Marie-helen's Apple Cake

I know, I know, I am a couple days late in posting this, but it was a very busy and hectic weekend.  Halloween is fun yet daunting all at the same time.

I did make this cake on Friday morning and had nothing but good intentions in posting on Friday. But, between pumpkin carving, an international pot luck at Eli's middle school and making Friday night dinner, I ran out of time.  Then the weekend came...and went!

So, here I am, on Monday morning to tell you how much I love this cake. I have so many plans for this cake.  I want to make it again, this week (have tons of apples) and make them bite size.  I love bite size anything and I have a feeling that this cake would be great as little cakelettes!

Friday morning was wet and rainy.  As this cake baked in the oven, my house smelled so good. I could not wait to dig into it.  All I wanted to do was cut a huge slice, get under my favorite blanket and catch up on Oprah. But I held out.  I restrained.  I exercised my skills in will power.  Glad I waited.  I had some homemade caramel sauce in the fridge.  Drizzled a little warm caramel sauce over the cake and it was like eating a caramel apple.  

I have committed or possibly over committed to French Friday's with Dorie.  But, I love all things Dorie, so I am treating this like an education.  Some days you just don't want to wake up and get up and go to class, but you really don't have a choice in the matter.  I have made the commitment and I want to see it through.

I am anxiously waiting for the November "assignments" to come my way.  If anyone of you want to do this with me, I would welcome the company!  It's fun and it forces you to do things you wouldn't normally include in your weekly meal plans.  Come on, people, buy the book and let's do this together!

Mmmmmmmmm.  Can't wait until the next time I make this cake!

Marie-Helen's Apple Cake

page 432-433

Make it and enjoy a slice for me!

Mini Apple Crisps

We are on our way to some friends house for dinner and I wanted to bring desserts for both the grown ups and the kids. I had recently bought these cute little cup liners at Surfas and really wanted to use them. I thought about making little bread puddings. Then I remembered that I had all these apples that I had bought at the farmers market. I decided to go with mini apple crisps. I was excited to use my little liners.

I turned toward the Tartine cookbook and she had an easy crisp recipe. I prepared the topping and then put in the fridge. I peeled and cored the apples and then started filling the cup liners.

All looked good. The topping was really easy to work with. The directions said to pat the topping into a flat, pancake type shape. In hindsight, I should have just crumbled it over the top of the apples. When I took the crisps out of the oven, they looked a little messy. I don't like messy looking food. They only looked messy because the juice from the apples and the butter from the topping kind of leaked out all over the baking sheet.

I brought them to our friends regardless. No one seemed to notice the mess that I was obsessing over. The only comments I received were positive, with one party goer asking for seconds!

Ingredients

Filling

• 3 lbs. assorted apples
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 Tbsp. lemon juice
• zest from one lemon
• 1/8 tsp. salt

Topping

• 1 cup unsalted butter, cold
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp. cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350*. If making one big crisp, butter bottom of a 9"x 13" baking dish.

2. Core, peel and slice the apples. In another bowl, combine sugar, lemon juice, zest and salt. Add to apples and either spread in large pan or divide among the individual cups.

3. To make the topping, place sugar and butter in a mixing bowl. Use the whisk attachment on medium speed and beat until smooth. Add flour, cinnamon & salt and mix until a smooth dough forms.

4. Top crisps with dough and lay on top of apples.

5. Bake large pan for about 1 1/2 hours. If making individual, check after 20 minutes. If not done, keep checking every 5-7 minutes until the apples start to bubble.

6. Can be served at room temp or cold.

Top with ice cream and everyone will be happy!

APPLE-LICIOUS!

This past Tuesday I had a meeting with the Principal of Eli's future middle school.  I couldn't go empty handed!

I was reading my Donna Hay magazine and I came to the chapter "Queen of Cakes".  The photos are GORGEEZMO and each and every recipe looked better than the next. I will, ultimately, be making them all. Yet, the cinnamon sugar-coated maple apple cakes jumped out at me.  

When the three woman in the meeting took their first bite of their little individual cakes, they moaned! Enough said!

ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups self-raising flour-sifted
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 250g butter, melted(i used my digital scale)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 4 eggs
• 6 red apples, peeled and grated(i used fuji's)
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon, extra
• 1 cup caster (superfine) sugar

Preheat oven to 355*.  Place flour and cinnamon in bowl and mix to combine.  Add the butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, eggs and apple and mix well to combine.  Spoon into 12 x well greased 1 cup-capacity bundt tins.  Bake for 20 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer(i baked them about 27 minutes).  

Turn out immediately.  

Place extra cinnamon and sugar in a bowl and mix to combine.  Coat the cakes in the sugar and cool.  

Makes 12

DELICIOUS!!!

p.s I am going to make these again and make them bite size