Spiced Pumpkin Mousse Pie with Graham Cracker Crust

I have been known to take things very literally and therefore sometimes I am misled and disappointed. For example, the first time I went wine tasting. Descriptions of red wines poetically describing sweet blackberries with hints of cocoa and white wines as crisp peaches with notes of bright citrus.  I thought I would be receiving an alcoholic fruit punch of sorts and what I got was wine. I don’t like wine.  Then there was the Big Cippolini Let Down of 2009.  I had excitedly made reservations at a new Italian restaurant named “Cippolini” because of my love for the squat, sweet little Italian onions, and was seriously bummed when I arrived and they were nowhere to be found on the menu. If the name of your restaurant is Taco Joe’s, do you not carry tacos? Anyway, I was duped again last week when I bought a Long Island cheese pumpkin at the farmer’s market. I clumsily carried the giant pumpkin back to my car with visions of cheesy pumpkin creations that would soon be bubbling away in my kitchen. After a quick google search for cheese pumpkin recipes, I found out they are called cheese pumpkins because of their shape, not because they taste like cheese. What do they taste like? They taste like pumpkins. Just like wine tastes like wine.   The good thing is, this pumpkin can still be used in those delicious, savory, cheesy applications as well as sweet ones, which is good because I have 10 mason jars of fresh pumpkin puree in my freezer. Who doesn’t love a plate of pumpkin ravioli followed by some delicious pumpkin pie?

Back on the Fourth of July, after I posted a recipe for strawberry mousse pie. In that post I promised you this, “ I also tried it with pumpkin and added some spices but I’ll save that one for you until October.” October came and went. I apologize. I know you have all been waiting by the computer counting down the days. I know all too well how it feels to be misled. I may have missed Halloween but I am in time for Thanksgiving. Enjoy. You can take the title literally. It tastes like pumpkin, spices and graham crackers.

Barely Adapted from:
http://www.marthastewart.com/352652/raspberry-mousse-pie

Ingredients

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 7 graham crackers, plus 2 or 3 for crumbling garnish
• 3 tablespoons water
• 2 1/4 teaspoons powdered gelatin (from one 1/4-ounce packet)
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 cups cold heavy cream

Directions

1.  Coat a 9-inch square metal baking pan ( alternately an 18 inch for a double batch which is pictured below) with cooking spray and line with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides.
2. Arrange graham crackers in 1 layer in pan, breaking them to fit if necessary.

3. Place water in a small bowl and sprinkle with gelatin on top. Let  gelatin to soften for 3 minutes.

4. In a saucepan, simmer pumpkin puree, spice mixture and 1/2 cup sugar over medium heat until bubbles form at edge. Add gelatin mixture and stir until gelatin dissolves, about 1 minute.  Let cool to room temperature completely otherwise it with melt the whip cream.

5. Beat cream and 2 tablespoons sugar until firm stiff peaks form.

6. With a rubber spatula, gently fold whipped cream into cooled pumpkin mixture.

Do you know how to fold?  Folding is the process of gently incorporating something light and airy, like whipped egg whites or cream, into something heavier without deflating it. Start by placing about a 1/3 of the lighter product on top of the heavier product.

Mix that in to lighten it before folding the rest in.

Then place the rest of the lighter product on top. With a rubber spatula, cut down the center of the bowl and come around the side, turning the bowl one half turn.

Bring the heavier product from the bottom and side on top of the lighter product in the middle as you come around with the spatula. Place it on top.

Repeat the process by cutting down the center, coming around the side and down the center again, while turning the bowl  until only a few streaks of the lighter product can be seen.

  The finished mixture should be fairly homogenous.

7. Pour over graham crackers. Smooth top, cover and  refrigerate until set, about 2 hours (or up to overnight).

8. Using parchment, gently lift pie out of pan and cut into pieces with a sharp knife, cleaning it in between cuts. Top each piece with crumbled graham crackers, transfer to a serving platter.

3 Pumpkin recipes to share this Fall: Pumpkin Bread, Pumpkin Snickerdoodles and Pumpkin Chai Latte

Food and cooking is about sharing…

It’s why tea cups come in sets of 4.

It’s why a sheet cake feeds 20.

