Feeding Teenagers--or--Easy Peasy Apple Coffee Cake

I just put coffee in the title of the cake because making it an official coffee cake gives me a good excuse to have a cup of coffee when eating it. And we are feeding lots of teenagers these days--two Bible Study groups on Thursday night and the worship band last night--so I was trying to think of a fast, easy, somewhat healthy snack cake that I could make. I made three of these cakes on Thursday and wanted to try something new on Friday so adapted this apple muffin recipe to a cake. 15 minutes from inspiration to oven and the apples go into the blender, peel and all. Couldn't be easier!

Blender Apple Coffee Cake

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup milk
2 eggs
2/3 cup canola oil
2 cups brown sugar
5 small-medium red apples (though I've used yellow and green)
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans

1. Mix flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl.
2. Blend in blender: apples (cored and cut into eighths), milk, oil, eggs, sugar, and nuts. These ingredients just about max out my Bosch blender so if you have a small bender you might want to blend in two batches. A food processor may work as well, though I haven't tried it.
3. Pour into a large (10''X13''), greased, baking dish/pan.
Optional but desirable~ sprinkle with crumb topping (recipe below)
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (medium oven) for about 30 minutes.

Nice served with a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream.

Crumb Topping:

1/2 cup brown sugar (we like dark)
1 cup flour
1/4 pound butter, chilled
chopped pecans or walnuts

In a bowl, mix sugar and flour until blended. Cut the chilled butter into smaller pieces and rub the butter into the flour mixture with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add finely chopped pecans or walnuts to taste. If you have leftover crumb topping, it stores well in the freezer and makes a nice topping for muffins.

Apricot-Ginger Scones

Not terribly exciting, but I thought a few people might find a recipe for Apricot-Ginger Scones interesting. Apparently not 16 year old males. Tonight, Active Son suggested I post something 'interesting' on my blog, something not-about-food. Suggestions? Oh, maybe something like Active Son's surge of motivation to run a 21K (half marathon) in December and the ensuing flurry of running activity which Active Son has been enjoying. Maybe. But first a recipe for Apricot Ginger Scones. It is just that time of year that I am enjoying a surge of baking energy and this is a recipe I'd been wanting to try for awhile now. In fact it was clipped from a Sunset magazine (date?) years ago and stored in a Recipes I Really Want To Try Someday file. Great recipe, delicious scones. The five of us (not six) polished them off in about half an hour--except for the one I spirited away to the back of the kitchen cabinet so that I could enjoy it later.

Apricot-Ginger Scones

3 1/4 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon each baking soda and salt
3/4 cup of butter cut into small pieces
3/4 cup diced dried apricots
1/3 cup diced crystallized ginger (or a lesser amount of fresh grated ginger mixed with a little sugar?)
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk + 1 tsp. white vinegar for those in a land of no buttermilk)

In a large bowl or mixer mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt. Add butter and mix or rub with fingers (or fork) until coarse crumbs form. Stir in apricots, ginger, and lemon peel. Add buttermilk and mix just until evenly moistened. Scrape dough onto a floured board and knead about 6 turns or until dough holds together. On a lightly greased baking sheet, pat dough into an oval about 7X12 inches (or a little larger--I think mine was). With a floured knife, cut diagonal lines through dough, forming 8 or 9 (or more) triangles. Bake in a 400 degree F oven until golden brown, about 25 minutes.

I added a no-measurements glaze:

powdered sugar
a little butter
milk, adding a little at a time until the glaze reaches the 'right' consistency.

I am already imagining variations to try: cranberry-orange, chocolate with peanut butter glaze, apple-pecan with maple glaze...

Chocolate.Chocolate.Chocolate.

I usually am inspired to post a recipe to my blog when I make something which people other than myself declare its goodness. Such was the case of the Chocolate-Pudding Cake I made this weekend.

Friday was Artist Son's birthday and as he planned to spend the night at his Guys-Small-Group-Bible-Study leader's house with the rest of his small group I offered to make a cake. Artist Son's pick: Chocolate-Pudding Cake. And since on the same evening we were hosting Active Son's small group at our home I made two cakes. Later that evening Active Son reported that one of his friends had exclaimed after eating a few bites of the cake, "this is the best thing I've tasted in my life!" Wow! Quite a compliment, however I defer the compliment to my easy and no-fail recipe.

This recipe makes a generous 9x13 size dessert, however you can half the recipe for an 8"x8" pan. Very easy, very delicious. Even more delicious served with ice cream.

Chocolate Pudding Cake~
If you're not familiar with pudding cakes they require faith. You pour hot water over the batter before it goes in the oven. Then it forms a cake-like layer on top of a think creamy sauce as it bakes.

