Adventures in Apple Picking: Apple Cake

Oh my! November is just flying by, and I have lots to write about but I've been so busy with work and things that I've not had the time. Naughty, naughty blogger.

I've got lots to write about, like my second Rolf session, books I've been reading, NaNoWriMo, and food, obviously.

One of the things I made recently was an apple cake. I had some more leftover apples left after my apple picking adventure, so I decided to find a good apple cake recipe. I found one that looked decent in one of my baking books, but it called for half butter and half shortening. I didn't have shortening on hand (also, I try to avoid using it if I can, because the consistency weirds me out) and was antsy to get underway with the cake, so I turned to the good old internet to find an alternative.

I found a fabulous recipe on Smitten Kitchen for the blogger's mom's apple cake. It looks like an old-fashioned German or Jewish apple cake recipe, and it's very easy to do. Not to mention it's amaaaaazing! Click on the link above to get the recipe and the adorable story about the blogger and her mom making the cake, as well as an awesome photo of her mom's original handwritten recipe card.

A few things that I did differently. First off, I know it can be a real pain in the ass to fill a large bowl with so many cut-up apples and then try to get them all evenly coated in cinnamony goodness. So instead, I put the apples into a gallon zip-top bag with the sugar and cinnamon and gave them a vigorous heave-ho. This got them all nice and coated and since I could keep the bag sealed, it helped prevent any possible browning.

I didn't have any nuts in the house, but I imagine that this cake would be only more awesome with some nice toasted walnuts or pecans. Some dried cranberries would probably also be very nice.

Also, I don't yet own a tube pan (though I fully intend to get one), so instead I used a 9 x 13 sheet pan. Since the batter was more spread out in that pan, I baked it for just a few minutes over one hour. You can't really get the beautiful layers the blogger did with her tube pan if you use a sheet pan, so I just sort of alternated pouring in batter and adding apples and squooshed everything together with a spatula.

The cake was so, so good. It is not overly sweet, and you can't taste the orange juice much, but it is very moist, and the spiced apples really are the star. The Ginger Golds that I used baked up super soft and tasty, so that they were nearly melting into the cake. Awesome!

This cake gets better by the day, becoming more and more moist and appley, and Jeremy and my taste-tester friends all agreed that it was delicious. I'd definitely recommend you try this. I'll be making it again with my next big batch of apples.

Adventures in Apple Picking: Apple Crumble

I can't believe November is upon us! October passed way too quickly for my liking, but I was fortunate to squeeze in an October day of apple picking at Boston Hill Farm with my friends Nicole and Justina. It was a glorious fall afternoon, perfect temperature, bright and sunny, and meant for apples.

Neither Nicole nor Justina had ever gone apple picking when they were growing up, an egregious misfortune that I wanted to remedy. I grew up going apple picking, sometimes several times in one season. My father has an apple obsession that's almost incomprehensible. He takes his apple picking very seriously, overfilling the house with many, many pounds of apples. I too felt the pull to pick this fall. I guess some things are genetic!

So what does one do when she comes home with 12 pounds of apples? Bake! :) I picked a few Macoun apples, but the majority of my bag was lovely ginger gold apples. They're a yellow-green with a pink blush on them and have a wonderful, creamy texture. They are a nice balance of tart and sweet. They're fantastic to just munch on, but everyone knows the addition of butter and sugar makes everything better.

I decided to use a few ginger gold apples in a nice apple crumble (interesting factoid: an apple crisp is basically the same thing as an apple crumble except that the topping on a crisp is a finer, breadcrumb texture and a crumble's topping is chunkier). These apples brown very slowly after you cut them, so even though it was a couple of minutes between the time I finished chopping them and the time I finished combining my ingredients, they hadn't changed color. This recipe would work well with any baking apple. I highly recommend it! It's a simple, unfussy dessert that is extremely hearty and delicious. We ate our warm out of the oven with a dollop of yummy vanilla Greek yogurt. After the leftovers cooled in the pan, we wrapped it in foil and stashed it in the fridge. Just portion out a serving and reheat in the microwave. Yum!

Super Simple Apple Crumble

• 6 ginger gold (or other baking) apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
• 1 1/2 cups of rolled oats
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 stick of unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a square baking pan (8x8 or 9x9, whatever you've got).

