples, and certainly not against cooking with them. Apple pie bars, apple turnovers, apple muffins, apple cakes, apple bread, apple butter.... All favorite recipes. However, there are a few things that keep me from showing apples as much love as pumpkin.

Well, actually one thing, really, but several sub-reasons. Namely, I tend to be a lazy cook. I like to make things that involve ingredients I tend have on hand, and sadly, apples are not generally one of those ingredients. It takes a lot of apples to make most things, and as I walk to and from the grocery store, buying copious quantities of apples just to have on hand is not something that is generally going to happen. Even when I do think about doing so, the best apples for baking/cooking are all the ones I'm allergic to (namely, every kind except macintosh and gala). This means that if I buy proper apples, I have to actually bake with them. I can't just give up on finding time and eat them, because I kind of like keeping my throat un-swollen shut. Also, recipes usually require apples to be peeled. I HATE peeling apples. It's sticky and messy and just a bother all around.

So you see, it's not that I dislike apples. I just don't get around to cooking with them unless it is for a specific purpose But shockingly, as I was trying to choose a cake to make as part of my rainy day baking spree, I realized that *GASP* I have everything on hand to make my favorite apple cake ever! I quickly find the recipe (courtesy of Martha Stewart), and confirm that yes, yes I do have it all! 2 lbs apples? Check! Sour cream? Check! (Well, plain yogurt, but close enough). Vanilla beans? Check! Apple cider? Check!

Clearly, with such an amazing coincidence of events (time plus ingredients), I *had* to make this cake. I decided to forgo the brown sugar Swiss meringue butter cream (partly because of the insane amounts of butter, partly because of the 5 egg whites, and partly because I lacked that much brown sugar). Instead, I opted for a simple cream cheese frosting, to which I added a dose of cinnamon. Since I was a little short on powdered sugar, I found myself a little short on frosting, especially for such a tall cake. I thought about what to do for the extra filling, and decided that there must be something to be made from the additional apple cider. A quick search later, and I had my answer: Apple Cider Caramel. I think I may have just found a way to make my favorite cake even better...

Oh, and one final note. Of course, this was not as smooth an operation as I had hoped. Have you ever seen the Wilton Bake Even strips? I had recently bought some, and decided to try them out. They do indeed work wonderfully. My cake layers rose up nice and tall and even.....and continued to rise and spill over the sides nice and evenly. Oops. Thankfully, I managed to scrape it out of the oven mid-baking, so I did not set off my smoke detector. The recipe says to use two 8" pans, but seriously, use three.

Okay, enough chatter. Ready for the cake?  

Caramelized Apple Spice Cake from Martha Stewart

Ingredients 

• 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature 
• 1 vanilla bean 
• 2 pounds Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and grated (4 cups)
• 1/2 cup apple cider 
• 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar 
• 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting 
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 
• 1/4 cup packed dark-brown sugar 
• 4 large eggs, room temperature 
• 1/2 cup sour cream 
• 1 1/4 cups pecan halves (5 ounces), toasted dark and finely ground in a food processor [I subbed almond meal] 
• Brown Sugar Swiss Meringue Buttercream [or other frosting of your choice] 
• Apple Cider Caramel [optional, recipe below] 

Put 1/2 stick butter into a large nonstick skillet. Using the tip of a paring knife, scrape seeds from vanilla bean into skillet, and toss in pod. Cook over medium heat until butter is lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Stir in apples, cider, and 1 cup granulated sugar. Raise heat to medium-high, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes. Reduce heat to low, and cook until apples are golden and translucent and liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes [this took more like 20 for me]. Discard vanilla pod. Let cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two three 8-by-2-inch round cake pans. Dust with flour, and tap out excess. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Reserve 1/4 cup flour mixture.

Beat remaining 2 sticks butter, remaining 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, and the brown sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to medium, and add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce speed to low. Beat in flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the sour cream and scraping bowl as needed. Add remaining 1/4 cup flour mixture to apple mixture, and toss. Fold in apple mixture and pecans.

Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake until tops are dark golden brown and a toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean, 55 to 65 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes on a wire rack. Run a knife around edges of cakes to loosen. Unmold cakes, and let cool, right side up, on rack. Once cooled, split cake layers. Fill the split layers with apple cider caramel, and assemble with frosting of your choice.  

