Fresh Apple Cake With Brown Sugar Glaze

I love my neighborhood. We've lived here a year and a half now, and I've never once regretted our decision to move here. There are so many young families, a ton of families from our church live near us, our neighbors are all super friendly. It's such a complete opposite of our last neighborhood where we couldn't leave toys out in our backyard or the kids across the street would climb over our wall and steal them. Seriously. Anyway, we recently had a neighborhood picnic put on by the HOA. They provided lunch and residents were asked to bring desserts. There were pony rides, a bounce house...it was super fun. Since I'd been going crazy with Pinterest.com (see, I'm not exaggerating when I say I'm obsessed with it...I'm probably a few pins away from an intervention) I figured I'd make one of the desserts I'd pinned. This one seemed especially tasty and I had all the ingredients for it.

Fresh Apple Cake With Brown Sugar Glaze
Source: Lick The Bowl Good blog via Pinterest.com

Apple Cake:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups finely chopped apples
1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)

Brown Sugar Glaze:
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
3 Tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tablespoon heavy cream

For the cake: Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch pan (round or square) and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir with a whisk to mix everything together.

In a large bowl, mix the eggs with a hand mixer til light in color and foamy. Add the oil and vanilla and beat well.

Stir in the flour mixture with a spoon and continue stirring the batter til the flour disappears. Add the apples and nuts (if using) and stir to mix them into the batter.

Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Place the hot cake on a wire cake. While it's still hot, prepare the glaze.

For the glaze: Combine all the ingredients into a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the mixture comes to a gentle boil. Cook for 3-5 minutes.

Spoon the hot glaze over the still hot-from-the-oven cake. Let the glazed cake cool completely before serving straight from the pan.

*****

I had to improvise a bit for the glaze because I didn't have cream, but I used some half and half instead. It probably wasn't quite the same, but it seemed to do the trick. I was a little disappointed when the boys and I went to pick out dessert that no one had cut into my cake yet. So I figured I'd be the first. I was really pleased with how it came out--dense and sweet and awesome, basically. This is a great fall cake. And I loved that the glaze went on the cake while they were both still hot. One of the things I hate about cake making is having to wait for it to cool before you can frost it, so this solved that problem.

Don't mind the other dessert remnants on the plate there.

Crockpot Applesauce

Awhile back I came across a really cool cooking blog, A Year of Crockpotting. Then a few weeks later, one of my friends sent me a link to it, which was nice because I had completely forgotten about it (the downside of having a favorites folder of Cooking Blogs since the folder isn't always open for me to see what's there). Once again, I forgot about it. Then I was reading posts on the Meal Planning 101 blog that I like so much, and she mentioned the crockpot blog in one of her posts. So I went to look at it again and saw this applesauce recipe. I'd been wanting to try making my own applesauce for awhile but never got around to looking up a recipe for it. I thought, "What could be better than throwing it all in the crockpot?!" I bought apples a couple weeks ago and had told the boy we were going to make applesauce. Then I forgot about it. Are you noticing a trend here? I have NOTHING in the way of a memory?! So this morning, as all mornings, the boy's first question was, "Where are we going today, mom?" I told him we were staying home because we've had a crazy week, but we'd do fun stuff around here. He asked if we could make applesauce, and I said, "You know what? That is a great idea!" so we did. I love letting him help in the kitchen. He wants to taste everything we put into a recipe which I think is way cool of him. I also try to use the experience to teach him things, like "How many eggs are we putting into the cookies?" Or with the applesauce, "Can you count how many pieces of apples are here?" yeah, I'm a dork, but at least I'm aware of it.

Crockpot Applesauce
(the title links to the post on the crockpot blog)
4 large apples, skinned ,cored, and cut in quarters
juice from 1 lemon
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 T brown sugar
1/4 cup H20

Skin, core, and cut your apples into quarters. Plop the pieces into your crockpot. Add the juice from the lemon, and the water. Pour in the vanilla, and add the cinnamon and brown sugar.

Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. When the apples are super tender, mash with a potato masher or large fork.

*****

Mine is still cooking, but it's been in for 4.5 hours, so I imagine it will be done anytime now. This was super easy to throw together, and I have to imagine it is cheaper than buying applesauce at the store, especially if apples are on sale. I used Granny Smith apples because that's what they looked like in the picture on the crockpot blog. I also didn't have a lemon (well, I did, but it was definitely past its prime), so I just used a little less than a tablespoon of lemon juice. Desperate times and all. I really like homemade applesauce, so I'm really looking forward to trying this. My mom used to make her own applesauce, and I told her about this recipe and she said it sounds a lot easier than how she used to do it on the stove because you had to watch it really closely or the apples would burn.

Pioneer Woman's Apple Dumplings

So one of my favorite websites is ThePioneerWoman.com. If you haven't been to her site, go check it out! She has hilarious stories about living on a ranch, great photography tutorials, AND an amazing cooking section. The first time I went to her website, this recipe I'm going to share with you was the one that was up. I wanted to run right out and buy all the ingredients and make it then. But, I wasn't pregnant and didn't have a reason to make them, so I didn't.