Combine all the ingredients except for the apples and the butter in a large zip-top plastic bag, seal, and shake to combine. Cut the butter into small bits and add to the bag. Reseal the bag and knead the butter bits into the dry ingredients until the mixture holds together.

Heap the apples into the prepared pan. Crumble the topping all over the apples.

Bake uncovered for 40 to 45 minutes until the crumble is golden brown and the juices are bubbly. Or, if you're like me and you made enough topping to completely cover your dessert so you can't see the apples, you'll know it's ready when your house starts to smell amaaaaaazing. Carefully scoop out and enjoy the bliss.

 

Stay tuned. My next adventure in apple use is going to be an apple cake! 

My platter of figs

It's fall. It's gloriously, gorgeously fall. I love early fall weather. It gets pretty perfect in October. The sunshine seems somehow more intensely sunny, the wind has a crispness to it, and you have to wear just enough layers that you feel cozy without feeling bulky. (That comes with winter. I always feel slightly bound and stuffed and bumbly and near suffocating in winter. But in fall, you can still move freely.)

This weekend was a textbook example of perfect fall weather, and while I was out and about, I happened to find a container of lovely green figs at the supermarket. I'd wandered in to get a bottle of iced tea as I was running errands, and my eyes just happened to fall on the container.

There they were, each nestled into its own little cup, just waiting to be taken home and devoured. Yes, they were pricey ($4 for eight), but once I saw them, I had to have them. It was a small price to pay for such a satisfying indulgence.  

It was thrilling. It's not every day you find fresh figs, or at least it's not every day that a lady like me living in Boston, on the opposite end of the country from where figs are grown, finds fresh figs. Yes, they are becoming more commonplace, but you're still more likely to find dried figs than fresh ones at your supermarket. At any rate, this wasn't my usual local supermarket, but one that I don't really go to because it's quite out of the way. So it was like a doubly special treat to find them. The fates had aligned and the universe had conspired to get me into that supermarket and down that aisle to the figs. How could I say no to the universe?

I picked up a package and instinctively went right for the cheese section. Figs are delicious with certain cheeses, and initially I was going to get blue cheese, but then I found some nice crumbled goat cheese. It has a lighter, more subtle flavor and a wonderful creaminess that I think balances the delicate figginess of a perfectly ripe green fig. Green figs taste a little more fresh and a bit less intensely figgy than their dark purple (mission fig) counterparts.

Eat ripe figs as soon as possible. They are quite soft (though not mushy) when ripe, so be gentle when you wash and dry them. No peeling necessary; you can eat them as is. They're also lovely, as I mentioned, with blue cheese and some balsamic vinegar. Walnuts are a good companion too.

I sliced my figs in half lengthwise and sprinkled each with some goat cheese. Then I drizzled each with a bit of honey.

These were lovely, light and soft and tasting of the last lingering bits of summer. The delicate fig flavor wasn't overpowered by goat cheese or honey. I thought they made a nice nibble for a fall evening. And honestly, figs are just beautiful. I love the way they look when they are sliced in half. That pretty burst of bright pink when you cut into them is just awesome. You feel like you are connecting to something very ancient and almost sacred, in a way, when you eat a fresh fig. I'm not sure I'm explaining this properly, and I'm not even really sure that I can. All I know is that figs are amazing.

Organic produce: what's a girl to do?

If you're anything like me, organic and natural can cause some confusion. Yes, I know that foods that are natural are good for me, and yes, I feel like foods that are organic are probably even better, but unfortunately, my wallet doesn't always agree with me. I try to get as much organic produce as I possibly can, but let's face it: sometimes I just can't find or can't afford to get every fruit and veggie organic. Then I am wracked with guilt and worry. Will I die because I got something non-organic that might have harmful pesticides? Am I contributing to the destruction of the earth because the sale on non-organic carrots was too good to pass up?

The internet to the rescue! A few years ago I had seen this extremely handy site that features a card-sized list you can clip and carry in your wallet that lists foods you should always choose organic versus foods you can get nonorganic without worry. Then, like many good things I find on the internet, I lost the website before I could bookmark it. It's back, and now I want to share it with you. Go to the site to cut out the list to carry with you. And for the sake of convenience, here are the two lists.

