A week in the kitchen with apples, sugar, cinnamon and butter…one dish leads to another…

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

The inspiration for the recipes in this post came from my friend, John, who handed me a bag full of apples from the tree in his yard. There must have been 20 pounds of apples in the bag. First thing I did was make an apple crisp since John’s birthday was coming up (besides he told me he’d trade freshly dug clams from his waterfront property for a homemade apple crisp – a no brainer for me!).

Then after I made the Apple Crisp for John, I wasn’t able to taste it (I should have made another small crisp for myself but didn’t) so I decided to make Applesauce. I was determined to use all of these fresh apples. So now the apples just keep on giving. I though I’d make a coffee cake with an applesauce streusel layer, thus a similar Drakes Coffee Cake (my mother’s recipe) for our little Thanksgiving.  After making the coffee cake and having leftovers (trying to avoid eating EVERYTHING I make), we were having friends over for dinner the next night so I decided to use the cake in a Banana’s Foster Trifle with Vanilla Rum.

The first order of business was to make a big batch of my favorite recipe for the crisp topping. This is a versatile recipe that can be used to make fruit crumb bars, crumb cake or fruit crisps. So I make a double batch and freeze it. I used to make this recipe at the inn and serve it for a fruit course on a savory egg dish morning.

CRISP TOPPING (SINGLE BATCH) INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups thick cut oats (not instant)

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

dash of vanilla

1 1/2 sticks of butter, softened

Blend all ingredients on low speed with a paddle attachment on the stand mixer until crumbly.

THE APPLES

8 apples, peeled (I left half unpeeled) and cut into small chunks – a mix of a tart and sweet would be ideal (green and red)

a big squeeze of a lemon half

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Mix well and pour into baking dish. Cover with crisp topping and bake at 350 for about 50 minutes.

APPLESAUCE

Ok I must admit, I don’t use a recipe for applesauce. I just fill a large stockpot full of peeled apple chunks, toss in a cup or two of water, a cup or two of brown sugar, the juice of half a lemon, some lemon zest and cinnamon. But not ground cinnamon, cinnamon sticks – this keeps the applesauce from looking muddy (although it will still end up a shade of brown). My friend Carol uses red apples and leaves the skin on, creating this beautiful shade of light pink applesauce. When I get her recipe I will be certain to make it, photograph it and blog it!

I cook the apples, covered, on a medium flame stirring occasionally, until the apples are very tender. Then I remove the cinnamon sticks and puree with a hand held stick blender (be sure to let it cool a bit before this step). If you need to add some tartness, squeeze in more fresh lemon juice.

COFFEE CAKE

My mother has been making this coffee cake for years. It’s very similar to a pound cake because it’s dense. It has a streusel layer in the center and is topped with a cinnamon nut mixture. She makes it in a beautiful, decorative bundt pan and it comes out perfect every time. For some reason, mine does not. Mine sticks in the sharp crevices so I decided to make mine with a twist. I used applesauce in my streusel layer and topped it with a crumb topping. And I baked it in a square baking dish, no crevice issues.

Cream:

1 cup sour cream

2 eggs 1 cup softened butter

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Grease deep 8 or 9″ baking dish and layer half of batter. Then add a layer of applesauce, top with a mixture of finely chopped pecans/walnuts tossed with ground cinnamon, then top with remaining batter. Cover the top with the crisp topping and bake at 350 for about 50 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Serve warm with ice cream or room temperature. Great for breakfast or dessert!

BANANAS FOSTER TRIFLE

This is one of the easiest desserts you can ever throw together in very little time. And that’s what I faced the day I needed to make it. I showed property to an aspiring innkeeper that day at 10am. We didn’t finish up until 2pm. I ran to the grocery store to figure out what I would make for dinner for friends coming over that night. I thought I would use my leftover coffee cake to make this trifle. You can even use store bought cake. You can throw this together in no time.

You will need:

coffee cake leftovers (use just the cake and set aside the crumb topping)

3 large ripe bananas

ground cinnamon

vanilla pudding (you can make instant – 2 boxes to which you just add cold milk)

whipped cream (you can use Cool Whip if you don’t want to make your own)

vanilla flavored rum

banana liquor

caramel sauce (I buy mine from DaVinci Gourmet)

To assemble:

In a large glass bowl (a classic Trifle bowl looks like a large scale, tall, footed sorbet dish) layer pieces of coffee cake. Mix together a cup of the vanilla rum and a cup of banana liquor.  Pour some of the liquor mixture over the cake. Spread half of the pudding, then add a layer of whipped cream, spread a layer of sliced bananas, sprinkle with cinnamon, drizzle with caramel sauce. Repeat the layers. The top should be covered with whipped cream and then using the reserved crumb topping – crumble the topping over the top of the whipped cream, and drizzle the caramel sauce. Chill until ready to serve. This could easily serve 8-10 people.