Apple Crisp Cupcakes

Does anybody else feel like they’ve been cheated out of enjoying fall? I
live between mountains, and when the leaves changed, it was breathtaking
driving over them. Then Halloween weekend, Pennsylvania got about six
inches of snow, and now most of the trees are bare. Then yesterday it went
up to 70F!! In November!! The week before Thanksgiving nonetheless. What is happening to my beautiful fall season? I didn’t even get a chance to take pictures of the trees to share.



To keep fall in my heart, I’ve been doing some fall baking with apples.
Today I have cupcakes for you. The last time I made a fruit cupcake, it
didn’t have much fruit flavor. I wanted to make sure these cupcakes
screamed apple, so in addition to the apple chunks in the batter, I paired
it with an apple frosting. The first recipe I found had me boil apple cider
and then cool to room temperature. Didn’t have time for that. I wasn’t
having much luck until I remembered a buttercream recipe that used pumpkin butter. What if I switched out the flavor and spices?



Perfect. Each bite was full of apple goodness. In the middle of each
cupcake is a streusel filling, so it was like eating an apple crisp in
cupcake form.

Apple Crisp Cupcakes with Apple Butter Frosting

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup milk
1 apple, peeled, cored, and diced

Streusel
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
3 Tbsp butter, room temperature
Pinch of salt

Frosting
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup apple butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a cupcake pan with 12 liners.

In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Alternately whisk in flour mixture and milk, beating until smooth. Fold in apple.

For the streusel, in a small bowl, whisk together brown sugar and cinnamon. Add butter in pieces and rub in with fingertips until mixture holds together in small, moist clumps.

Scoop half of the batter into each liner. Place some streusel into each one then top with the remaining batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (watch the streusel). Let cool in pan for 10 minutes then remove to cooling rack.

For the frosting, beat butter until smooth. Beat in apple butter, cinnamon, and vanilla. Gradually beat in sugar until thick and smooth.

Makes 12 cupcakes
Source: Cupcake recipe from 125 Cupcakes by Julie Hasson; Frosting by me (adapted from Baking Bites)

A Filling Breakfast

Yet another recipe I made back in October with my apples. This breakfast is time consuming because you have to brown the sausage, then shred the apples, then make the syrup and pancakes. I guess you could save time by having already-browned sausage, but you don't want to prepare the apples until you are ready to use them. I was impressed by the syrup. Normally, I don't eat toppings with my pancakes. This syrup, although optional, tastes good.

And today is the last day I register for classes, ever. None of them sound fun except maybe oceanography because we are going to the Bahamas for spring break. No video classes though because I took them all already :(

Yes, I voted. Stop asking me haha

Apple Sausage Pancakes with Cider Syrup



1/2 lb. bulk pork sausage
2/3 cup flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbsp oil
1/2 cup shredded, peeled apples

Syrup
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
1/2 cup apple cider
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp butter

1. In a skillet, cook sausage until no longer pink. Drain grease and set aside.

2. In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Beat in egg, milk, and oil until just moistened. Fold in apples and sausage. Pour batter by 1/4 cupfuls into hot skillet or griddle. When the top bubbles and the bottom is brown, flip and cook until bottom is brown. Repeat until batter is gone.

3. Meanwhile, for syrup: combine sugar, cornstarch, and spices in a small saucepan. Gradually stir in cider and lemon juice until smooth. Bring to a boil and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in butter until melted. Serve warm with pancakes.

Makes 12 pancakes.

Source: Taste of Home's Quick Cooking Magazine, Sept./Oct. 2001 p. 12

If Only I Had A Slice Now

Ok so really I baked this pie back in October after I went to an apple festival, but I love this picture so much, I couldn't let it sit on my laptop any longer. I used Roma apples, which are delicious on their own. This is considered French Apple Pie because there is a topping rather than another crust on top. I'm getting better at making homemade crusts. Now if I can just make it a circle so it actually fits the plate haha

French Apple Pie




Pastry for 1 crust pie
6 apples, peeled, cored, and slices (mine were more cubed than sliced)
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp lemon zest
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp butter

Topping
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 425. Place pie crust into 9-inch pie plate.

2. Combine sugar, flour, salt, zest, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Place half of apples in pie shell. Squeeze 1 Tbsp juice on top. Top with half of sugar mixture. Arrange the rest of the apples on top. Repeat with juice and sugar mixture. Dot with butter.

3. Blend together topping ingredients with fork until crumbly. Sprinkle over pie. Cover with foil and bake 20 minutes. Uncover and bake another 20 minutes.

Makes 1 pie.

Source: Long Grove Apple Haus Apple Cookbook, 1976 p.61

Weekend Cookbook Challenge Entry

Back in November, Megan baked Sweet Applets for our cookbook exchange. There was a misunderstanding, so I ended up making Apple Harvest Squares. To make us even, I went ahead and made the Sweet Applets. This is also my entry for this month's Weekend Cookbook Challenge.