THE DIRTY DOZEN (always buy organic)

1. Celery
2. Peaches
3. Strawberries
4. Apples
5. Blueberries
6. Nectarines
7. Bell Peppers
8. Spinach
9. Kale
10. Cherries
11. Potatoes
12. Grapes (imported)

THE CLEAN FIFTEEN (lowest in pesticides)

1. Onions
2. Avocados
3. Sweet Corn
4. Pineapple
5. Mango
6. Sweet Peas
7. Asparagus
8. Kiwi
9. Cabbage
10. Eggplant
11. Cantaloupe
12. Watermelon
13. Grapefruit
14. Sweet Potatoes
15. Honeydew Melon

Interestingly enough, I already sort of tend toward these lists in my current shopping habits. I try to always get organic spinach, celery, apples, and berries. And some of the clean fifteen foods simply aren't available as organic options at my local supermarket, so I just get my non-organic asparagus because I can't pass up eating asparagus. But now I know that it's okay to eat it, non-organic and all.

Of course, we're left to wonder where along the pesticide spectrum other forms of produce we eat fall. (WHERE ARE CARROTS?) But this small guide is at least a good start, and I think the main Food News website yields even more information about this stuff. What are your thoughts on organic produce? Do you religiously buy all organic? Or do you think this is all an elaborate hoax set up by the government and food industries to get us to spend more money on food?

Apple oatmeal quick bread

If you're anything like me (and don't think I'm implying that you are), you might be feeling somewhat overindulged, bloated, and downright blarghy after the bingefest that was the holidays, and you've resolved to be healthy. But if you're anything like me, you also don't want to give up on certain pleasures in life, because honestly, you only live once, and woman cannot live by bread alone.

Although if it's this apple oatmeal quick bread I recently discovered, then perhaps you could feel like you live by bread alone. It's that good. I've always loved quick breads, which—let's face it—are just cake in loaf form. But because of their intrinsic cakeyness, quick breads are also often loaded with sugar and butter—two things you don't necessarily want a lot of when you're trying to be healthier. Enter the apple oatmeal quick bread.

I love this recipe because the butter is replaced by low-fat vanilla yogurt, which clearly has a lot less fat than butter, but which also adds a moistness and softness to the cake. The oatmeal and whole wheat flour give it a really hearty, tasty feel, but it doesn't feel heavy. The apples also keep it moist. I discovered this recipe on the back of a Stonyfield yogurt container, and I did do a few slight modifications (adding raisins, using a little more apples, and adding more cinnamon and introducing nutmeg), but it's not very different from the original recipe.

Remember to make sure your egg is room temperature before beginning the recipe, although if you're using just the egg whites, it'll be easier to separate your eggs while they are cold and then allow the whites to come to room temperature before combining. (Stash the yolks, covered, in the fridge for another use; they will keep for a couple of days.)

Apple Oatmeal Bread

1 cup Stonyfield Organic Low Fat French Vanilla Yogurt
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 egg or two egg whites, slightly beaten
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups finely diced unpeeled apples (I use Granny Smith, which are tangy and lovely!)
1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries (I haven't tried it with those yet, but what's better than cranberries and apples together?)

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray. In a small bowl, mix together yogurt and oats and set aside. In a large bowl, mix together egg(s), oil and brown sugar.

In another bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Stir into the egg mixture. Add yogurt mixture. The batter will be lumpy and it will feel like you're stirring a bowl of cement. Do not despair! Put your back into it and fold in apples and raisins or cranberries if you decide to use them. Trust me, the batter will become light, moist, and scrumptious. The first time I made this, I too doubted that this could become something other than concrete in a pan. Pour into greased pan and spread about evenly.

Bake 45 minutes or until golden brown or a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from pan immediately. Wrap it up in foil; it'll stay moist and soft for about a week and doesn't need refrigerating. I like eating this with some apple-cranberry butter or other fruity jelly or jam on top. It is also a tasty and filling breakfast when you're on the go.

I'll probably be trying some more yogurt baking and cooking in the weeks to come, so stay tuned for the results, good, bad, and everything in between.