Apple Cider Caramel from Epicurious

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups apple cider [reduced from original 4 cups, per user review, and seemed to be a good call] 
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise 
• 1/2 cup (packed) dark brown sugar 
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter 

Place cider in heavy large skillet. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Boil cider mixture until reduced to 2 cups, about 15 minutes. Add sugar and butter. Cook until sauce thickens slightly and is reduced to 1 1/2 cups, stirring occasionally, about 6 minutes longer. [Took much longer, nearly 30 min]

More Pumpkin Love!

And the pumpkin kick continues...

This time, it's something I've been wanting to try for a while: Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls.  Ever since I spotted the first recipe on Food Gawker, I have wanted to make these.  I love cinnamon rolls.  I love pumpkin.  This *must* be the perfect baked good!  And like any other delicious dish, everyone has a different twist.  As I sifted through my recipe options, I finally found a winner: Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls from Miss in the Kitchen.  This recipe stood out for two reasons: 1) No rise time [yet they still puffed up beautifully!]; and 2) there is not only pumpkin in the bread, but it's also in the FILLING!  Double pumpkin = major win.  These were super simple and super tasty.  Definitely a keeper recipe!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls from Miss in the Kitchen

Ingredients

for rolls:

Naked rolls - once they were iced, I dove right in before snapping a pic

• 1 cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons yeast
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour [I used 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, 2 cups all purpose]
• 1 teaspoon salt

for filling:

• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 2/3 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar

for icing:

• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl add warm water, yeast, sugar, and oil and stir together.  Allow to set for 3 to 5 minutes or until bubbles start to form.  Stir in egg and pumpkin.  Add 2 cups of flour and combine.  Add salt and 1 cup of flour.  Stir until a soft dough forms and starts to pull away from sides of bowl.  Add additional flour if needed.

Pour dough onto a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes, adding flour as needed until dough is soft and smooth but no longer sticky.  Allow dough to rest about 5 minutes.  Roll out to a rectangle shape about 12 x 15 inches.

In a medium size bowl mix butter and pumpkin puree together until smooth.  Stir in cinnamon and nutmeg. Spoon filling over dough and spread into a thin, even layer.  Sprinkle brown and white sugars evenly over dough.  Starting from a long side, carefully roll up dough, pinching the edges to seal.  Using a sharp knife cut into 1 1/2 inch slices.  Place into a greased baking dish [note: clearly my 9x13 was too big; perhaps a 9x9 or 10" round would work better].  Bake for 25 minutes or until rolls are cooked through and lightly browned.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix cream cheese, butter and powdered sugar together.  Stir in vanilla and milk, mixing until smooth.  Pour over warm cinnamon rolls, gently spreading to cover the rolls.

Pumpkin Overtime!

So gray, rainy days = baking spree time for me.  And when said gray, rainy days occur in the fall, you can be assured there will be lots of warm, spicy, fall-like flavors involved.  Like pumpkin.  Lots of pumpkin.  As part of this particular baking spree, I made pumpkin granola bars, pumpkin pancakes (prior post), pumpkin cinnamon rolls (future post), and caramelized apple spice cake (another future post).  The only thing that stopped me from making pumpkin scones was the fact that I ran out of powdered sugar, and you cannot copycat the Starbucks' pumpkin scones without glaze.  Guess that will have to wait for a future spree....

Right now, lets talk about granola bars.  Super yummy.  I love granola bars (chewy, not crunchy).  It's like hand-held oatmeal that you can take with you.  They can come in whatever flavor combination can be imagined.  I have wanted to make my own for some time now, and today I finally decided it was a good time.  I found a recipe for Pumpkin Cranberry Chocolate Chip Granola Bars from Sweet Pea's Kitchen, which I decided to further tweak for my own preferences/ingredient availability.  They weren't quite right, but I think that may be due to the additional dry ingredients without addition wet ingredients to hold it together.  I'll tweak that for next time.

Pumpkin Granola Bars modified from Sweet Pea's Kitchen

Ingredients

• 3 1/4 cups old fashioned oats
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup chopped dates
• 1/2 cup chopped cinnamon roasted almonds

Preheat oven to 350. Spray the bottom and sides of a 8-by-8-inch baking pan. Put a long piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan, letting the parchment extend up two sides of the pan and overhang slightly on both ends.

