Sunday, November 15, 2009

Apple Pumpkin Cake

About a week ago I posted about baking bread from a book called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Someone had left a comment (which I always appreciate) but I didn't realize right away that it was the author of the book! How exciting is that?! Not only does she write cookbooks, but she's an actual pastry chef and she writes a really great baking blog. I spent some time exploring her blog and I quickly found this recipe for Apple Pumpkin Cake.

I peeled and thinly sliced four Granny Smith Apples and then sauteed them in three T of butter until they were just starting to get soft. I took them off the heat and added three T of sugar and one tsp of cinnamon. Now, those of you who read this blog regularly will remember my quest for a baked apples side dish that resembles the Stouffer's version. Well forget the last post. This is way better. Almost perfect, and much faster.

I put the apples off to the side and got to work on the cake. What is great about this recipe is that the streusel topping and the cake batter start of in the same bowl. At a certain point you take out a little and reserve it for later. Then you add baking soda, pumpkin puree, sour cream, and eggs. I didn't take a picture because I feel like I've made a lot of orange batters in my stand mixer lately, so I thought I would spare you another one.

Then, as shocking as it is, I got out my springform pan! I've had it for more than four years and this is only the second time I've used it! I was very excited! I coated it with Pam for Baking (an awesome invention) and poured in the cake batter.

The apples went on top of that.

To the reserved streusel topping I added some homemade pumpkin pie spice. I'm not the kind of gal who wants another spice jar cluttering up my cabinet, especially when I have all the ingredients on hand already. For one tsp of pumpkin pie spice: combine 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground ginger, 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg, and 1/8 tsp ground cloves. Easy!

Here's what it looked like before baking:

And here is what it looked like after baking and cooling:

Beautiful!

This cake was delicious! The apples, the pumpkin, and the spices just scream fall! Mmmmmm! Thanks for the recipe Zoe!

8 comments:

Nancy said...

I'm definitely making this cake! I love Fall and can almost smell and taste how delicious this cake will be.

Keep up the good work!
Nancy

Zoe Francois said...

Thank you so much for trying this cake, I just love it! Yours looks so delicious! :)

Cheers, Zoƫ

Anonymous said...

Kim,
I'll bet you get to make that for Thanksgiving. It looks so good,
nona

Kim in the Kitchen said...

Thanks for the compliments everyone! Nancy, I hope yours turns out just as good as ours did!

~kelly marie~ said...

WOW! I am seriously starving now. I wish I had something better than microwave stuff at the house! haha! I think I need to channel you and bake something!

Nancy said...

My cake turned out really well! It was delicious! Thanks for the recipe. I used all-purpose flour and a 9" springform pan and baked it in our toaster oven (my new favorite toy). It looked just like your cake! And the house smelled wonderful!
Nancy

Kim in the Kitchen said...

Yay Nancy! I'm glad you liked the cake!

Linda Knoff said...

Day before Thanksgiving and Linz has done all the "hard" work for me (stirring, lifting and pouring) and I measured out all the ingredients. I even figured out how to use my mandolin more effectively! The Apple Pumpkin Cake smells SOOOOO good - we can't wait to try it tomorrow! We made it in an 11" round and shorter sided cake pan, but it is still beautiful and unless it is really bad when we taste it, it will be used multiple times in the fall and winter. Also made a fantastic zucchini bread recipe with pecans, chocolate chips and dried cherries - made the mini-loaves - looks like a winner also! My other contributions to the day will be a Butternut squash bread pudding that has spinach (recipe called for kale) and cheese, a shaved zucchini/asparagus salad with lemon vinagrette and shaved romano cheese, and a carrot & fennel saute. Enjoy your time with the fam! Linda