Apple Snacking Spice Cake

Confession: It's January 12th and our Christmas tree and lights are still up. We are typically not this delinquent when it comes to dismantling our Christmas decorations. I swear! I will shake my head in dismay if I see a Christmas tree out on someone's curb any day past January 2nd. Yeah, yeah. Glass houses and stones - or however that saying goes. So in an effort to not be a total slacker, I've begun by gathering up all the holiday cards for a quick afternoon craft activity with the boys.


Around this time of year, we find ourselves staring at the pile of holiday and photo cards from friends and family near and far, wondering what to do with them. I feel guilty throwing away pictures of our friends' kids and/or pets.  So for the past few years we've trimmed and saved photo cards and file them away in a photo album, only to be taken this time the following year to marvel at how big everyone is getting.


With the holiday cards, I got the boys to work and had them make gift tags for next year's gifts. Got the idea from good 'ol Martha of course. Other ideas include ornaments, gift bags and garland to name a few. The kids love any craft involving sharp tools (yay). And it resulted in a glorious 20-minutes of peace and quiet as they snipped away, turning old Christmas cards into funky-shaped gift tags.

The afternoon of upcycling (my new favorite word - thanks Etsy!) worked up an appetite. Can I introduce you to the a tasty, oh-so-delicious hunger buster courtesy of Joanne Chang? The boys didn't even complain about the good-for-you ingredients in this Apple Spice Cake. It is so good.


Apple Snacking Spice Cake
Adapted from Joanne Chang's Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cake flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cups (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter (at room temp)
• 2 eggs
• 4 cups peeled, cored, and chopped green apples
• 3/4 cup raisins
• 1 cup walnut pieces, toasted
• Confectioners' sugar for dusting

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 10-inch round cake pan
2. Sift together the flour, cake flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add sugar and butter to the flour mixture and beat on medium speed for 1 minute with paddle attachment (stopping the mixer a few times to scrape the bowl to make sure butter is mixed in). Add eggs and mix on low for 10-15 seconds. Then turn mixer to medium-high and beat for one minute until batter is light and fluffy.
3. Fold in apples, raisins and walnuts. Note: the batter will be stiff and thick and it will look like there is not enough batter. This is what it is supposed to look like. Scrape all the batter into prepared pan and spread it evenly to fill the pan.
4. Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until cake feels firm and top is golden brown. Let cake cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.
5. Invert the cake onto a serving plate, then invert again so it's right-side up. Dust with confectioners' sugar if desired.

The Good: Easy to prepare. Loads of fresh apples and raisins. Boys could not get enough.

The Bad: None!

Grade: A. Have made this several times now. Great for breakfast, snack or dessert (or lunch and dinner too if you're like me).

This week was Teacher Appreciation Week (I know, shouldn't every week be teacher appreciation week?). Parents of my son's elementary school were asked to show their gratitude by bringing in some food for a teacher luncheon. Kindergarten was in charge of dessert. Sigh. Couldn't Kindergarten be in charge of bringing in a killer bouillabaisse or tagine? That I could do. Bake? Not so much.

As luck would have it, I was the lucky recipient of these to try:


From the makers of dessert decorating icons Betty Crocker and Cake Mate, Signature Brands recently launched a new line of easy-squeeze decorating icing. There is Oreo Ultimate Icing made with real Oreos and S'mores Dessert Icing made with genuine Hershey's cocoa. The squeezable pouch is supposed to make it easy for anyone (even me) to pipe icing on a treat.

So I decided to bake chocolate cupcakes from scratch topped with these bad boys for my son's teachers. I had my boys help bake the cupcake using the chocolate cupcake recipe from our Flour cookbook. Thanks to Joanne Chang's easy-to-follow recipes, it was surprisingly fun and not too difficult. The boys and I could not help ourselves from having little tastes of the batter off the whisk. God was it good.


Next I had my Kindergartner help frost the cupcakes. He had no problems with the squeezable pouch (or eating straight icing for that matter).


The verdict? They were pretty tasty. I kept on thinking I was eating the creme filling of an Oreo. And who can deny that stuff is good?

No. They don't come close to a butter cream frosting from scratch from the likes of Mix Bakery or Party Favors. But if you're short on time or lack the baking chops like me, these are convenient and the kids love them.

>>Now for the fun part: my very first GIVEAWAY! Signature Brands is offering one lucky umommy reader a chance to win this:

Included in this gift pack: ingredients and recipe cards to make S'mores Whoopie Pies and OREO Brownie Bites, cupcake liners, frosting tips, a wooden spoon and a spatula.

To enter, leave a comment on what you would make with this icing by Friday, May 13th at 11:59pm EST. A winner will be selected at random by Random.org. Good luck!

Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I was given Signature Brand Icing in exchange for sharing information with my readers. Opinions are my own.

As I inch closer to 40, I'm finding myself mourning the loss of my younger-self. Ah, to be carefree and energized with the appetite and metabolism of a 24-year-old again. Gone are the days of binging on pastries and cocktails only to be burned off by a couple of days' worth of exercise. I've become painfully aware of the old adage "a second on your lips, forever on your hips." Sigh.

