Spiced Apple Cider Muffins

I am on an apple cider kick. I thought we had our fill of apple cider until g-pa and g-ma Lucas gifted us a gallon. Because I don't feel that sitting down with a tall glass of cider is the healthiest of things to do I began thinking of ways I could use it in baking.

First up THIS recipe. Apple cider caramels. After filling our apartment (and probably those sharing vents with us) with tear-wrenching smoke during the first attempt to reduce 2 cups of cider to 1/3 cup, I finally got things right. Well mostly right. Apparently a meat thermometer isn't the best way to measure the temperature of your caramel. It turned out a bit soft. But I think I closer than I would have, had I stuck to my first plan of using our digital human thermometer. It simply assured me that my caramel was "HOT". Lesson learned. The verdict? The caramels are delicious but didn't pack quite the cider punch I was hoping for.

On to the next recipe. When I have a long day at school/clinic I search for recipes, find the most delicious one I can, and tell myself that when I get home I can make it! Most of the time when I get home I am too tired to cook but the thought of cooking gets me through the day. It was on one of those days that I began fixating on Apple Cider Muffins. I hadn't found a recipe that I liked yet but I knew I wanted to make some.

Fast forward a few days and Chris has asked me for about the 5th time when I am going to make the cider muffins. We took ANOTHER trip to a cider mill (our 5th) and picked up more cider. After searching through many many recipes I have settled on this one, an amalgamation of many :)

Spiced Apple Cider Muffins
Yields approx. 14 normal sized muffins

Wet:
1/2 c. applesauce
1 Tbs oil
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 c. of apple cider reduced to 1/4 c.
1 apple diced

Dry:
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 Tbs (ish) cinnamon
dash nutmeg
dash allspice

 1. Reduce your apple cider. Pour one cup apple cider into a small pan and bring it to a boil. Carefully boil down to 1/4 c. Your house will smell delicious as long as you keep a close eye toward the end and don't turn your apple cider reduction into carbon like I did the first time I tried reducing apple cider! Set aside your 1/4 c of cider reduction to cool.

2. Start your oven warming up to 400 degrees. Mix your dry ingredients.

3. Mix your wet ingredients.

4. Mix your two mixtures together! You don't want them to get over mixed so don't get carried away. You want to mix them until they are just combined. NOT until they are smooth.

5. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean. I wish I had paid closer attention... Maybe 15-17 minutes.

If you want you could brush with melted butter and roll the tops in cinnamon and sugar but I was trying to keep some semblance of healthy. Next time I will add flax to up the fiber content. Enjoy!

The Mother of All Chocolate Cakes

Tonight my mom and I hosted a girls night during the Priesthood session of General Conference . We had three of our favorite people over for soup, salads, pie crust tasting, and cake. More on the cake to follow. It was so nice to get together with good friends, good food, and good conversation.  I am grateful for the Relief Society that has taught me how to form and value friendships with those who are at different points in their lives than I am. We laughed, ate, told stories, ate, made pie crust, and ate some more. A wonderful close to a wonderful first day of conference!

On to the cake!

A few weeks ago I tried THIS cake. It was absolutely delicious but I don't think that the 3 cubes of butter is worth it for the filling. It was also much more time consuming to make than I have time for! While the cake is VERY delicious, I found myself longing for something more. Enter THIS cake. This chocolate cake has been in our rotation for the past year and is very impressive. Chris and I sometimes make the chocolate whip cream and eat it straight out of the bowl with our fingers dip strawberries in it. While the chocolate whip cream is no more healthy than the 3 cubes of butter filling, I feel the calories are totally worth it. Unfortunately this recipe uses a boxed cake recipe which limits the quality of the cake itself. Even the best boxed cake can't beat a good homemade version.

I have created what I think is THE perfect chocolate cake. I have taken components from the two different cakes and combined them to create cake that is truly droolworthy; cake that makes me swoon; cake that makes my husband love me infinitely more than before (if that were possible :)).

This cake has a foundation of moist rich chocolatey cake, layered with a chocolate whipped cream,  surrounded by chocolate buttercream frosting, and topped with toffee bits & sea salt. Can you tell we really like chocolate in this house?  Judgement is still out on buttercream vs. ganache but I will have to wait for another special occasion to have an excuse to compile this many calories in one place again before we can do the comparison.

Here's the recipe! You have most everything in your pantry already.

You can thank Annie of AnniesEats for the cake and frosting inspiration in this recipe!

Perfect Chocolate Cake v.2.1


For the cake: 

2¼ cups all-purpose flour

2¼ cups sugar

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

2¼ tsp. baking soda

1½ tsp. baking powder

1½ tsp. salt

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 cup plus 2 tbsp. buttermilk

1 cup plus 2 tbsp. Cocoa water (mix 2T cocoa with 1c. + 2T water)

3 large eggs

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

 

To make the cake, preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Grease and flour the edges of 3 8-inch baking pans, shaking out the excess.  Line the bottoms with rounds of parchment paper. If you don't have 3 pans use 2 and plan to cut your cakes into 4 layers.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Mix on low speed to blend.  Add the vegetable oil, buttermilk, cocoa water, eggs, and vanilla to the bowl and mix on low speed until well blended and completely incorporated.  Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.  Bake 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let the cakes cool in the pans about 15 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely.  Remove the parchment paper.

For the Chocolate Whipped Cream: 

3 cups Heavy Whipping Cream

1/3-1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup cocoa powder (more like a 1/2 if you like it dark!)

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Stir all your ingredients together then whip till thick, stiff, and creamy! (approx. 3 minutes)

For the buttercream:
12 oz. chocolate
¼ cup cocoa powder
¼ cup very hot water
1 cup butter
1/3 cup powdered sugar
Pinch of salt

In a heat safe bowl, melt your chocolate (stirring frequently) until it is completely melted and smooth.  Set aside and let cool to room temperature.  In a small bowl, combine the cocoa powder and water and stir until smooth.  Combine the butter, confectioners’ sugar and salt.  Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.  With the mixer on low speed, gradually blend in the melted and cooled chocolate until well incorporated.  Blend in the cocoa powder-water mixture until smooth. Smear it all over your face and lick off taste- enjoy!

To assemble your cakes, level layers if needed. Place hearty amounts of the chocolate whipped cream between each layer. Spread a thick layer of the buttercream on top and around the sides until it's pretty and holding as much chocolate as possible:) Top liberally with heath bits and give the edges a light sprinkle with sea salt.

We are counting down the days until we can eat this cake again! Luckily, I saved half of my last piece for secret eatings tomorrow. Which is a good thing because I have a paper to start, write, finish, edit, turn-in tomorrow before noon :) Cake for breakfast? I think so...