It’s why coffee urns can brew for up to 40.

It’s why a pie is meant for more than 1.

Great recipes are also just as important to share. The way I figure it, the more people who know how to make it, the more there is to eat of it.

This simple, moist, perfectly spiced Pumpkin Bread was given to me by my amazing co-operating teacher, Vanessa, when I was student teaching with her. The first time I made it with her class, it was a disaster. The over zealous new teacher in me had decided to re-type the recipe in a new program and in the process, switched the baking soda amount with the cinnamon. Kind of funny now, not so funny then. The second time we made it, with the correct measurements, it became one of my favorite recipes of all time. I make it each October with my students and it never fails, the kids love it and it has become the number one recipe other teachers come knocking on my classroom door for.

PUMPKIN BREAD

Ingredients:

•    1¾ cups sifted flour
•    1¼ cups sugar
•    1 teaspoon baking soda
•    ¾ teaspoon salt
•    1½ teaspoon nutmeg
•    1½ teaspoon cinnamon

•    ½ cup oil
•    2 eggs
•    1 cup pumpkin

Directions:

1.    Pre-heat oven to 350 F degrees.
2.    Prepare a large loaf pan by spraying it with non-stick cooking spray.
3.    Cut a piece of parchment paper to fix the bottom of the pan.
4.    Line pan with parchment and spray again.
5.    Sift all dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
6.    In a separate bowl, whisk pumpkin, eggs and oil together.
7.    Make a hole in dry ingredients and pour in the pumpkin mixture.
8.    Mix just until smooth.
9.    Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan.
10.    Bake loaf 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

This recipe was something Annie, from Annies-eats.com, shared on her beautiful blog. They are my new favorite cookie, a must try.

PUMPKIN SNICKERDOODLES
Ingredients:
For the cookies:
3¾ cups all-purpose flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
¾ cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
For the coating:
½ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground ginger

Directions:

1.    In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
2.    In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
3.    Beat in the pumpkin puree, egg and vanilla until incorporated.
4.    Add in the dry ingredients and beat just until incorporated.
5.    Cover and chill the dough for at least 1 hour.
6.    Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.
7.    Spray baking sheets with cooking spray.
8.    Combine the sugar and spices for the coating in a bowl.
9.    Remove dough from the refrigerator and scoop 2 tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball.
10.    Coat the dough ball in the sugar-spice mixture and place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough to fill the sheets, spacing the dough balls 2-3 inches apart.
11.    Flatten the balls of dough slightly with your hand or the back of a glass.
12.    Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes.
13.    Let cool on the baking sheets about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
In my big crazy family, when its time to see who wants coffee, the hostess asks, “who’s playing grown – up?” I don’t drink coffee, but I like to play grown- up. This is my version of the Chai Tea Latte with Pumpkin Spice Syrup from Starbucks.

PUMPKIN CHAI LATTE
Ingredients:
•    1 gallon  milk
•    2 1/2 cups sugar
•    5 chai tea bags
•    1 cup pumpkin puree
Directions:
1.
Combine the milk, pumpkin puree and sugar in a heavy bottom pot.
2.    Whisk over medium-high heat, stirring often, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the mixture begins to simmer.
3.    Wrap tea bags in cheesecloth and place into simmering mixture.
4.    Shut the heat and let steep for 30 minutes.
5.    Remove tea bags and whisk to bring up any pumpkin from the bottom of the pan.
6.    Serve with sweetened whipped cream.

Cinnamon Buns

It’s an amazing thing how smells are so deeply connected to memories. Sweet potatoes roasting in the oven bring back a memory of climbing the steps to my grandparents apartment for dinner, the smell of Polo cologne sets the stage for Christmas Eve at my childhood house on a snowy winter night and charcoal burning transports me to our beach cabana in such a real way I can feel sand in my shoes. And then there’s cinnamon buns. The amazingly sweet, spice smell of warm, gooey yeast dough baking up fresh from the ovens of…Ikea. Yep. That’s my memory connected to cinnamon buns. I’ve tried to reset the memory by baking cinnamon buns on special occasions but time and time again it’s still Ikea. I guess I can live with that. Ikea is a pretty cool place and where else can you get  furniture plus swedish meatballs, lingonberry jam and a cinnamon bun for only a $1?  