We went over to my friend Jen B's for dinner tonight (by the way, she's an amazing cook and just recently started her own cooking blog...go check it out! Notes From The Table), and she prepared a Mexican feast for us! She recently got Rick Bayless' book on Mexican cooking (which I'm adding to my hold list at the library as soon as I get done with this post) and made a whole grilled chicken from that cookbook, some awesome potatoes, and amazing pinto beans. Oh man...we were rolling ourselves to the couch after we were done! So when she was telling me earlier in the week what she was going to make, I first said I'd make Tres Leches Cake because it was so super yummy. Then I remembered this recipe and how Jen and I had both wanted to try it since we read it. So it was decided.

Pioneer Woman's Apple Dumplings
2 Granny Smith apples
2 cans crescent rolls
2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoons vanilla
cinnamon
1 small can Mountain Dew

Peel and core apples. Cut apples into 8 slices each. Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll. Place in a 9 x 13 buttered pan. Melt butter, then add sugar and barely stir. Add vanilla, stir, and pour over apples. Pour Mountain Dew around the edges of the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Serve with ice cream, and spoon some of the sweet sauces from the pan over the top.

*****

If you're thinking, "Eh, that sounds okay, go check out the recipe posted on PW's website because she has pictures on hers. And let me just tell you...unless you're diabetic or on a serious weight loss program, these aren't for you. Everyone else should try them (MOMS Club ladies, I'll try to bring these to the next event to which we take food so y'all can try them). Lordy mama, this was one of the best desserts I have ever had!! Jen and I sampled a small bite of the sauce when we got over to her house and were tempted to eat the whole pan right there on the spot. But, we waited. We didn't let the kids have any because it was getting late. The adults each had two dumplings, and I had made whipped cream instead of using ice cream (don't you love homemade whipped cream?! It tastes so much better than anything you can buy pre-made). Jen thought they were better than sex...I may be inclined to agree with her. There were eight dumplings left, they kept four, and we brought home three (the husband had a third one while we were still there). Then he and Jen's husband went out...I told him the three might not be here in the morning. Those darn apple dumpling fairies coming through our house in the middle of the night and all. ;)

All this talk about them makes me want one more. Seriously, this was one of the best desserts I think I have ever had.

Stuffed Pork Chops

I was going to post this earlier today, but it was something I was creating as I went, so that wasn't going to work. I had this idea for pork chops a couple weeks ago but kept pushing it back on the menu. Plus I wanted to come up with a sauce and wasn't tasting anything in my head that went with it. Tasting in my head? You know what I mean.

So I knew the basics of what I wanted to do but looked for a recipe anyway. I found one on the Whole Foods website (who knew they had recipes on there?! Guess what I'm doing during nap time tomorrow!!) and one with a sauce kind of like what I was looking for from a Google search (here it is). The second one I liked the idea of the sauce, not the actual recipe. The Whole Foods recipe was pretty close to what I wanted to do.

Darn...I meant to write down what I was doing as I did it. I think I remember all of it.

Stuffed Pork Chops
1 box cornbread Stove Top
2 handfuls Craisins
2 handfuls pecans
4 pork chops
3/4 cup apple juice
2 Tbsp maple syrup
2 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp cornstarch

Prepare Stove Top according to package directions. Chop pecans using food processor or food chopper. Add Craisins and pecans to Stove Top and mix. Make a pocket in each pork chop (similar to how I did the chicken in this recipe) and stuff with Stove Top mixture. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Spray the pork chops with canola oil and season to taste with salt and pepper. In a medium size skillet, sauté each pork chop for 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove each pork chop and place in a sheet pan. Cook the pork chops in the oven for approximately 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the apple juice, syrup, mustard, and butter. Whisk together until almost boiling. Add in corn starch, whisk, and heat until sauce is thickened. Spoon sauce over pork chops.

*****

I hate having to write out my own recipes. I hope it makes sense. The Stove Top was kind of bland, which I probably should have expected. I was originally going to add apples to it but only had Gala, and I thought they'd be too sweet for this. I also meant to use chicken stock instead of water, like in the Whole Foods recipe. I thought after I had stuffed the pork chops some flat leaf parsley would have added some fresh flavor. I wanted to add some sage but didn't have any. Note to self...add sage to grocery list.

So...I'm ridiculously pleased with myself for the sauce. It was AWESOME. I could have eaten the whole saucepan of it and skipped using it on the pork chops. The pork chops were really good too. I assume part of the goodness was the awesome sauce. Did I mention how awesome it was? It was awesome...in case I hadn't made that clear. ;)

All in all, this was a really good dinner. We had the leftover Stove Top on the side along with Color Glazed Carrots. I would definitely make this again!!

(BTW, the husband said he gives it four thumbs up...which I guess is good.)