Apple Cake with a Cinnamon Crumble Top

Although summer is one of my favorite seasons, I think I’m ready for a new one.  Fall, with it crisp air, root vegetables and football games will be welcomed with opened arms.  But until the weather changes, I’m still in summer mode, searching for fall recipes and marking the one’s that will be tried out soon. 

But I needed to try just one that I had recently found.  The September Book Club was at my house, so it was a good enough reason to make a dessert.   The apple cake, almost a crisp, was so light and airy, it didn’t feel like a fall dessert, so this one would be perfect end-of-the- summer/early fall way to finish off a meal.

 

Apple Cake with a Cinnamon Crumble Top
Adapted from: Cooking After Five

cooking spray
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 cup flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1 stick & 4 tbsp softened, unsalted butter
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup sour cream
2 green apples, peeled, cored & chopped
1 cup heavy whipping cream (optional)
2 tbsp confectioners sugar (optional)

Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

In a small bowl combine 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup flour, 1 tsp of cinnamon, 4 tbsp softened butter.  Mix together until it turns into coarse crumbs.

In a large bowl, mix together 1 stick of softened butter and 1 cup of brown sugar until it’s light and fluffy.  Then, add the eggs one at at time, beating it well.  Slowly add in 2 cups of flour, baking soda, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp vanilla.  Then add in the sour cream, and mix well.  Finally, fold in the apple pieces.  Pour the batter into the baking dish.  Sprinkle the cake with the topping.

Preheat the over to 350ºF.  Bake the cake for 30-40 minutes.  Once it turned golden brown, remove from the oven and let it cool for at least 10 minutes.

(Optional) When the cake is ready to be served, make the whipped cream.  Whip about 1 cup of heavy whipping cream using a hand mixer or a stand mixer, add confectioners sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla.  Mix until fluffy.  Top the cake with the whipped cream.

St. Patrick’s Guinness Cupcakes

Happy St. Patty’s Day!  We didn’t have any green beer this year, instead we decided to cook a little bit of Irish food at home.  Sam made corned beef and cabbage in the crock pot, and I tried this dish for the first time.  I really enjoyed the saltiness of the meat, delicious!

For dessert, I made some cupcakes.  Since we already had Guinness on hand, I figured this would be a great time to try out a new recipe.  I wanted to add some green sprinkles on top, but we didn’t have any.  The cupcakes had a great chocolate flavor which the beer enhanced.  I didn’t make the frosting too sweet, and the cream cheese flavor still lingered just a bit- yummy!

Also, my first batch had 2 different sized forms, one had the big one’s, while the other had the mini-bites.  I highly recommend the mini bites, the others came out a little dense.

We decided that all cupcakes should have Guinness it them! 

St. Patrick’s Guinness Cupcakes
Adapted from: Bunky Cooks Blog

3/4 cup cocoa
2 cups sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 can of Guinness (14.9 oz)
1 stick of butter, melted
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
3/4 cups sour cream
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
2 cups confectioners sugar (more can be used)

In a medium bowl beat the cream cheese on medium speed with a hand mixer, until it’s lightly fluffy.  Slowly, beat in the heavy whipping cream.  Then on low speed, slowly mix in confectioners sugar, until it is smooth and incorporated.  Cover, and refrigerate until ready to use.

Preheat the over to 350 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa, sugar, flour, baking soda and salt.  In a stand mixer, combine the Guinness, butter and vanilla.  Then, one at a time, beat in the eggs.  Finally, mix in the sour cream, until the mixture is smooth.  Slowly, mix in the dry ingredients into the wet mixture.

Lightly grease muffin tins.  Divide the batter between the muffin cups, filling each 3/4 full.  Bake for about 20-25 minutes, until they are soft and tender.  Take them out of the oven, and cool them.  Finally, top each cupcake with some of the frosting!