Fresh Apple Coffee Cake

I always love something you can make the night before and have for breakfast the next morning, or just grab a chunk for a quick snack. This works perfectly, plus the onset of fall just makes me want to bake lots of stuff with apples and pumpkin (by the way I am going to make Cream Sherry-Pumpkin Bread again, without the cream sherry this time. I thought I would substitute pineapple juice, I'll let you know how it turns out)
Back to this recipe, very delicious! My family loved it as well. The only thing I would do differently is cook it for less time, or maybe on a lower temperature. It was a little dry. Otherwise I would give it five stars. I'll give it four for now and try it again later!





Grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan, Bundt pan, or kugelhof mold. Preheat the oven to 375 F.


First: Combine 4 cups chopped apples (4-5 medium apples) I used granny smith, 1/3 cup packed brown sugar and 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon (It does seem like a lot of cinnamon, but it works!)

Next: In a medium bowl combine 3 cups unbleached all purpose flour, 1 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1/2 a teaspoon of salt, and grated zest of one orange.

In a large bowl beat the following until thick and creamy (about two minutes): 4 large eggs, 1 cup vegetable oil.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet along with 1/2 a cup fresh or frozen orange juice.


Spoon 1/3 of the batter into the pan, cover with half the apples, and cover with another 1/3 of batter. Use a spatula to smooth the batter over the apples to cover completely. Repeat with the remaining apples and batter, ending with a smooth layer of batter. (If any of the apples get outside the batter it's hard to get the cake out of the pan, so be very careful!)

Place the pan on the center rack of the oven and bake 60 minutes. Then cover loosely with a piece of aluminum foil and bake 15 minutes more. Or until cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean (toothpick also works). Cool on a rack for an hour, invert onto a rack to cool completely before serving.

Note:
I only baked mine 60 minutes and it was a little overdone. I suggest doing one of the following: Check after it's been baking only 50 minutes to see if it's done. If it's not even close ( you know, really jiggly on top) then bake another ten minutes, check and then if needed follow the authors instructions for the final fifteen minutes. OR
Bake the full time, on 325 F instead of 375 F.

Enjoy!! (If you want, make a light glaze for it with some powdered sugar, butter and milk)

6E61F6BA-2F72-1BBD-2CB9-48E3336E0D18

1.02.28

Easy Cinnamon Monkey Bread

I apologize for my lack of posting this summer. Here's a fun recipe from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book that I wanted to share!
I have a recipe from the bread bible I will be making in the next couple of days that I will post!


Two of these. I got mine with cream cheese frosting. You can also make your own cinnamon rolls, I tried that and it was good too, just takes a lot longer...

Note: The recipe actually calls for the frozen Rhodes Cinnamon roll dough (34.5 oz package) or Orange sweet roll dough. If you choose this route, place on a greased pan about two inches apart and cover with plastic, then thaw in the refrigerator overnight. The dough will begin to rise.

3/4 cup sugar


1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted


1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping (You don't have to get sugar free, that's just what I happened to grab)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Generously grease a 10 inch tube pan. Sprinkle half the pecans in the bottom. Cut the cinnamon rolls in half and dip half into the butter and then in the sugar. Layer coated rolls in the pan. Drizzle with any of the remaining butter and sprinkle with any remaining sugar. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup pecans over the top. Drizzle ice cream topping over all. I actually put mine in the microwave for about 20 seconds, it made it nice and thin and super easy to drizzle.

My directions told me to bake for 40-45 minutes, but I would recommend checking after 30-35. Then I took the frosting that came with the cinnamon rolls, melted it down in the microwave and drizzled it over the top. (You can also leave the frosting off if you desire, I'm just a huge frosting junkie!)


So Good! They did not last long!