FAIL: Spiced Apple Bundt Cake

Spiced Apple Bundt Cake

Adapted from http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Apple-Bundt-Cake-102692, Bon Appétit  | December 1999

by Amanda Denton, Barre, VT

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup almond meal

3 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 pinch each of nutmeg, ground cloves, and ground ginger

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup butter, melted

¼ cup milk

2 ½ cups sugar (maybe I only added 2 cups…)

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

4 medium apples, peeled and cut into 1/3” pieces

5 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Brown sugar

Butter

Apple slices

Sea salt honey caramel sauce or powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan. Whisk together the flour, almond meal, baking powder, salt, and spices in a medium bowl. Combine the eggs, sugar, melted butter, milk, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Add the dry mixture to the liquid mixture and stir to combine.

Toss the apples pieces with the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Fold the apples into the cake batter.

Mix some brown sugar with cold butter and sprinkle mixture onto the bottom of the Bundt pan. Arrange the apples slices on the bottom of the pan so that they overlap each other slightly. Pour cake batter into the pan and bake for roughly 1 hour. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Loosen cake and turn out onto rack. Cool for at least 45 minutes. Drizzle salted caramel sauce over the cake or dust the cake with powdered sugar. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.  

Banana Saffron Muffins

Banana Saffron Muffins
http://www.sugarlaws.com/banana-saffron-muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tbsp heavy cream
1/4 tsp saffron threads, chopped or crushed with a knife
1 egg
2 tbsp butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line six muffin cups with papers. In a large bowl, mix together bananas, sugar, egg, cream, lemon juice, crushed saffron and melted butter. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

Bake 18 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Makes 6-8 muffins.

Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti

Recipe courtesy of Gourmet Magazine

Prep Time: 20 min

Cook Time: 50 min

Level: Easy

Serves: 30 biscotti

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

¾ stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup blanched hazelnuts, coarsely chopped

¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and butter and flour a large baking sheet.
In a bowl whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl with an electric mixer beat together butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat until combined well. Stir in flour mixture to form a stiff dough. Stir in hazelnuts and chocolate chips.

On a prepared baking sheet with floured hands from dough into two slightly flattened logs, each 12 inches long and 2 inches wide, and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Bake logs 35 minutes, or until slightly firm to the touch. Cool biscotti on baking sheet 5 minutes.

On a cutting board cut biscotti diagonally into ¾-inch slices. Arrange biscotti, cut sides down, on baking sheet and bake until crisp, about 10 minutes. Cool biscotti on a rack Biscotti keep in airtight containers one week or frozen up to one month.