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (divided)
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 teaspoons vanill extract
2 1/2 cups hot water

1. Heave oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Put flour, sugar, 1/2 cup cocoa, the baking powder, and salt into an ungreased 9 or 10inchx13 baking pan. Stir with a fork to mix well. Add milk and oil. Stir until well blended.
3. Sprinkle brown sugar, remaining 1/2 cup cocoa and the chocolate chips over the batter.
4. Mix vanilla with water and pour evenly over top.
5. Bake 30-35 mintes until surface looks dry and brownie-like.
6. Makes more servings than you probably need to eat so invite someone over to share this!

Pumpkin/Sweet Potato Coffee Cake~

One might expect, in this first flush of spring, a recipe for, perhaps, stawberry shortcake. Indeed, the strawberries are in the market. However the the market still had a small basket of last-of-the-season sweet potatoes and I couldn't resist. So, while I really only have recipes for Pumpkin Bread, Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin____, around here we substitute mashed sweet potatoes for pumpkin pack with stunning success (canned pumpkin pack being either unavailable or too expensive and fresh pumpkin being too much bother to process). Most recently, this cake was a great addition to a recent afternoon outing to the hills of Gilead.


Pumpkin/Sweet Potato Coffee Cake
(or just great snack cake for hungry teenagers)

This recipe makes enough batter for three 8"x10", or one 9"x13" and one or two 8"x10" cakes. Freezes well.

3 eggs
3 1/2 cups sugar
4 cups mashed sweet potatoes ~or~1 30-ounce can pumpkin pack
1 cup canola oil
5 cups flour
1-2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking soda

Cream together eggs, sugar, sweet potato or pumpkin, and oil. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Pour into greased pans and spring with crumb topping. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for about 30-40 minutes.

Crumb Topping:

1/2 cup brown sugar (we like dark)
1 cup flour
1/4 pound butter, chilled
chopped pecans or walnuts

In a bowl, mix sugar and flour until blended. Cut the chilled butter into smaller pieces and rub the butter into the flour mixture with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add finely chopped pecans or walnuts to taste. If you have leftover crumb topping, it stores well in the freezer and makes a nice topping for muffins.

Cheesecake

I've passed this recipe on to so many people that I thought it would be a good one to start with. And, it came to mind as I made the Lemon Curd version for our family and guests this evening. Cheesecake isn't the kind of dessert I just whip up for the family so it is the first one that the kids request when we have guests for a special dinner.

This tried and true recipe comes from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, a favorite cookbook of mine, particularly for baking. I've also created a chocolate and a lemon curd variation.

~Lemon Curd Cheesecake~

Cheesecake

Ingredients:
Crust
1 1/3 cup graham cracker or other cookie crumbs
5 T butter, melted
1/4 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg
1/4 cup sugar
-----------------
Filling
4 eggs, seperated
1 cup sour cream (or Zabadi with cream for Ammanites)
2 T flour
1 cup sugar, divided
1/4 salt
1 t vanilla
1 lb cream cheese at room temperature (450 g=24 Kiri squares)

Directions:

Combine the crumbs, melted butter, cinamon, nutmeg, and 1/4 cup of the sugar in a bowl and mix well. Butter a springform pan (lightly) and pat the crumb mixture over the bottom and 1 inch up the sides. Chill.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees (F--about 170 C).

Beat the egg yolks with an electric beater until they are thick and pale. Add the sour cream, flour, salt, 3/4 cup of the sugar, and the vanilla, and beat until well blended. Add the cream cheese and beat until smooth. Beat the egg whites until foamy, then gradually beat in the reamining 1/4 cup sugar, beating until the whites are stiff and shiny. Fold into the cream cheese mixture. Spoon into the crumb crust (I place my springform pan on a baking sheet before putting it in the oven because sometimes a little butter leaks from the bottom). Bake about 1 hour or until the center does not trmble when the cake is gently shaken. (It is normal for the cheesecake to crack.) Cool, then chill in the refrigerator.

Variations:

Chocolate: add desired amout of melted chocolate (I use 8 oz, or 225 g) when you add the cream cheese. If desired, garnish with whipped cream flavored with a small amount of cocoa.

Mocha: make the chocolate variation and add 2-3 teaspoons of instant coffee, dissolved in a couple teaspoons of water. If desired, garnish with whipped cream flavored with a small amount of instant coffee or espresso.

Lemon: add 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel and 2 tablespoons lemon juice in place of the vanilla. Top the cooled cheesecake with lemon curd.

Lemon Curd:

1 1/2 t grated lemon zest
6 T lemon juice (1/3 cup)
1 large egg + 1 large yolk
1/2 cup sugar
2 T unslated butter, cut into bits

In the top of a double boiler, combine all the ingredients except the butter. Over gently simmering water, whisk until hot and frothy, about 5 minutes. Gradually whist in butter. Continue whisking 7 minutes or until mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and let cool 1/2 hour.