Tag Archives: cinnamon

Cinnamon-Apple Cake

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I stumbled upon this rich apple cake recipe. I’m always on the search for new recipes. This time of year I am looking for apple recipes. I found another apple cake recipe that was similar but the cake tended to brown too much on its sides and it made a lot of cake. Too much cake, actually. Nothing says Fall like the scent of cinnamon and apples. No candle can replicate this scent. It brings me joy when someone walks into the kitchen, and smiles when they smell the cinnamon and apples baking in the oven. Sheer bliss!

I substituted Neufchatel cheese for cream cheese. Who doesn’t love a good recipe adaption? Calories saved! The cream cheese in the batter gives the cake lots of moisture. It’s amazing. I also used butter instead of margarine. I love butter too much to cheat on it. I also increased the amount of apple I used. The recipe calls for 3 cups of chopped and peeled apples, which according to the recipe is 2 large apples. I don’t know how 2 apples makes three cups of chopped apples. I found 4 cups of apples made this cake. Apples come in a variety of sizes. I use Macintosh apples. I like the apples to get soft and form puddles. Sometimes I throw in a honey crisp or two. I would plan on about 4-6 apples. I chop them, add the cinnamon and sugar, and let them sit while I wait for the oven to heat. This draws out the juices. Taste the apples. I like the apples sweet with lots of cinnamon. The batter does not have cinnamon, so I like a little extra with the apples. Cinnamon and sugar top this cake for a little crunch. Its a sweet cake, but isn’t that how it should be? I used a 9 X 9 square pan and not, the suggested springform pan. My cake was done in about 45 minutes. The change is baking pans changed the cooking time.

1 3/4 cups sugar, divided

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 tsp. vanilla extract

6 ounces block style Neufchatel cream cheese

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

3 cups of chopped, peeled Macintosh apples (or any baking apple)

Cooking spray

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees. Spray the bottom and sides of pan with cooking spray.

Peel and chop apples. Combine 1/4 cup of sugar and cinnamon. Taste the apples before adding the sugar/cinnamon mixture. Sometime grocery store apples are not that sweet. The recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of the cinnamon/sugar mixture to be mixed with the apples. The first time I made this cake, I used all of the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Oops! I always have some in a container, for toast of whatever. I used some of that for the cake top. Taste the apples after you add the cinnamon/sugar. You may want to add more than the 2 tablespoons.

Beat 1 1/2 cups sugar, butter, vanilla, and cream cheese at medium speed with a mixer until well-blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter/cream cheese mixture, at a low speed until blended. The batter will be thick.

I measure out 3 cups of apples and then stir the apple mixture into the batter. I usually put in about 4 cups, give or take. Anything left in the bowl is a nice snack for the chef. Include the juices in the bowl when you add the apples into the batter. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. Set the timer for 35-40 minutes and test it with a tooth pick, until the tooth pick comes out with some moist crumbs. Try to test where the is more cake, than apple. The cake will pull away from the sides of the pan when it’s done.

Cool the cake completely on a wire rack. This will stay fresh for a couple of days on the counter. If it lasts that long. You can also store it in the refrigerator. This recipe doesn’t make a large cake that never gets finished. It’s the perfect size.

Make yourself a cup of tea. Slice a piece of cake. Sit and enjoy the quiet and the experience. Enjoying the little things in life is important.

Cinnamon Rolls

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kaboom2

Kaboom! That’s the magical sound when my favorite things, cinnamon and rolls, collide and become one. Warm, gooey, sweet cinnamon rolls are my favorite things. It’s a treat to have a cinnamon roll and a cup of tea. Enjoying the quiet, thinking deep thoughts, and inhaling the frosted cinnamon rolls starts the day with a bit of magic. Why, yes, I lick the frosting off my fingers. If you are thinking they are complex creatures, you are wrong. Cinnamon rolls are easy. They can be made partially ahead and refrigerated. Start on Saturday night, bake Sunday morning. If you’re thinking, “I don’t need 30 rolls” (You’re wrong, by the way), then you will be happy to know that the recipe can be halved. Unlike my “friend”, make sure to half ALL the ingredients. Ahem. Easter weekend I made these rolls three times. Let’s get baking. As usual, please read the directions through first, so  you have all the ingredients, and understand the steps and time involved.

Cinnamon Rolls

2 packages yeast ( 4 1/2 teaspoons) dissolved in 1 cup lukewarm water or instant yeast (read directions!)

6 tablespoons shortening (Crisco)

1 cup granulated sugar

8 cups all-purpose flour ( you may need another cup or so if dough is sticky)

2 cups of hot water (from the tap)

2 eggs, beaten

1 tablespoon salt

softened butter

brown sugar

raisins (optional)

