Garden Harvest Cake

I’m always in the mood for new bread or cake recipes and when I spotted this one in Cooking Light I knew I would be trying it soon.  It was also a great excuse to use my stoneware loaf pan again!  This cake was so tender and moist.  I loved how sweet it was too.  It smelled just like fall when it was baking. Memories!

I did learn that I should trust the recipe.  When it says that 1 carrot shredded will equal 1/2 of a cup, believe it!  I bought double the amount called for of apple, zucchini and carrots.  So, I ended up doubling the recipe.  I kept one loaf and sent the other with my husband to his work. If you double the recipe I suggest using a food processor to shred the apples, zucchini and carrots.  It will go much faster than by hand (I know from experience)!

Enjoy!

Garden Harvest Cake

source: Cooking Light

Ingredients

• 4.5  ounces  all-purpose flour (1 cup)
• 3/4  cup  sugar
• 2  teaspoons  ground cinnamon
• 1  teaspoon  baking soda
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/2  cup  grated peeled Granny Smith apple (about 1 medium)
• 1/2  cup  grated carrot (about 1 medium)
• 1/2  cup  shredded zucchini
• 1/4  cup  chopped walnuts, toasted
• 1/4  cup  canola oil
• 1/4  cup  nonfat buttermilk
• 2  large eggs
• Cooking spray

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and the next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add grated apple, grated carrot, shredded zucchini, and walnuts to flour mixture; toss well. Combine canola oil, buttermilk, and eggs in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add egg mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until combined. Spoon batter into an 8 x 4–inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove cake from pan. Cool completely on wire rack before slicing.

Apple Walnut Muffins

I should have titled this, “Do you know the muffin man?” I’ve been on a muffin kick lately as you may have noticed. I love how easy they are to put together and they also take such little time to bake. After we’ve had our fill of a particular muffin I freeze the rest in Ziploc baggies, 2 per baggie, that way we can take them out for breakfast when we’re in a hurry or the cereal is gone! These muffins will be great for breakfasts but also for a snack. The muffin in the picture that is torn in half has already been eaten by yours truly!

I still have a big bag of apples sitting out on the deck. Any ideas of what to do with them?? I’ve done applesauce and I think Apple Hand Pies might be next. Send me those ideas!

I found this recipe in my Joy of Cooking cookbook. I’m also on a kick of using my cookbooks instead of printing off recipes! Maybe it’s because my printer is out of ink and I’m too cheap to go and get another cartridge! Those suckers are expensive!! Back to the recipe!

I also got to break in a new tool that I bought at a Pampered Chef party earlier in the month. I was already thinking of buying the tool but all my friend Jodi had to do was show me hers and tell me that she uses it for making muffins and cupcakes and I was sold! She mentioned that she just has to use two scoops and that fills each tin. I will be having an online Pampered Chef party soon. I would send you to the website right now but it’s being extra slow! Here is a picture of the scooper that I bought.

Here is a picture of my muffins

source: Joy of Cooking

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, beaten
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups grated apple
5 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I used pecans because I’m allergic to walnuts)

Directions:

• Sift the dry ingredients together and then set aside.

• Whisk eggs and sugar together. Stir in apples and let sit for 10 minutes so that the apples release their juices. Stir in the melted butter and nuts.

• Fold into dry ingredients. Divide batter among 12 greased or lined muffin tins.

• Bake at 400 degrees for 14 to 16 minutes, until a testing stick comes out clean. Let cool for a few minutes before removing them from the pans as they are very tender.

Apple Cranberry Crisp

Yummy! I love fall because of all the yummy foods and desserts. Apple crisp is one of my favorite desserts. When this recipe popped up in my Google Reader from Annie’s Eats, check out her blog, everything she makes looks great, I knew that I had to try it. It also just so happened that I had two bags of fresh cranberries sitting in my refrigerator. Yahoo!! I just couldn’t pass them up at the grocery store. I’ll admit they were an impulse buy! I allow myself about 2 impulse buys per shopping trip and then I stick to my list!

