Apple Cake: Humble in appearance but stunning in flavor.

Everyone has their version of apple cake and this is mine. It’s taken years to perfect and lots of taste testing and I think I’ve finally nailed it. It’s perfectly crunchy on top and soft in the middle and the apples are so tender and juicy. If you love an old fashioned molasses cookie then you will love this cake. It’s not overly sweet and has a healthy dose of cinnamon. It’s really moist and flavorful and can be enjoyed for breakfast, tea, snack, or dessert. The key is to bake the apples in advance for about 15 minutes so they start to soften up and release their juices. I add 2 tbsp of molasses to the batter for a little extra moisture and flavor and it gives the cake its beautiful dark color. I think shortening keeps the cake fluffy but adding the butter streusel topping permeates throughout so you get multiple textures and flavors. This is an old fashioned cake that is never going out of style.

What you need:

• 1 cup brown sugar

• ¼ cup white sugar

• ½ cup shortening

• 2 eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 tbsp molasses

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• ½ teaspoon baking soda

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• ½ cup evaporated milk

• 2 cups apple - peeled, cored, and chopped (2-3 apples)

Streusel Topping: 1/4 cup cold salted butter , 1/2 cup of all purpose flour, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon (blend together with a fork or pastry cutter until forms small pebbles...like nerds candy).

To begin, heat oven to 350 and place apple pieces on a sheet pan and bake for about 15 minutes or until they are beginning to soften. While they are baking mix together all the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Cream together shortening and sugar. Next add in your eggs one at a time followed by the vanilla extract and molasses. Add the dry ingredients slowly to the shortening mixture and scrape down the sides. Blend in the evaporated milk. Remove the apples from the oven and place on bottom of greased baking pan (I like to use the paper from the shortening and use any leftovers to grease the pan). Let those cool slightly while making your streusel.

When the streusel is ready pour your batter over the top of the apples and sprinkle streusel evenly on the top. Bake at 350 for about 35-45 minutes, cooking time is depending on what type of dish you use. It is finished when a toothpick can be inserted and come out clean. I’d start checking around 35 minutes because you don’t want to over cook it.

*** I have started making this cake in a pan lined with parchment paper so that I can remove it for easier slicing. The apples can be baked in the same dish as long as you cool them for a few minutes before adding the batter. Saves a ton of time on cleanup.

Vanilla Cupcakes (baked in ice cream cones)

I volunteered to bake cupcakes for my daughter’s class because it gave me a great excuse to try out a new recipe. Plus, I love baking for kids....they always appreciate it! When I was a kid my Mom used to use ice cream cones as the vessel for cupcakes and I always thought it was so neat. I used to love being able to eat the whole thing and now that I’m a Mom I appreciate how much less messy it is for children to eat this way.

Here’s my basic vanilla cake recipe. I think evaporated milk gives the cake a nice sweet and tangy flavor. This is perfectly fluffy and spongy but not too crumbly so it’s easy to ice. You can make about 16 ice cream cone cupcakes with this recipe.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 

1/4 teaspoon fine salt 

3 large eggs, at room temperature 

2/3 cup sugar 

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 

1/2 cup evaporated milk 

16 ice cream cake cones

frosting and decor of choice

Preheat oven to 350 and poke a small pin hole in the bottom of each ice cream cone using a skewer or toothpick (this will allow steam to escape the bottom so they don’t get soggy). The cake cones will stand up nicely in a mini muffin tin.

To make the batter begin by mixing first 3 ingredients in a bowl. In a separate mixing bowl beat the sugar and eggs until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Slowly incorporate the melted butter (make sure the butter is luke warm and not hot to the touch before adding). Now include the vanilla extract and add the flour mixture a little bit at a time. When all of the flour has been mixed in scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula and mix in the evaporated milk until it has just been mixed. Be sure not to over mix but just incorporate everything.

Fill the cones 3/4 full and bake about 18-25 minutes or until the batter has risen to the top of the cones and baked through. You should be able to insert a toothpick and pull it out clean or press gently on the top and your finger not sink into it.

Allow the cakes to cool completely before icing with your favorite buttercream icing.

My go to icing recipe is: 3 cups powdered sugar, 1/2 cup of salted butter, 1 tsp vanilla, and 1 tbsp of milk beaten together with an electric mixer. Beat together all ingredients until smooth.

Hot Honey Salmon

I went down to visit my parents and my sister at her farm for the past week. I let others do the cooking and we ordered lots of yummy takeout. It was a great time but its always good to be home. J stayed behind to work and care for the animals so I wanted to make him a really good dinner last night but also didn’t want to spend a whole lot of time cooking. Yesterday while hurriedly eating lunch I stirred together some honey and sriracha to dip (the kids’) leftover chicken fingers into and thought it would taste really good drizzled over salmon. I added some orange zest and juice to the mix and yes, I was right. This is really good drizzled over salmon.

What you need:

1 lb of salmon ( I don’t recommend sockeye for this recipe but mostly any other kind will do)

Honey

Orange Zest, orange juice

Sriracha Sauce

Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and pat salmon dry with a paper towel. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the top of the salmon. I used a 2:1 ratio of honey to sriracha but use less sriracha if you don’t like it too spicy. Use approximately the same amount of freshly squeezed orange juice as honey (for me this was 1/2 of an orange and 1/2 of the orange zest). Combine the orange juice and zest with the honey and sriracha (for this recipe I used 2 tbsp honey and 1 tbsp sriracha). This recipe is easy to double or triple depending on how much fish you are cooking. Stir together the sauce and drizzle over top of the fish. I like to bake on a parchment paper lined baking sheet so the skin doesn’t stick to the pan. Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes or until the fish is just flaking apart when gently pressed with a fork. Obviously, a bigger piece of fish may take a minute or two longer but keep an eye on it because dry salmon just isn’t as good.

I served this salmon with a really easy salad fall salad of mixed greens, dried cranberries, mandarin oranges, sliced beets, apples, roasted almonds, and goat cheese. I made a quick dressing using the other half of the freshly squeezed orange juice, 1 tsp honey, 1 tbsp canola oil, 1 tbsp rice vinegar, 1/2 tsp of sriracha, and 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper. I just mixed the dressing up in the same bowl that I had mixed the sauce for the salmon. It was zesty and light. This is definitely going in the favorite weeknight meals category, the whole meal came together in about 15 minutes.