I don't know why this recipe was listed in the cake section. This is definitely a muffin. Maybe because they used a cupcake pan for this? Or maybe the standards were different in 1964. I used McIntosh apples, chopped instead of shredded. I cut down on the topping, so the adjustments are listed below. Next time, I would consider adding chopped walnuts to the batter.


Sweet Applets




1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 1/2 cups chopped or shredded apple
2 Tbsp butter, melted
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Line a muffin pan with 12 liners or grease cups well. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.

2. Cream 1/3 cup butter and 1/2 cup sugar together. Beat in egg. Alternate between adding milk and dry ingredients. Stir in apple. Fill muffin cups two-thirds full.

3. Bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle. Let cool for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, melt 2 Tbsp butter in one bowl. Mix 2 Tbsp sugar and cinnamon in another. After 10 minutes is up, roll each muffin into the butter and then cinnamon-sugar mixture. Serve immediately.

Makes 12 muffins.

Source: Pillsbury's 15th Grand National Bake-Off Recipes, 1964 p.23

Bake-Off Challenge With Megan

Whenever I sent Megan an extra copy of Pillsbury's 15th National Bake-Off Cookbook, we agreed to pick a recipe and bake it. Some can call it our own mini bake-off. Megan sent me a list of several recipes she picked, and I picked which one we would do first. I chose a recipe called Apple Harvest Squares, which was entered by Rex Pippin of Alabama.

I decided to bake these while I was home for Thanksgiving break. The base is very similar to a pie crust. Normally you would use a pastry cutter. I remember reading in Dorie Greenspan's book Baking: From My Home To Yours, you can also use your hands to cut butter, so I did. The result was fine, although I would suggest pressing it into the pan with the bottom of a glass. The topping didn't make enough to cover the entire base, so next time I would increase it just a smudge. I put the adjustments into the recipe below. These taste best when served warm.

Megan, we need to do this again :)

EDIT - Oops, there has been a misunderstanding!! Megan ended up doing Sweet Applets instead. Oh well, at least they both have apple. Now we can switch recipes and see if we get the same results. Hopefully so, because her applets look good!


Apple Harvest Squares



Base
1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
2 cups chopped apples (I used Granny Smith)
1/8 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Topping
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 cups flaked coconut

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Grease the bottom of a 13x9 pan.

2. Sift together flour, 1/3 cup sugar, and salt. Cut in butter until particles are fine. Press into bottom of pan. Arrange apples on top. Combine 1/8 cup sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle on top. Bake for 20 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, combine 1/2 cup sugar, milk, vanilla, walnuts, and coconut. Spoon over baked base. Bake for another 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Source: Pillsbury's 15th Grand National 100 New Bake-Off Recipes, 1964 p.43



Murray getting ready for the holidays

Sugar High Friday - My First Time

Challenges are awesome to enter because they give you another excuse to bake (or cook). For this month's Sugar High Friday, I had to bend the rules a tiny bit. You see, the theme is drunken apples. Given that I'm only 20, I can't go out and buy any alcohol. My parents don't keep any alcohol in the house, and they weren't going to buy me a bottle just for this challenge (damn it). I decided to use the next best thing - rum extract. I ended up baking this cake at home during my fall break two weekends ago after I went to a local apple festival. I was going to sub the vanilla extract for rum extract, but my mom is very picky and isn't crazy about rum. No worries; I used it in the glaze. Since my mom didn't want the rum extract, I made a little bit of glaze for about two pieces of cake. Let's just say the extract is really strong for such a little bit of glaze. I think if you made an actual bowl of glaze, the milk and sugar would balance out the strongness of the rum. I suggest only adding 1/8 tsp and then add more for taste.

Also, I learned an interesting fact while baking this. I thought the title was Apple Streudel Cake, not Apple Streusel Cake. The streusel is the crumb topping usually baked on top of baked goods. In this case, it's in the middle. A streudel (or strudel) similar to a pocket pastry.


Apple Streusel Cake




Streusel
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped apples (I used Golden Delicious)
1 cup nuts
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon
3 tbsp butter, melted

Cake
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup milk

Glaze
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. milk
1/8 tsp. rum extract (add more if needed)

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease bundt pan. In a bowl, combine brown sugar, apples, nuts, 1/4 cup flour, and cinnamon. Stir in melted butter.

2. In another bowl, combine 2 cups flour, baking powder and baking soda. In a third bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla. Alternately beat in flour mixture and milk.

3. Spoon half of the batter mixture into pan. Spread all of streusel on top. Top with remaining batter. Bake 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool for a few minutes; remove from pan. Serve warm.

4. For the glaze, stir all ingredients together. Add more sugar if it's too runny; add more milk if it's too thick.



Source: Creative Cook's Kitchen handout, Cakes and Pies group 1 card 3




When I'm home from school, I have a little sous chef. Unfortunately, he was a little occupied when I was baking.