cinnamon

Frosting

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

4 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  1. If you are using regular yeast, add the yeast to a cup of lukewarm water (less than 110 degrees) and sprinkle in a little sugar. Set aside for about 5 minutes. This is called proofing. If you’re not sure about the temperature, cooler is better. Yeast is a live organism. Hot water will kill it and your rolls won’t rise. If the water is cool, it will still rise, but may take a little longer to do so. See, you learned something.
  2.  In a bowl, of a stand mixer, add shortening, sugar, and salt to the hot water and beat for 30 seconds, using the beater blade. There will be splashing. Let cool to lukewarm temperature. Stir in 2 cups of flour and mix until smooth. If you are using instant yeast, add the yeast now, as well as the 1 cup of lukewarm water  that would have been used in the proofing, and mix until well combined. There is no need for proofing instant yeast. Mix in beaten eggs.
  3. Gradually stir in the remaining flour and mix with the dough hook for about 2 minutes. I always need about another cup of flour. You want the dough to start pulling away from the side of the bowl and climb up your dough hook. It’s a sticky dough. Remove dough from the bowl and place on a lightly floured surface. Knead by hand, add a little flour if the dough is still sticky. Knead until dough feels satiny and smooth. I always need more flour than I think. It will be elastic but not as sticky as it was. Sprinkle some flour on your hands. You will be a sticky, floury mess.
  4. Cover and let rise in a bowl for 30 minutes to one hour.  I  “help” the dough rise by heating my oven to 200 degrees and placing the covered bowl on the stove top. Heat from the oven, comes up to the stove at the back of the stove. Turn the bowl occasionally. Make sure it doesn’t get too hot by pulling it towards the center of the stove. After the dough has doubled in size, remove it from the bowl and divide it in half. With a rolling pin, roll one half of the dough into a rectangle. Spread dough evenly with softened butter (About 2 tablespoons for each half. Be generous) Sprinkle dough with brown sugar, raisins (if you wish), and cinnamon. Make sure you use LOTS of brown sugar (About 1/2 cup for each half. Again be generous.)  Sprinkle on a lot of cinnamon. I like to use a good cinnamon from Penzeys. If you are using raisins, soak them in warm water first, to plump them up. You will not be dissappointed.
  5. Roll up dough into one long roll. Cut into rolls, using a piece of dental floss or thread, about two inches thick. Yes, you can use a knife if you don’t want to go upstairs for the floss. Place rolls in greased 9 X 13 baking pan. Rinse and repeat for the second  half.
  6. If you are making these the night before, cover the pans with plastic wrap and put them in the refrigerator. The next day, let them rise about an hour or so, until they are doubled. If you making them for the same day consumption, let the rolls rise until doubled. Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake until brown-only about 5-7 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the rolls cool to room temperature.
  7. While the rolls are cooling, make the frosting. In a medium bowl, whisk, together butter, sugar, milk, and vanilla. Frost the cooled cinnamon rolls generously.

See, that wasn’t so bad. Relax. Pat yourself on your back. You made cinnamon rolls! Now go eat ’em. As you can see from the photo, I eyeballed the two inches. Oh well! They were still delicious! I brought a batch to an Easter brunch and there were none left. Just sayin’.

NOTE: I usually make the half the recipe unless I’m giving them as gifts. Make sure you measure out 1/2 of each ingredient and place in bowls. It’s easy to forget to decrease the ingredients by half. If you write down the 1/2 amount on the recipe, and then put it bowls, you’re less likely for forget. To make the half recipe go a little further, make the rolls 1 inch instead of 2 inches.

Here’s the original recipe.

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A taste of Fall, Applesauce Bread

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 Hot Applesauce Cake

 

Back in the day, people exchanged recipes on recipe cards. Sometimes the recipe cards were just plain old index cards and sometimes they were decorated. There were no food blogs, not many cookbooks, and only Julia Child on television. Friends and family exchanged recipes that had been handed down for generations. We learned to cook from the masters, our grandmothers and mothers. Today we use the Internet to find a new recipe, or to revisit an old. We have thousands of cookbooks to peruse, many food shows on TV that entertain and educate us. Cooking and food have become entertainment instead of just a way feed our families. I’m not much for food competition shows. I find them stressful. Cooking to me is relaxing and a way to express creativity and love. We have so many new foods to explore and new techniques to try. No longer are the days of “If it’s Wednesday it must be spaghetti and meatballs”. Don’t forget meatloaf Mondays. Never forget.

After I had been married a while, I discovered cookbooks. This recipe is from The Fannie Farmer Baking Book. My mother made her own applesauce. I never knew you could buy it. So, in this recipe, I used homemade. It’s not required, but I think it makes a difference. It’s worth the small effort to make it.  To make applesauce, put some apples in a big pan, pour enough water to just cover the bottom of the pan, and simmer the apples until they are all cooked and mushy. I leave the skins on for coloring.I run the cooked apples through a food mill, turned by hand, then sweeten with some sugar, adding cinnamon to taste, and finishing with a pat of butter to smooth it all out. Delicious.

This recipe makes two 8 ½ X 4 ½ loaves of bread. Sometimes I make then in mini loaves for a great present. The cooking time is reduced to about 40 minutes for these. This recipe can also be baked in layer pans and frosted. I like to bake it in loaf pans to have with my morning coffee. It just doesn’t seem as bad as eating CAKE.

 

1 cup vegetable shortening

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. ground cloves

2 tsp. ground allspice

¼ tsp. nutmeg

¼ tsp. mace

2 cups hot applesauce

2 cups raisins

2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9” round cake pans or two 8 ½ X 4 ½ inch loaf pans.

Cream the shortening and slowly add the sugar, beating the mixture until smooth. Add the eggs and mix well. Mix together, in a medium bowl, the flour, salt, soda, cinnamon, clovers, allspice, nutmeg, and mace, and then add to the creamed mixture along with the hot applesauce, raisins and walnuts. No fuss. Beat until the batter is well blended. I like to plump up my raisins by letting them sit in warm water for a few minutes. I drain the water and add the plump raisins to the mixture. Hard, dry raisins don’t even look appetizing.

Spread evenly in the prepared pans, and bake round layers for about 40 minutes, loaf pans for about one hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let layers cool in the pans for a bout 5 minutes, loaves about 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely. I like to run a knife along the perimeter of the pans, gently pushing it towards to center of the pan. This lets air get under the bread to help release it from the pan. This technique helps to prevent the bread from sticking to the bottom of the pan when you turn it out of the pan.

Whenever I bake this bread, I feel like Fall has visited my kitchen. I hope you feel the same way too. Celebrate Fall with this simple bread. It freezes very well, or you can give a loaf to a friend! I like to keep some mini loaves of this bread in the freezer in case company comes by.