Apple Nut Cake

I was craving an apple fritter on a lovely autumn Sunday and couldn't bring myself to drive 20 minutes away to my favorite apple orchard (http://www.pattersonfarm.com/) when I knew I had all the ingredients and talent to make an apple cake at home.

I know this sounds crazy, but when I was 8 years old I won Best in Show in a baking contest (against adults!) with an apple nut cake. Hoping to recreate this awesome cake, I ransacked my kitchen (which admittedly still has a few boxes from moving 6 months ago) and could not for the life of me find my old award-winning recipe.

A little research found a similar recipe in my Southern Living Cookbook. Adapted to be very slightly healthier, this recipe was delicious and definitely put me in the mood for cooler weather and colorful leaves. It has quickly become a favorite in my house and I have already been asked to make it again.

Ingredients

½ cup (one stick) butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 t vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 t baking soda
½ t salt
2 t cinnamon
½ t nutmeg
4 apples*
1 cup walnuts, chopped

*A note on choosing apples for baking: I like to use a 50-50 mix of green Granny Smith apples and tart red apples. For this recipe I used Fuji as my red apples, but Gala, Pink Lady, Melrose, and Jonagold all have a similar tart flavor. NEVER use Red Delicious apples for baking; they do not have enough flavor and your baked goods will be terribly boring.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Peel and cut up four apples. This should give you about four cups of apple pieces.

Stir together butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Sift together both types of flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg until well blended. Slowly add dry ingredients to above wet ingredients, stirring until mixed well. Fold in apples and walnuts. The resulting mixture will be VERY thick, resembling cookie dough.

Spread dough into a non-stick or greased glass 13 x 9 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow cake to cool on a wire rack.

This cake is best served warm, and I swear the taste got even better the next day as the moisture from the apples permeated the cake.

References:

"Chunky Apple Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting." Southern Living Cookbook. Birmingham, Alabama: Oxmoor House, 2006. 154.

http://www.food.com/recipe/apple-nut-cake-60893

Apple-Fennel Salad

I'm happy to be blogging again! I lost my camera charger for about a month and my camera was getting pretty old and beat up anyhow, so I got a snazzy new camera for my birthday this past week. I can finally take decent pictures of my food! The new camera is fancy and will take some learning, but I am very excited to have it.

Today's recipe is a healthier take on the Waldorf salad we grew up with - apples, walnuts, grapes, and I recently found out that MAYONNAISE is the glue that holds it all together.

Now that I'm all grown up (and informed), I just can't bring myself to slather a bunch of perfectly good fruit with mayo. With some help from my brother, I came up with this healthy and delicious recipe as a replacement.

Ingredients:

2 apples (not red delicious - something flavorful, like Fuji or even green apples)
1 large bulb fennel (about the size of 1.5 apples)
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 cup green grapes
1 cup plain Greek yogurt

Chop apples and the white part of the fennel into large pieces. I advise if you've never had fennel, try a bite before you chop everything else up, in case you really don't like it. If you are even close to liking it, I guarantee it will taste better once it's mixed with everything else. Slice grapes into halves or quarters.

Add all ingredients to a large bowl and mix well. Serve cold and keep any leftovers in the refrigerator. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Peanut Butter Dip

I have a serious addiction to peanut butter. Of course, it couldn't be the healthy peanut butter; no, I love that processed, sugary, creamy goodness of Skippy or Jif peanut butter.

In the past, I have been known to take a spoon to the peanut butter and demolish half a jar in one sitting. With the high fat content in peanut butter, this was a horrible habit that needed to stop. I know it's the "good fat," but when you eat as much as I like to, it negates the goodness.

This recipe has allowed me to reintroduce peanut butter into my diet in a healthier way. Eaten with apples, I have found it to be a quick and easy snack for those days when I get home from work late at night and need a fast meal before bed. 

Ingredients:

3 T fat-free plain Greek yogurt

3 T peanut butter

1 t cinnamon

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl until uniform. This makes enough dip to eat one sliced apple. For larger amounts, just keep the yogurt-to-peanut butter ratio at 50/50 and add cinnamon to taste. The addition of fat-free Greek yogurt adds protein and volume, tricking your brain into thinking you are pigging out on peanut butter when you're actually eating something somewhat healthy.

Pretty!

The original recipe called for more yogurt and added honey as a sweetener, but I found the peanut butter flavor that I love so much was lost in that version. See the link below if you are interested in the sweeter version.

References:

http://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/food/galleries/photo/-/8858091/low-calorie-treats-for-the-sweet-tooth/8858093/