This is a fantastic recipe from Cooking Light magazine.(There are only 234 calories per roll)  The first time I made it I wrote on top ” AMAAAAZING, but  takes forever”. I decided to give it another try and re-wrote the recipe into easier to understand steps so the process didn’t seem so daunting to me. I hate when recipes call for ingredients to be “divided” throughout the recipe. I like to do the math ahead of time so there is no possibility for misreading during the process. Here is my version of the recipe which I now find just as amazing and much less confusing.

Combine and let stand for 5 minutes:

• 1 cup fat free milk at 105 degrees
• 3 TBL melted butter
• 1 TBL sugar
• 1 package of quick rise yeast

Add ; let stand 1o minutes:

• 1 egg beaten
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 cup flour

 

Add; Stir until a soft dough forms, knead 6 minutes, adding up to 1/4 cup of additional flour 1 TBL at a time if dough is too sticky:

• 2  1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp salt

Place dough in bowl coated with oil, cover and let rise in warm ( 80 degrees) for 35 minutes and doubled in size.

Punch dough down, re-cover and let rise for 35 minutes and doubled in size.

Punch down and let rest 5 minutes. Meanwhile combine in a small bowl:

• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 TBL ground cinnamon
• 3 TBL melted butter

Roll dough into a large rectangle, about 18 x 11 inches.

Brush on cinnamon sugar butter mixture and press into dough gently with fingers.

Roll dough up tightly from one long end to the other long end, pinch to seal.

Slice into approx 18 slices.

Arrange slices into 2, 8- inch baking dishes coated with oil or 1, 16- inch pan.

Cover and let rise 35 minutes until doubled in size.

Pre-heat oven to 350. Bake cinnamon buns for 22-25 minutes and let cool for 10 minutes in the pan.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl throughly combine:  

• 3 TBL soft butter
• 2 TBL cream ( I used milk )
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Gradually whisk in 1 cup SIFTED powdered sugar.

Drizzle over warm cinnamon buns before serving.

Creamy Corn Fettucine with Late Summer Tomatoes and Fresh Basil

The past couple of weekends in New York have been beautiful, the perfect mix of Autumn and late Summer, cool enough to wear jeans but warm enough for flip-flops. I gave up fighting to hold on to Summer and embraced the Fall by spending a few afternoons on the beautiful east end of Long Island, enjoying seasonal traditions of wine tasting and apple picking. Despite the deliciousness of some sweet dessert wines and the tart crunch of a freshly picked Macintosh, nothing beat the amazing roasted corn we had at the side of the road farmstands. At 3 bucks a pop you would think you are getting ripped off. Just the opposite, with one bite you realize you’d pay 10, it’s just that good. Picked before dawn and roasted all morning, the corn is at its absolute sweetest. In addition to the 35 pounds of apples ( we’ve discussed my u-pick addiction before)  and the bottles of wine we brought home, we were lucky enough to get our hands on a few ears of the amazing corn to pair with all the tomatoes that are still being churned out from our backyard garden. The sauce comes together quick and making the fettucine from scratch is really no big deal and so worth it. In my opinion nothing beats making fresh pasta on a crisp Sunday morning for an early dinner anyway.

Creamy Corn Fettucine with Late Summer Tomatoes and Fresh Basil – Inspired/Adapted from Cuisine at Home Magazine, Oct 2008

This is one of the best recipes I have tried in a long time, it is one of the rare things I make repeatedly, often only a week later because I crave it as soon as it’s all gone. The original recipe uses cream and adds the tomatoes and basil in at the end. off the heat. I slimmed it down with non-fat milk and added more tomatoes and basil. I have prepared it with the tomatoes and basil both cooked and raw and loved both, the cooked version has a deeper sweeter flavor and the raw version is fresh and tart.

See my post for Homemade Pasta recipe and directions

1 large onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 TBL butter

1 TBL olive oil

1 tsp sugar

2 cups cherry tomatoes

2 ears fresh corn, shucked ( save corn cob and boil them in the pasta water for extra flavor, remove before adding pasta)

1/4 cup milk

3 TBL parmesan cheese

1/2 cup basil

Saute onion and garlic and butter and olive oil until softened. Add corn, cherry tomatoes and sugar and cook until corn is tender and tomatoes are shriveled. Add in milk and simmer until reduced. Stir in parmesan and basil, season with salt and pepper. Toss with cooked pasta and thin with pasta water if needed.

