Apple Dump Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla paste
• 1/2 pound (about 3) Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4” dice
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Directions:

Lightly grease a 9x13 pan and set aside.  [I used Pam's baking spray with great results.]

In a large bowl, stir by hand the oil, melted butter, eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Stir in the apple and pecans. Add the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon to the bowl, and then stir until combined.

Please note that this is a very thick batter, in fact it is more like a cookie batter. And while it may seem like it is unable to contain the apples, don’t worry, it will be fine.

Spoon the batter into the baking pan, patting down the top so it is even. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the top is lightly browned and an inserted knife comes out clean.

Myrtle's Note:  This is a true Texas recipe in that I grew up making it for my neighbors at the behest of my mother, leaving out the cup of chopped pecans.  My recipe was entitled "Apple Dump Cake" and was lost years ago.  I have been searching for eons and when I spotted this "Apple Cake" recipe, I recognized it immediately!  It is a weird cake in that the bottom is sort of soft, like a strudel and the top is crispy and chewy like a brownie.  But more crispy and more chewy and so unlike anything you have tasted, really.  It is a dump cake because you just dump the ingredients into a bowl and then the batter into a pan.  Try not to gulp at the cup of cooking oil.  Trust me, this is a hugely popular cake.


Yield: 16 servings 

Source:  http://www.homesicktexan.com/2015/10/apple-cake.html

Apple Cider Donut Cake

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of unsalted butter, softened
• 2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
• 1 1/2 cups apple cider
• 1/2 cup milk, at room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract

For the Cider Glaze:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/8 cup water
• 1/8 cup hard cider

For the Cinnamon Sugar Coating:

• 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


Directions:

Spray a bundt pan with Pam's baking spray and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, bring chopped apples and cider to boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until apples are fork tender. Remove pan from heat, cool for a few minutes, then pulse in a food processor or blender until pureed. Measure out 1 cup apple mixture and stir the milk into it. Set the apple/milk mixture aside for later.  NOTE:  You will have more than a cup of the apple mixture leftover.  You can either try to halve this part of the recipe or freeze the leftovers for the next time you make the cake.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, sugar, and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy.  It will still be granular. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until incorporated. Add the oil and mix well. 

Add the flour mixture and apple/milk mixture alternatively in three additions, scraping the bowl as needed and mixing after each addition. Add the vanilla and beat once more, just to combine.

Scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Place the cake in its pan on a cooling rack for ten minutes before removing the cake itself to a cooling rack for at least 30 minutes.

While the cake is baking, combine sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small bowl and set aside for later.  NOTE:  There will be leftovers from this.  You can either try to halve this part of the recipe or use the leftovers for another cake or perhaps cinnamon toast!

While cake is cooling, prepare Cider Glaze. Melt butter, sugar and water over medium high heat. Bring mixture to a boil and let boil for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately add the cider, stirring to combine.

Place baking sheet under wire rack. Using a pastry brush or marinate brush, cover cake with glaze. Do this in several passes, letting one application of glaze sink in and then going back over the cake with another and another until the cake is soaked with glaze.

Then, sprinkle the warm, glazed cake with cinnamon sugar, using fingers to rub it onto the sides of the cake.


Myrtle's Note:  This recipe has leftover ingredients!!  I found that odd and a bit frustrating and so noted that above.  The recipe is adapted from another recipe and changed to coconut oil. I changed that right back.  ICK!  The cake is rather moist and tasty, so it is definitely worth the bake, however it leaves you with a disaster zone of a kitchen!

Yield:  12 wedges

Source:  https://leaandjay.wordpress.com/2014/11/07/apple-cider-donut-cake/

Cinnamon Apple Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup apple, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/3 butter, melted
• 1 egg, slightly beaten

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.


Directions:

Grease or line muffin cups and set tin aside.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and cinnamon in medium bowl.  Add milk, butter, and egg.  Stir until flour is moistened.  Fold in apples.

Spoon batter evenly into prepared muffin pan.  Bake 23-28 minutes or until lightly brown.  Cool 5-10 minutes before removing from the pan.  If desired, brush with browned butter and sprinkle a bit of cinnamon sugar on top.


Myrtle's Note:  I added nutmeg, because it just belonged in there.  I also really like having a bit of something on top, so I browned some butter for that slightly nutty taste and then sprinkled a bit of cinnamon sugar ... because I always have an old spice jar of that mix ready and waiting my next yearning for cinnamon toast.

Yield:  12 Muffins


Source:  Land O'Lakes Baking and More (2010)

Baked Apple Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 large chicken breast
• 1 large Granny Smith apple
• 1 pat butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon real maple syrup
• Sea salt
• McCormack® Peppercorn Medley

Preheat oven to 350 degrees


Directions:

Peel and cube one Granny Smith Apple.  Whisk together olive oil, vinegar, and syrup. Place chicken breast in individual French Oval baking dish.  Salt and pepper the top and then brush with mixture.  Flip and repeat.

Place the apple pieces around the side and over the top of the chicken.  Cut the pat of butter into tiny pieces and disperse in-between the apple pieces along the top of the chicken.  Brush with remaining mixture.  Bake for 45 minutes.

Myrtle's Note:  I really like baking in the individual French Ovals.  You can cook and serve in them.  Plus, when you serve the dish in them, all the juices/sauce stays with the dish.  In this case, the chicken was incredibly moist.  Even so, I cut it up into bits so the bits could sit soaking up the sauce as I ate my way through it.