German Apple Cake

Busy season has gotten the best of me and I haven't been able to post much at all this past month even though I wanted to. Hopefully next month I will be able to post more, I'm even thinking of challenging myself to do a post every day, gee, I wonder if I could make that happen? I was able to do a little baking though and made this wonderful German Apple Cake for My Kitchen My World -- Germany. I found this recipe online here at allrecipes and baked it in my Wilton Queen of Hearts pan. This is probably my favorite bundt pan of the little bunch that I own. It was my first bundt pan (after baking in my mom's bundt pan for years) and I got it when my husband and I got married almost seven years ago.



German Apple Cake

2 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil -- I used Mazola corn oil
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 cups apples - peeled, cored and diced -- I used Honey Crisp apples from a recent family trip to the apple orchard

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour one 9x13 inch cake pan. I used a bundt pan and sprayed with cooking spray with flour -- Baker's Joy or Crisco with Pillsbury Flour are my favorite baking sprays.

In a mixing bowl; beat oil and eggs with an electric mixer until creamy. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat well.

Combine the flour salt, baking soda, and ground cinnamon together in a bowl. Slowly add this mixture to the egg mixture and mix until combined. The batter will be very thick. Fold in the apples by hand using a wooden spoon. Spread batter into the prepared pan.


Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes or until cake tests done. I baked this for an hour in the bundt pan and it was perfectly done. Remember to let cool in pan for 10 minutes before inverting to serving platter. Once cake is cool serve with a dusting of confectioners' sugar.


Although this wasn't the prettiest cake, it was absolutely delicious! It was so moist and full of apples, you can see in the before baking photo that it is almost more apples than cake batter. My picky husband and kids all loved this one so it's going into the "make again" category for sure. It almost reminded me of a steamed pudding and I think it would be wonderful served with some warm vanilla sauce. My husband said it was like an apple pie/coffee cake hybrid :)

Allspice Crumb Muffins -- Tuesdays with Dorie

Thanks to Kayte of Grandma’s Kitchen Table who picked these delicious Allspice Crumb Muffins for our Tuesdays with Dorie treat of the week. You can find the recipe here at her site.

While reading through the comments on the TWD site about this recipe I noted a few problems with the crumb topping and thought I would remedy it by adding some more flour, then not thinking it looked right, I added a couple of teaspoons of water to the crumb. I thought I would have nice big crumb tops but I messed up the topping, it was way too heavy and most of it sunk down into my poor muffins. I did end up with one presentable muffin. Hey, one is better than none, right? Ah well, serves me right for messing with Dorie's recipe before I even tried it out as written.

I baked them in a jumbo muffin pan...above and below are the before and after baking shots.

The muffin part was delicious, very tender and flavorful, the topping tasted great too, just too heavy. We are big muffin fans here and I will make these again for sure -- as written :) Thank you Kayte, for a wonderful pick!

Cheddar Corn Chowder -- Barefoot Bloggers

It's time for Barefoot Bloggers. The first Ina recipe for October is Cheddar Corn Chowder, picked for us to try by Jill of My Next Life, thank you Jill!

I made a few modifications to the original recipe, mainly leaving out the bacon and swapping chicken stock out for vegetable stock to make a meat-free version of the soup. Also after the potatoes had cooked I used a potato masher and smooshed down into the soup pot a few times to add some thickness to the soup. Everything turned out perfectly and was a great dinner that even my picky husband enjoyed -- although he really missed the bacon! This was such a creamy and delicious chowder, just perfect for a chilly fall night.

Caramelized Onion, Sage, and Cheddar Muffins -- Sweet Melissa Sundays

This week for Sweet Melissa Sundays, Hanaa of Hanaa’s Kitchen picked these delicious savory muffins for us to try. You can find the recipe here on her site or in Melissa Murphy's Sweet Melissa Baking Book.

Savory muffins and quick breads are a favorite for me! Even though I love sweet and fruity muffins, if I had the choice I would probably grab a savory. This recipe calls for caramelized onions as a star ingredient and I have to be honest and say that onions are my least favorite veggie! I usually order and make everything sans onions, but lately I've been trying them more and more and thinking maybe it was just the fact that I didn't like them as a child which has led me to avoid them as an adult. The caramelized onions surprised me and were pretty good, I had a few from the pan and they did make the kitchen smell absolutely delicious.

Since I love savory muffins so much and wasn't sure if I would like the onion, I decided to do half of the batch with "caramelized" mushrooms, which are a favorite veggie for me. I cooked the mushrooms in the same pan that I had caramelized the onions in so I could get a nice onion flavor (it has always been only the onion texture I did not like) infused into the delicious mushroom bites. You really couldn't tell the difference between the onion muffins and mushroom muffins in appearance.

