Fall season calls for warm baked goods full of apples
When the weather cooled off a bit from the hot days of
September, and apples started flooding the farmers market in Morgan
Hill, it seemed like the perfect time for some fall baking. Now I
mostly avoid baking because I am not good at measuring things out,
and I often lose patience when cooking more than one dozencookies.
And the stove in my house doesn’t cook evenly through baked goods.
But the thought of soft, warm apples in a cake or pie crust is
mighty hard to resist when fall weather sets in.
Fall season calls for warm baked goods full of apples
When the weather cooled off a bit from the hot days of September, and apples started flooding the farmers market in Morgan Hill, it seemed like the perfect time for some fall baking. Now I mostly avoid baking because I am not good at measuring things out, and I often lose patience when cooking more than one dozencookies. And the stove in my house doesn’t cook evenly through baked goods. But the thought of soft, warm apples in a cake or pie crust is mighty hard to resist when fall weather sets in.
Joan Lottermoser, of Joan and Peter’s German Restaurant in San Juan Bautista, is no stranger to fall apple desserts. In fact, she recently sent us a photo of a six-foot-long apple strudel she baked for an Oktoberfest party. She was nice enough to share the recipe with us and we have a picture of her creation, along with the recipe. I am sure anyone who isn’t up to making it on their own can order a piece at the restaurant.
I decided not to tackle the strudel recipe myself, but instead went with something that is a bit more semi-homemade in an apple upside down cake. I’ve always loved pineapple upside down cake and this treat incorporates the caramelized brown sugar flavor with apples for a bit of apple pie flavor without the hassle of making pastry dough.
The cake turned out deliciously, but the topping made with Cool Whip and frosting was a little too sweet for my taste. I suggest topping the cake off with whipped cream instead to avoid overwhelming the caramel flavors of the cake. The cake is also at its best when it is warm, so don’t wait too long to dig in.
Warm caramel apple cake
Recipe courtesy of Betty Crocker
Cake ingredients:
½ c. butter or margarine
¼ c. whipping cream
1 c. packed brown sugar
½ c. chopped pecans
2 large cooking apples (Granny Smith or Braeburn), peeled, cored and thinly slices (about 2 1/3 c.)
1 box Betty Crocker
Supermoist yellow cake mix
1 ¼ c. water
1/3 c. vegetable oil
3 eggs
¼ tsp. apple pie spice (or cinnamon and nutmeg)
Topping ingredients:
2/3 c. Betty Crocker whipped fluffy white frosting (from 12-oz. container)
½ c. frozen (thawed) whipped topping
Caramel topping, if desired
Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a 1-quart heavy saucepan, cook butter, whipping cream and brown sugar over low heat, stirring occasionally, just until butter is melted. Pour into a 13×9 inch pan. Sprinkle with pecans, top with sliced apples.
In a large bowl beat cake mix, water, oil, eggs and apple pie spice with an electric mixer on low speed until moistened. Beat on medium speed two minutes. Carefully spoon batter over apple mixture.
Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Loosen the sides of the cake from the pan. Place heatproof serving platter upside down on pan; carefully turn platter and pan over. Let pan remain over cake about 1 minute so caramel can drizzle over the cake. Remove pan.
In a small bowl, mix frosting and whipped topping. Serve warm cake topped with frosting mixture and drizzled with caramel topping.
Apple strudel
Recipe courtesy of Joan Lottermoser, of Joan and Peter’s German Restaurant, in San Juan Bautista
2 c. of bread flour
18 oz. of water
2 oz. of vegetable oil
3 whole eggs
5 lbs. of apples, peeled, cored and sliced thinly
Put ingredients, except for apples, all together in a mixer and beat on high speed for about three minutes with a paddle (This is enough strudel dough for 3 strudels. You can freeze the extra two for future use.)
Let the dough relax for at least 30 minutes.
While it relaxes (so that you can stretch the dough,) peel 5 lbs. of tart apples (Granny Smith work well) and then quarter and slice thinly. You can slice the apple with a kitchen aid machine.
Mix the sliced apples with 2 oz. of sliced almond, 4 oz of raisins (either golden or black) and toss. Then add the zest of one lemon and sugar to taste. (Wait to add the sugar until you are ready to spread the apple mixture over your stretched dough.)
Stretching the dough
Cover a table with a tablecloth and dust the tablecloth liberally with flour.
Roll out the dough and then begin stretching it until it is so thin you can see through it but it doesn’t break According to Lottermoser, this step takes practice, so remain patient.
Dab the stretched dough with olive oil and then spread it with a pastry brush Cover oiled dough with a thin layer of graham cracker crumbs and then finally your apple mixture.
Grab the top end of the tablecloth and roll everything toward you. This might need some practice also unless you have done a jelly roll.
Brush the strudel with egg wash and bake in a hot convection oven, 325 degrees for 30 minutes until it is golden brown and smells delicious. Do not over bake or it will flatten. You can make the strudel smaller by using less apples and a smaller piece of dough.