Red Lentil Soup with Lemon and Cilantro

My Mom loves me. She tells me I’m pretty without make-up. I know she thinks this because she’s my Mom. When other people see me without make-up for the first time, they usually ask if I have the flu. I’m okay with this. I’m thankful for make-up and the color it adds to my pale face.

Lentils are kind of ugly. People who do not grow up eating lentils need to be coaxed into eating them,  especially in their pale brown watery soup state.

Enter the red lentil. It’s like a lentil with hot lipstick on. People will like it better because its prettier and that’s okay. If it’s needed to bring them into the wonderful world of lentils, than so be it. After a few years together, when the relationship gets to that comfortable stage, the paler lentil can show it’s face again and start wearing ugly pajamas to bed.

This recipe is slightly adapted from the New York Times column A  Good Appetite ,written by Melissa Clark. ( Wednesday January 9, 2008)

olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

1/2 cup carrot, diced

3 garlic cloves, sliced

3 TBL tomato paste

1 TBL cumin

 2 QT free-range organic chicken broth

1 1/2 cups red lentils

salt and pepper to taste

cayenne pepper to taste

1 lemon

1/4 cup cilantro -  minced

In a large pot saute onions,carrots and garlic in olive oil until softened. Add tomato paste and cumin, cook 1 minute. Deglaze with chicken broth. Taste and season with salt, pepper and cayenne. Add in lentils and simmer for 30 minutes. Taste and reseason. With an immersion blender, puree about half the soup making sure to leave the rest of the soup chunky. Take the soup off the heat and add a few squeezes of the lemon and stir in cilantro. Taste and adjust to taste. Serve with grated pecorino cheese and crusty bread.

The most important part of this soup is to add the lemon juice and cilantro off the heat. When this soup was re-heated you could not taste the lemon or cilantro anymore.

 

Butternut Squash Lasagna with Sage and Goat Cheese Bechamel Sauce

Butternut Squash Lasagna with Sage and Goat Cheese Bechamel Sauce

 

 

I’ve never been one to read my horoscope, but like most people, I know the traits of my sign and identify with them in some way or another. Today everyone was  talking about a sudden change in astrology. People began telling me I was no longer a Pisces and was now an Aquarius…could this be? Am I  truly no longer the sensitive sympathetic creative artist I thought I was? Where does one turn when their identity is suddenly in crisis? Google. To be honest, I didn’t have the patience or real interest to read all the articles Google conjured up, but I did read one news article that really stunned me. Apparently people all over the country are now  reconsidering if their relationships are still compatible due to this shift in signs.  Marriages are trouble, relationships are ending…I mean big stuff is happening and people are taking this pretty seriously.  I would like to offer my unauthorized and completely uneducated ( in the realms of astrology that is) advice to those who are now in great doubt over the compatibility of their mate. If it feels like a match, it’s a match, some things just go together…like peanut butter and jelly…like spaghetti and meatballs…like….butternut squash and sage… 

If the world that surrounds you comes crashing down and the ideals you thought you had are no longer… do not dismay… make lasagna!!

  

Butternut Squash Lasagna with Sage and Goat Cheese Bechamel Sauce

www.lessonsinfood.wordpress.com original recipe

1 large Butternut Squash – peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch half moons

6 large square sheets of lasagna or 12 rectangular half sheets ( can use no-boil noodles)

Cheese Filling

2 cups  ricotta ( can use part-skim )

1/4 cup grated pecorino romano cheese

1 egg

salt and pepper

Bechamel Sauce

1 large onion – diced

2 TBL minced sage leaves

4 TBL butter

2 TBL flour

1/4 cup goat cheese

3-4 cups milk ( can use fat-free)

salt and pepper

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

 Yeild – 4-5 servings

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Toss sliced butternut squash with olive oil and salt and pepper. Place in a single layer on a heavy sheet pan and roast in the oven until tender, about 30-45 minutes. Let cool. Reduce oven heat to 350 degrees.