I made this recipe for a few reasons, one was because it looked good (good reason, eh?) and the other was in honor of The Apple Cup. If you are from Washington state there is no way that you can not know about The Apple Cup, even if you didn’t go to either college involved in the football game. We have quite the cross state rivalry with this game. This football game takes place every fall and involves the Washington State University Cougars (Go Cougs!) who are in Pullman (close to Idaho) and the University of Washington Huskies, located in Seattle. The game takes place at one of the colleges and they switch every year. I did not go to either college but my husband went to Washington State University, so I am guilty by association. I would love to tell you that both teams are doing great this year but that is not the case at all. Neither team has won a game this year, at least in their conference. The are both Pac-10 schools, so your university may have played one of these Washington schools. Usually both teams are doing really well! So this game was really the match up of who stinks less! I’m happy to tell you that my beloved Cougars won the game 16 to 13 in double over time. This game was nerve wracking, and I wasn’t even there and didn’t even go to the school!

I adore the color that the cranberry’s make the apples. Such a fun pink color. Enjoy! Next time I’ll serve this with ice cream. Enjoy!

Apple Cranberry Crisp

source: Annie’s Eats

Ingredients:

For the filling:

2 ½ -3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced thin

2/3 cup fresh or frozen cranberries

1 tbsp. sugar

1 tbsp. light brown sugar, packed

¼ tsp. ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

For the topping:

½ cup plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

½ cup rolled instant oats

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup light brown sugar, packed

6 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter an 8×8” square baking dish. Set aside.

To prepare the filling, combine the apple slices and cranberries in a medium bowl. Add the sugars, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add the melted butter and toss the ingredients until the fruit is evenly coated. Pour the fruit into the prepared baking dish in an even layer.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, oats and sugars, and toss with a fork until well combined. Add in the melted butter and mix until all dry ingredients are moistened. Crumble the mixture evenly over the fruit. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Serve warm.

Source: adapted from Use Real Butter

Dinner Divas: Caramel Apple Cheesecake

It’s that time again! Dinner Diva recipe time is here. This months recipe was chosen by Julie at Jewels in the Kitchen. Go check out her blog! When I saw the choices for this month I was excited to see something that I could bring to the dinner party that Nate and I were going to this past weekend. This was my first cheesecake and I must say it was a great first cheesecake to try out. I loved it and it was quite well received.

The only minor snafu that I had with the recipe was how to decide if the center was done. Since I have never made a cheesecake before I didn’t have much to go on. I’ve eaten cheesecake but I was still stumped!! So I did what anyone does when they have a cooking/baking question. I called my mom!! Sadly, she didn’t know how to tell if the center was done either but she thought it would be similar to a pumpkin pie so she suggested putting a knife in the center and seeing if it comes out clean. I did that a few times with no success after giving the cheesecake several more minutes. So my next idea was to consult the all know Internet!! Several sites said to use the knife method but one said to insert a thermometer and the temperature should reach 160 to 165 degrees. Eureka! That worked!

I pretty much followed the recipe to a T with the exception of the way it instructs you to decorate the top of the cheesecake with the pecans. I can’t wait to make this recipe again! These pictures were taken after the party because I forgot my camera. I actually took the pictures a few days later and the cake still tastes great. I confess that I had to clean up the pan a bit but it was worth it!!

Enjoy!

Caramel Apple Cheesecake

source: Allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS

• 1 (21 ounce) can apple pie filling
• 1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping
• 12 pecan halves
• 2/3 cup chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Reserve 3/4 cup of apple pie filling and set aside.
2. Spoon remaining pie filling into crust. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth then add eggs and mix well. Pour over apple filling in crust.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 35 minutes, or until center is set. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature.
4. Mix reserved apple filling and caramel topping in a small saucepan. Heat for about 1 minute. Arrange apple slices around outside edge of cheesecake. Spread caramel sauce evenly over. Decorate with pecan halves around edge. Sprinkle with chopped pecans. Chill until ready to serve.