So I'm turning over a new leaf. No more egg sandwiches and bowl after bowl of cereal. I need to find a healthier alternative that I know my whole family would still enjoy. There had to be something healthy (kind of) and certainly scrumptious in my Flour cookbook, right?

I realize Granola and Good Morning Muffins won't be part of your next detox regime. But they are pretty healthy and damn delicious.


Mom's Granola
Adapted from Joanne Chang's Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery and Cafe

INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups wheat germ
1/2 cup shredded coconut
3 tablespoons sesame seeds
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup sliced almonds
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup vanilla extract
2 teaspoons vanilla exract
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup raisins

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper

2. In a large bowl, combine oats, wheat germ, coconut, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, almonds, cinnamon, and salt and mix well. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, honey and vanilla. Pour wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly until the dry ingredients are evenly coated.

3. Pour mixture onto prepared baking sheet and spread in an even layer. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown. Stir the granola with a spatula several times during the baking to ensure even browning. Let cool completely, then add the cranberries and raisins and mix to distribute them evenly.


The Good: Super easy to whip up. Sprinkle on top of some yogurt and you got yourself a great breakfast.

The Bad: If you lose the revised instruction (like I did), the original recipe says to bake for 45-50 minutes. DON'T. I ended up burning some of the granola :(

Grade: B. If I hadn't slightly burned them, I think these would be extraordinary.

Good Morning Muffins
Adapted from Joanne Chang's Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery and Cafe
(makes 12 muffins)

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup wheat bran
1/2 cup hot water
1 small zucchini, grated (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 chopped walnuts
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped (about 1 cup)
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
3 eggs
3/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS
1. preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners (or coat with nonstick cooking spray or butter)

2. In a medium bowl, stir together the wheat bran and hot water until bran is completely moistened. Add the zucchini, raisins, walnuts, coconut and apple and stir until well mixed.

3. Using a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment, beat together the sugar and eggs on medium speed for 3-4 minutes, or until the mixture thickens and lightens. On low speed, slowly drizzle in the oil and then the vanilla (about one minute). When the oil and the vanilla are incorporated, remove the bowl from the mixer stand.

4. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, oats, baking powder, salt and cinnamon until well mixed. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and fold carefully just until the dry and wet ingredients are well combined. Then add the bran mixture and fold again just until well combined. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, dividing it evenly and filling the cups to the rim.

5. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the muffins are lightly browned on top and spring back when pressed in the middle with a finger tip. Let cool in pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes.

The Good: Moist and flavorful. My youngest could not get enough. Served them over Easter and they were a hit.

The Bad: Because of all the good-for-you ingredients, pretty lengthy ingredient list!


Grade: A. Makes any morning a good morning!

marveling at vanilla beans (first for both of us)

As I've mentioned on this blog, I am not much of a baker. Consequently, desserts around here are usually store-bought. Sure, I'll make the occasional oatmeal raisin cookie, muffins or quick bread. The fact that my boys know exactly what to do with the immersion blender but will look at our stand mixer as some scary kitchen appliance says something about my baking skills.

So as a challenge to myself, I bought myself the Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe cookbook by Joanne Chang. I thought best to ease into what I would consider the master class of baking cookbooks with a no-bake recipe: Brown Butter-Crispy Rice Treats. This would be a fun and easy treat to make with my oldest. And the stand mixer would take a back seat to our stovetop.

split vanilla bean, using the tip of a knife to scrape beans into melted butter

browning butter

mixing rice cereal with 2 sticks of butter and 2 bags of marshmallows

possibly the best rice crispy treats in the world

• The Good: Easy to make with only a few ingredients

• The Bad: You have to be careful not to burn the butter when browning. Vanilla beans can be pricey.

• Grade: A+. My childhood memories of this classic treat comes nowhere close to this rendition.

Last weekend, I brought the boys to the Boston Children's Museum, my enthusiasm fueled by what was waiting for me at Flour Bakery & Cafe around the corner. Even after 45 tortuous minutes in the ball room followed by another 45 minutes in the construction zone room, I was happy - even with the escalating sounds of screaming kids all around me. Flour is one of my favorite places, possibly in the whole world. I think largely thanks to Joanne Chang's to-die-for sticky buns.

After our visit to the Museum, we headed over to Flour to pick up some sandwiches (and dessert of course) to bring back home for lunch. Given Flour's location, it makes sense to offer a kids' menu. And sure enough, you will find grilled cheese and PB&J. I'm sure these are made with top quality ingredients, but I just can't get myself to order PB&J (especially for $4.50) when I can make that at home in my sleep.

So what do I do? I do what a lot of parents do - withhold information. I don't even bother asking my son what he wanted. I order the curried tuna sandwich with raisins, apples and carrots on artisan bread. He was going to try it and and hopefully like it as much as I do. I figured if he hated it, then I can make my  version of PB&J (TJ's natural peanut butter and raspberry preserves on multi-grain) since we'd already be home.

Sure enough, he loved it. Maybe he was pretending to like it so he could have a sticky bun for dessert. I'm just glad he tried it, ate it, and didn't complain once. We both celebrated with some sticky buns.