Prepare noodles according to package directions if not using no-boil noodles.

Combine ingredients for cheese filling in a bowl and set aside.

In a large non-stick saute pan, saute the onions and sage in the butter until onions are softened. Sprinkle flour over butter mixture and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon to make  the roux that will thicken the bechamel sauce. Cook roux for 2 minutes. Slowly begin adding milk 1/4 cup at a time, continuing to stir vigorously with each addition to avoid lumps. If you add all the cold milk at once it will be almost impossible to combine with the roux. As you continue to simmer the sauce, add enough milk until you have a creamy sauce that coats the back of the spoon. Add in the goat cheese and nutmeg. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Add in more milk if the sauce seems too thick to pour.

In a small square or rectangular  baking dish that will fit your noodles, pour a layer of bechamel down. Begin to layer by placing down the noodles, then the ricotta and then slices of squash. Top the squash with a layer of sauce before adding the next layer of noodles. Your final top layer should be bechamel sauce. Sprinkle the top with grated pecorino romano cheese and dot with butter. Bake for 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees if using boiled noodles or follow directions for cooking if using no boil noodles.

Enjoy! Enjoy the wonderful alignment of the stars that is butternut squash and sage ;c)

What to do with leftover Thanksgiving Cranberry “Sauce”? Sweet Cranberry and Tangerine Bread

What to do with leftover Thanksgiving Cranberry “Sauce”?

 

Sweet Cranberry and Tangerine Bread

When I say cranberry sauce I’m NOT talking about the canned jelly sauce, I’m talking about the homemade whole berry compote,chutney,preserve, conserve, whatever you want to call it cranberry “stuff” you may have leftover after Thanksgiving.  This time of year a lot of websites and cooking shows feature recipes that morph your leftover turkey and all the fixings into totally different tasting dishes. I have to admit, I have never been interested in it because I think the best part of Thanksgiving is the leftovers and I want them to be exactly like they were on the day of, but that’s just me. However, the one thing  that I often do have to much of, is cranberry sauce. Once the turkey and stuffing leftovers are gone, the cranberry sauce has no purpose for me, but it’s just too delicious and I can’t throw it out.  This delicious bread serves as the perfect vehicle for it, as well as a well to use up the leftover buttermilk you may have from mashed potatoes or biscuit recipes. If you don’t have any homemade whole berry cranberry sauce, don’t substitute the jelly kind, just use the following directions to whip up a 5 minute batch just big enough for this recipe. If you are feeling the same way I am, in that you are so huge right now you couldn’t possibly allow yourself to indulge anymore, make the bread and freeze it for the upcoming holidays, when your waistline has recovered slightly.  

Happy Leftovers Everyone!  

( Follow muffin method)

Sweet Cranberry and Tangerine Bread www.lessonsinfood.wordpress.com original recipe

Sift together in a large bowl:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

Whisk together in a separate bowl:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp almond extract

 Stir in:

1 1/2 cups homemade whole berry cranberry sauce

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in wet ingredients. Mix together until just combined. Stir in about cranberries.  Pour into mini loaf pans and bake for 30- 45 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

For Cranberry “sauce“: Boil all ingredients together until thickened and almost no juice remains, mixture should become gelatinized.  Remove large peels and tangerine slices. Let cool.  

• 2 cups cranberries
• 1 large tangerine -zested and juiced
• 1 large tangerine – peeled and sliced
• 1/2 cup sugar

Lesson#4 The Creaming Method – Caramel Apple Cider Spice Cake

 

One of my favorite parts of the day, besides the part where I get to eat my delicious adult gummy bear vitamins ( yes, I know, this is pathetic…but they are really really good ), is when I get to come home and check the mail. Most of the time it is a big disappointment of bills and ads, but a few times a month I receive one of my many food magazines. This month’s Cooking Light Magazine featured a delicious looking Apple Upside Down Cake that I couldn’t wait to make. I followed the recipe word for word last week and brought it to a party. It was so delicious, that today I decided it was time to make it just once more, for the purpose of this creaming method lesson of course, not at all because I plan on eating it all myself.  Now although I resisted napping when I got home from work, I did not resist immediately changing into pajamas. This presented a dilemma when I went to bake and was out of the milk and sugar that the recipe called for. Since there was absolutely no way I was getting dressed to go out to the store, I decided to improvise.  My adapted version uses apple cider instead of milk ,almond instead of vanilla extract, all-purpose flour instead of cake flour, a brown sugar butter caramel sauce instead of a sugar and water caramel and has the addition of spices. The cider and spices add a whole new element and really enhance the apple flavor.  Either way you make it, it’s pretty amazing, totally better than a nap and that’s saying a lot.