I ended up having to use dried sage because I couldn't locate any fresh. And my other change was to leave out the black pepper and up the cayenne, which gave these a nice kick. We really enjoyed these muffins, even picky husband :) These are perfect to serve with a creamy soup, thanks for a great pick Hanaa!

Cottage Cheese Pufflets & Flaky Apple Turnovers -- Tuesdays with Dorie

I'm late for TWD! My oldest started pre-k on Monday and we've been so busy this week I didn't get a chance to post yesterday. Our treat this week is Cottage Cheese Pufflets, picked for us to try by Jacque of Daisy Lane Cakes, thank you Jacque! You can find the recipe here at her site. These fun little turnover pastries were delicious but like many people have mentioned, the dough was a little tricky to work with, possibly because of the humidity here lately. I ended up filling mine with blackberry jam, but any jam or even a savory filling would work with these.

I also have a Tuesdays with Dorie treat that I missed posting last Tuesday, Flaky Apple Turnovers, picked for us by Julie of Someone’s in the Kitchen, thank you Julie! You can find the recipe for these delicious turnovers here at her site.

Apple turnovers are a favorite here, so I was really excited to make these. This recipe was great! I loved the flaky sour cream dough and the simple apple filling. My husband gave these 4 out of 5 stars, a star was apparently lost because the turnovers weren't big enough, ha!

We really liked both treats. I personally have a soft spot for filled things, whether they be raviolis, mini pies, turnovers, cookies, whatever they are if they have a filling they have already won me over :)

Orange Scented Scones -- Sweet Melissa Sundays

Time for Sweet Melissa Sundays! Today's treat was picked by Robin at Lady Craddock’s Bakery -- you can find the recipe for these delicious Orange Scented Scones here at her wonderful blog :) I baked these up in my Lodge cast iron wedge pan and they turned our beautifully.

Here is the crumbly scone dough before pressing together and into the wedge pan...just enough dough to fit!

Before and after baking shots...

We really enjoy scones and I was very excited to make these, in the Sweet Melissa Baking Book you have the option of using oat flour or grinding up your own oats in the food processor. I used the food processor and purposely left my oats a little chunky, I love oatmeal in baked goods.

I accidentally skipped brushing the tops of the scone dough with cream and sprinkling with sugar before I put them in the oven, so I made a glaze to drizzle on top after they were baked with 1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate (warmed up in the microwave) and about 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, I added about 1/2 cup powdered sugar at a time to the melted orange juice concentrate and just kept adding until I reached the right consistency. This glaze was great and packed a strong orange punch.

The scones were amazing. Light and fluffy and a little crumbly from the oats. Very tender and flavorful, I'm the kind of person who loves scones with butter and jam or honey but these didn't need any toppings and were wonderful plain with hot tea for breakfast. Thank you for a wonderful pick, Robin! This is a recipe I would make again for sure :)

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One year ago today: Lithuanian Dinner -- Mushroom Stuffed Cepelinai

Banana Pecan Pancakes -- Tyler Florence Fridays

Time for a breakfast edition of Tyler Florence Fridays! This morning I made Tyler's Banana and Pecan Pancakes, this was a quick and easy recipe to follow, and the pancakes were wonderful.


Banana Pecan Pancakes

2 cups buttermilk I used 1 1/2 cups buttermilk and 1/2 cup skim milk
3 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 pinch salt
4 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup pecans, toasted and finely ground (not chopped) I left mine a little bigger than finely ground for more texture
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
3 bananas, peeled and sliced in 1/4-inch circles I roughly mashed these instead of slicing


Confectioners' sugar, to garnish

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl whisk the buttermilk, eggs, mashed banana, and vanilla together so they are well combined. In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and sugar. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry and stir with a spoon to get rid of the lumps.

Fold in the pecans, most of the melted butter and whisk until batter is smooth. Heat a griddle or skillet over medium low heat and swirl around a little melted butter to keep the pancakes from sticking. Using a ladle pour the batter into the pan, see Cook's note*

Cook the pancakes on 1 side until they are set and then lightly press the bananas into the batter. When small bubbles appear on the uncooked surface, flip the pancakes and cook until golden on both sides, about 8 minutes. Transfer pancakes to a warming plate in the oven while you make the rest.


*Cook's note: The trick to perfect round pancakes is pouring all the batter in the same spot and letting it roll out to a complete circle.

Love that 'Grade B' maple syrup!

We are huge pancake fans here and these are a new favorite for us (except picky husband who does not like pecans, I made these after he went to work :) ) My four year old gave an unsolicited, "thanks for making these delicious pancakes, mom!" -- quite a surprise from a very picky little one. I loved the chunks of banana and crunchy pecans in every bite. We will be making these again for sure!

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One year ago today: Ina Garten's Apple Turnovers for Barefoot Bloggers