apple Archives * My Hot Southern Mess

Kid’s have headed or are heading back to school , which means summer is sadly winding down and fall is just around the corner. I think we all know what that means all of our favorite fall foods and not just pumpkin everything. I love pumpkin as much as the next person but some foods are being left behind in the pumpkin’s shadow like apples.

I love apples and I am still mad at myself for never taking my kids apple picking when we lived in an area surrounded by apple orchards in New Jersey. I’m thinking this fall we may need to take a road trip to find an apple orchard where we can pick our own apples. We buy apples by the bag around here and i’m lucky if the last more than a couple days. I wonder how long a bushel of apples would last around here? I do know one thing I would have to hide some of the apples so I could make some yummy apple goodies like Apple Cinnamon White Cake.

It is very likely you have seen a picture of Apple Cinnamon White Cake from Allrecipes on the internet. The picture was taken by a fellow Allrecipes Allstar and it went crazy in the social media world. I’ve seen it on Facebook and Pinterest multiple times and have been wanting to make it myself for a while. The kid’s had taken a break from the summertime devouring everything in the house and I saw a couple apples left in the crisper drawer so off to work I went. Since I wanted to eat this Apple Cinnamon Vanilla Cake I adapted the recipe to gluten free and let me tell you it was delicious!

Apple Cinnamon White Cake

adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

1/3 cup brown sugar
 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
 2/3 cup white sugar
 1/2 cup butter, softened
 2 eggs
 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
 1 1/2 cups gluten free all-purpose flour blend
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
 1/2 cup milk
1-2 apple (depending on size), peeled and chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9×5-inch loaf pan.
Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl.
Beat white sugar and butter together in a bowl using an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, until incorporated; add vanilla extract.
Combine gluten free flour blend, xanthan gum and baking powder together in a bowl; stir into creamed butter mixture. Mix milk into batter until smooth. Pour half the batter into the prepared loaf pan; add half the apples and half the brown sugar mixture. Lightly pat apple mixture into batter. Pour the remaining batter over apple layer; top with remaining apples and brown sugar mixture. Lightly pat apples into batter; swirl brown sugar mixture through apples using a finger or spoon.
Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes.

Recently I received a sweet package from Allrecipes filled with SPLENDA® along with a fun assignment, apple vs. pumpkin, which is your favorite? They are going to have me decide which is better? Really? How am I going to decide? I love them both! This was a challenge I was ready to take on. Bring on the pumpkin pie, cookies, turnovers, muffins and more. For fun I threw in a DIY Pumpkin Spice Latte that my husband thought was better than Starbucks.

I am a fan of SPLENDA® and have used it since 2003. At that time I was pregnant with my third son and had gestational diabetes. It was my second time with gestational diabetes but not my last, I had a tough go with gestational diabetes in my 4th and last pregnancy as well. Having gestational diabetes 3 times has placed me at a higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes so I need to watch what I eat and exercise so I do what I can. I run, lift weights and watch what I eat and not just as it is going into my mouth. SPLENDA® has become a regular part of my diet as I often use SPLENDA® in recipes in place of sugar. You can use it in everything from sweetening your coffee or tea to baking. So…I was needed to use it to help decide what fall flavor I liked best, no problemo I can do that!

First up we had team Apple! Sweet and Tart apples how do I love thee! Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, Gala and your friends are all welcome in my home! You will always find some in my crisper drawer.

Miniature Apple Muffins

Baked Apple Turnovers

and finally…
Apple Cookies

All three of the apple recipes were pretty good. I did tweak the recipes a smidge though. For both the apple muffins and cookies I left out the raisins. We are just not big fans of raisins in our baked goods. The cookies in my opinion could have been made better if the apple was shredded like in the cookies. The apple chunks turned off 3 of my 4 kids. They still ate the cookies. They just picked out the apples. The turnovers were wonderful! I did up the cinnamon to a full teaspoon and found it to be perfect for us. The only way to make that apple recipe even better was to use homemade pie crust.

Team apple was definitely tasty but pumpkin was up next. Oh sweet pumpkin who visits us in the fall. Sweet pumpkin that I hoard cans of in my pantry just in case I decide I need a pumpkin fix during spring or summer.

Pumpkin Waffles
Harvest Pumpkin Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Easy Pumpkin Pie

and finally a better than Starbucks a DIY Quick Pumpkin Spice Latte

Oh dear apple I hate to break the news to you but I am most definitely a team pumpkin girl as are 3 of my 4 children and my husband. Only my second son voted apple as his favorite. The pumpkin waffles were yum and I made no changes at all. The pumpkin cookies were perfect and instead of raisins and walnuts I mixed in dried cranberries and white chocolate chips into a batch and I was in heaven. It is a great little cookie. The pumpkin pie was pretty good too. It was a tad sweet for us and missing the spices we usually use. I will be making it again with my own crust and some nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Then there is that Pumpkin Spice latte. I don’t drink coffee but my husband does and he likes Starbucks. Sadly where we currently live we no longer have the overabundance of Starbucks so it is much easier to make and take our own drinks. This drink was a happy surprise for my husband.

Now all these pumpkin treats that you will be baking come fall don’t always use the full can of pumpkin. So what are you suppose to do with that little bit that is left over? Throw it away? No way! Use it for a DIY Pumpkin Spice Latte.

You only need 1 Tablespoon of pumpkin.

Place the pumpkin in a saucepan along with 1 tablespoon of sugar or you can do like I did and use SPLENDA®. Whisk in 1/2 cup of milk and 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice. If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice you can use equal parts of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and allspice. I like a dash of cloves as well.

You bring this to a simmer for 5 minutes and then whisk in another 1/2 cup of milk.

Now this next step is important. Take a fine sieve and stain the milk mixture into a mug. At this point I also rinse out my sauce pan.

This will take a little time to get this. Be patient it is worth it.

Or you could drink this. It is up to you.

Now return your strained milk back to your saucepan and bring to a simmer. Add your coffee or espresso and whisk until frothy.

Then serve! Top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon if desired and enjoy!

Quick Pumpkin Spice Latte

from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

1 cup milk, divided
1 tablespoon white sugar or SPLENDA® (or more to taste)
1 tablespoon pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup brewed espresso (or strong coffee)

Directions

1. Whisk 1/2 cup milk, sugar, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla extract in a small saucepan over low heat. Simmer for 5 minutes. Whisk in remaining 1/2 cup milk.

2. Pour milk mixture through a fine-mesh sieve to remove pulp. Return milk mixture to saucepan and simmer, whisking, 2 minutes. Add espresso and whisk until foamy, 1 minute.

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