This recipe features the creaming method, which requires you to cream room temperature butter with sugar until light and fluffy. This process helps leaven the cake due to the bubbles that are formed when the sugar is beaten into the soft butter. Chemical leavening ( baking soda or powder for example ) in the recipe react with wet ingredients and help to “blow up” the many bubbles formed in creaming process. After creaming the butter and sugar together, eggs and extracts are usually added in, followed by dry ingredients and any solid add-ins, such as nuts or chocolate chips. The creaming method produces a uniform interior texture with many small bubbles and a tender delicate crumb. It is seen in cookies, cakes and quick breads.

This recipe differs from that basic method and features 3 other commonly used baking techniques that I think are important to learn and master.

1 – Making caramel from sugar.

2 – Whipping egg whites and folding them gently into a batter. 

3 - Alternating dry and wet ingredients when mixing, to help incorporate ingredients faster without over mixing and developing gluten, which will toughen the cake.

Adapted from Oct 2010 Cooking Light MagazineApple Upside Down Cake

Caramel Apple Cider Spice Cake

For the caramel

• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 TBL butter

For the cake

• 1 large Honey Crisp apple – cored and sliced  
• 1 1/3 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp cardamom
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 3 TBL butter
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 cup apple cider
• 3 egg whites

Grease a 9 inch cake pan.

In a saucepan melt 1 tbl of butter for caramel topping. Add in brown sugar and cook 3-4 minutes until sugar dissolves and is thickening. Pour into prepared pan. Lay sliced apples in a decorative pattern over the caramel topping. Be careful not to burn the sugar. With white sugar you can visibly tell when it turns golden and it is time to shut the heat. When using brown sugar you get more of a caramel flavor but you can’t tell as easily when its beginning to caramelize, so watch it carefully for thickening and keep an on the time. Never walk away from caramel, it will burn on you in a second.

Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl. ( except sugar )

Cream together the 3 TBL butter and 2/3 cup sugar until light and fluffy with an electric mixer. The mixture becomes lighter in color because the bubbles reflect the light and it becomes fluffy because you are aerating it.

Beat in egg yolks and almond extract until thoroughly combined.

Add dry ingredients and apple cider alternately. Start with part of the dry ingredients and mix, then add cider and mix again. Keep switching from one to the other until everything is incorporated.

In a separate clean bowl beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.  If there is any grease present on your tools or any fat from the yolks, the whites will not whip up so make sure to have very clean, dry tools and separate the egg cleanly. It is very easy to over whip egg whites so as soon as you see them firming up, check them often for stiff peaks that hold their shape well.  

Gently fold whipped egg whites into batter.  Folding is the process of incorporating something lighter or whipped into something heavy, like this batter, without deflating it. To fold, first place some of the whipped egg whites on top of the batter and use a rubber spatula to cut down the center of the bowl, pulling some egg whites along.  Slide around and under the side of the bowl and bring some egg whites back up into the center. Repeat slowly and gently, adding more egg whites a little bit a time. The goal is to deflate the whipped egg whites as little as possible.

Pour batter on the caramel apple mixture in the pan.

Bake for 30 – 40 minutes until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool for 15 minutes.

Loosen the edges of the cake from the pan. Place a serving plate large enough for the cake on top of the pan. With both hands, turn the cake upside down while holding the plate. Remove the cake pan and the caramel and apples should be on top.

This recipe incorporates some tricky baking techniques for the beginner baker. A few of my students had a rough time the first time around but were able to get it right on the second try. Please let me know how yours comes out and as always, feel free to comment with any questions. The reward of this cake is worth the effort, I promise.

Good Luck!  – The Cooking Teacher