In a large bowl, combine oats, spices, and salt together. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together brown sugar, pumpkin, applesauce, honey, and vanilla extract. Pour mixture over oats and stir well, until combined. Stir in chocolate chips, nuts and dates.

Place the mixture into the prepared pan. Press mixture evenly into pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, then cut into squares.

Or I suppose you could just eat it as one giant bar.

Not Quite Srevotfel

Srevotfel is about remaking left-overs and giving them new life as a tasty new dish.  So what would it be when you create something to save fresh ingredients that have, well, seen better days?  Rescue mission?  That doesn't sound right when we're talking about tasty food...  Well, whatever term is appropriate, I have discovered a great way to use up excessive tomatoes without much trouble.

Every Friday and Saturday in Boston, throughout the year, there is an outdoor produce market at Haymarket.  If you're willing to brave the crowds, you can get tons of fruits and veggies at insanely cheap prices (last trip, I ended up toting home about 20 pounds of assorted produce, from bell peppers to grapes to butternut squash, for a grand total of $16).  However, there's always a catch: these fruits and veggies are usually gasping their last breaths, so they need to be used ASAP.  They generally have just enough life to make it through the week (enough time to go stock up again at the next market).  So if you reach the end of the week and still have not used some stuff, it's time to find a rescue recipe.

This week, I found that I had about three pounds of plum tomatoes that were good today, but may not be in two more days.  Why I decided last weekend that I needed four pounds of tomatoes, I cannot tell you. I think it had something to do with the "2lbs for $1.50" sign.  Because you can never have too many tomatoes, right?  Really, I suppose not, because excess tomatoes can become a simple and delicious pasta sauce, and that is always something that you can keep on hand or in the freezer.

Usually when making pasta sauce entirely from scratch, you're supposed to peel the tomatoes.  Um, no thank you.  Lazy solution: roast them.  Based on a recipe I found once upon a time, if you roast tomatoes, you just have to puree them, skins and all.  Sounds perfect to me, and tastes even better.  Especially when I found a few red peppers to throw in as well.  Tomato sauce is something you're not really supposed to have a recipe for (at least in my opinion), so this is merely a guideline.  But it turned out so tasty, I wanted to remember how exactly I made it, so I thought I may as well share it here as well.

Roasted Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

• 3 lbs plum tomatoes
• 2 red bell peppers
• 1 medium onion
• 8 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon thyme

Heat oven to 350.  Cut tomatoes in half, and cut the onion and peppers into a few large pieces.  Place the vegetables and the garlic in a 9x13 pan, drizzle with oil, season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat.  Roast until all vegetables are tender and beginning to brown.  This will take about an hour and a half.

Once the vegetables are roasted, allow them to cool enough to not injure yourself during the next step.  Puree the vegetables together in a food processor, blender, or immersion blender.  Pour into a saucepan, add remaining ingredients, and simmer for another 20-30 minutes to allow the flavors to meld.

Yields approximately 1 qt sauce.

Pumpkin time!

One of the greatest things about fall is the abundance of pumpkin in EVERYTHING! I love it! Pumpkin has become a standard part of my grocery shopping list... Can never have too much at this time of year. And here are two amazing (and semi-healthy) pumpkin recipes I have recently discovered!

Pumpkin Pancakes

Yum, yum, yum...and another yum if you top it with a spiced apple compote.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter, melted
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup white flour
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix together wet ingredients in a large bowl. Mix dry ingredients in separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, stirring just to combine. Heat pan over medium heat, spray with non-stick cooking spray, and cook pancakes about 3 minutes per side (this batter is a bit more dense, and needs a little more cooking time than regular pancakes).

To make spiced apple compote, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan over med-low heat. Add 2 chopped apples, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 1/2 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice, and a dash of salt. Cook over med-low heat, until apples are soft. (Note: this only makes enough for half the pancakes).

Pumpkin Bread from Domestic Revolt

This delicious, moist loaf has no added fat and can easily be made with half whole wheat flour.  Also great with a sprinkling of chopped nuts over the top (I used hazelnuts).



Ingredients

1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1 15 ounce can pumpkin
2 eggs





Preheat oven to 325, and grease a 9x5 loaf pan.  In a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, pumpkin, and water. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated.

Pour into prepared pan and bake for 80 to 90 minutes or until it tests done with a toothpick.  Remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack. This bread tastes better the day after its baked once the spices have mingled a bit.