Fresh Apple Cake

I was born and raised in the Midwest and try to live my life by showing appreciation for the simple things like: good food, health, love of family, and friends. And maybe it's those Midwestern values that draw me towards blue collar pastries.

For example, my father worked the steel mills of East Chicago until he retired. Our family was never one for fancy cakes and such. My favorite childhood memories involve cold winter mornings, hot cups of coffee, and splendid coffee cakes. I can still remember my mom telling me to add more milk to my coffee because it was too dark. I still enjoy coffee cake to this day, but the portions are smaller and occur less frequently.

I recently baked this lovely cake that is spiked with fresh apples, dark raisins, and walnuts. It's incredibly moist, hearty, and fills one's kitchen with a wonderful autumnal scent. It is a magnificent cake to start the morning off with, whether one drinks coffee or not.

Print recipe: Fresh Apple Cake
One Year Ago: No Bake Mini Cheesecakes

Goji Berry & Walnut Muffins

Sorry guys, I am a tad busy this week and slightly caked-out (gasp!). All I can offer this week are muffins. It’s not to say that these muffins aren’t good.

For goodness sake, their packed full goji berries and walnuts. I have been so busy lately, that I literally don’t have time to eat anything. I keep telling myself to pack a lunch, and then I stare into the fridge and nothing seems appealing.

I finally decided that I would bake muffins that I could just pop into my purse along with a couple of tea bags. I know what you’re thinking. A muffin Gigi? Muffins are bad for you.

These muffins do have some redeeming value. What could it be? The goji berries of course! Goji berries are dried red berries that look similar to cranberries. They have been used for thousands of years for their “healing” properties. They are packed full of antioxidants, help eyesight, protect the liver, and boost immune function. How could you not like this muffin? Right?

Go ahead and bake yourself some super muffins! In addition, goji berries are available at organic supermarkets and specialty food stores. These particular berries where given to me by Katie. Thanks Katie!

Goji Berry Walnut Muffins
Adapted from The Essential Baker
Makes 12

Dry Ingredients:
2 cups of AP flour
2/3 cup of firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon of salt
Pinch of nutmeg

Wet Ingredients:
1 cup heavy cream
4 ounces of melted unsalted butter, cooled
2 extra large eggs
1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla

Mix in:
½ cup of goji berries
½ cup of walnut pieces

Preheat the oven to 400F degrees. Grease a 12 cup muffin pan or line with baking papers.

In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. Set aside. In a medium bowl whisk together all the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to dry and using a large spoon just mix until incorporated. Do not over mix muffins, there will be lumps. Gently fold in the goji berries and walnuts. Divide the batter among the muffin pan and bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes clean.

Hummingbird Cupcakes

This week I organized all the recipes I ever ripped out of magazines or have collected from various websites.

As I flipped through binders of recipes, looking for a Mother's Day type of dessert, I came across"HummingbirdCupcakes".

Hummingbird cake is a banana cake, with pineapple, coconut and walnuts in the batter. They were really delicious and all 15 of my taste testers agreed!

The cupcakes are iced with a cream cheese icing and topped with a dried pineapple slice. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!


Hummingbird Cupcakes

(Martha Stewart)
24 cupcakes

3 cups of flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks of butter, melted and cooled
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups of sugar
3 eggs
2 cups mashed banana
8oz of drained crushed pineapple
1 cup of walnuts
1 cup coconut

1.Preheat the oven to 350F. Line cupcake pan with liners. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda; set aside.

2.In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter, vanilla, and sugar for 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time and beat for 3 minutes.

3.In a medium bowl mix banana, pineapple, coconut, and walnuts. Add to the egg mixture and mix well. Slowly add the flour.

4.Fill the liners 2/3 full and bake for 25-28 minutes. Cool cupcakes before icing.

Cinnamon Walnut Coffee Cake

Oh, how I wish the computer came with some sort of scent transmitter. This coffee cake will make your whole kitchen smell like cinnamon, vanilla, and sugar. Oooh, and the longer the cake sits, the better it seems to get. (Why is that?) I love coffee cakes, but I hardly ever bake them. Why?

Hello, my name is Gigi and I am a coffee cake addict. It always starts off the same way. I cut a small wedge for myself, with the intentions of giving away the rest of the cake. It just never seems to quite work out for me. I'll go back for another "small" wedge, and then before you know it, the cake is too "small" to share with co-workers. Trust me, this time I WILL bring the coffee cake to work. Just one more slice for the road!

Cinnamon Walnut Coffee Cake
by Nick Malgieri

• 2 cups of flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
  
• 1/2 teaspoon of soda
• 8 ounces of butter at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups of sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
  
• 8 ounces of sour cream

For the topping:

• 1 cup of walnut of coarsely chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 2 teaspoon if cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Grease and flour a 12 cup tube pan; set aside.

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a small bowl.
In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar for 5 minutes on medium speed. Add eggs one at a time on low speed. Add vanilla.

On low speed and 1/3 of flour, then add 4 ounces of sour cream, and repeat making sure to end with flour. (scrape the bowl in between flour additions)

Add 1/2 the batter in the pan and sprinkle with 1/2 the walnut topping. Top with the remaining batter and sprinkle with walnut mixture.

Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan for 30 minutes; then remove and finish cooling on a rack.