Cinnamon pudding cake

[hudebnik]

For my birthday we decided to try this recipe, which shalmestere had bookmarked a few months ago. Several other commenters had suggested decreasing the sugar and increasing the apples, so I did that, and I replaced the all-purpose flour with whole-wheat (since we seem to be aiming towards a brown, moist aesthetic). And I had no 9"x9" square pan, so I used an 8"x8", which I figured would only make it a little moister and puddingier. The resulting ingredient list is

Batter:
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup milk

Syrup [which is boiled together and poured over the batter in the baking pan]:
7/8 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons butter

Toppings:
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1-1/2 cup apple - peeled, cored, and chopped [I used a single largish Granny Smith]

Notes: The "batter", which the recipe tells one to "pour" into the greased square pan, was more nearly a dough which I spread into the greased square pan; perhaps the whole-wheat flour sucked up the moisture more thoroughly than all-purpose would have, or perhaps I mis-measured it. Anyway, I mixed half of the apple chunks into the dough first, and sprinkled the other half and all the nuts on top. The recipe doesn't say how finely to "chop" the apple: I got it to chunks 1/2"-1" on a side, and a bit smaller might be better. After 35 minutes at 350F, a toothpick inserted in the center was still quite moist; at 40 minutes it was mostly clean and we declared it done, serving it warm with ice cream (Hagen-Dazs vanilla-bean, keeping the cake in the starring role).

Results: The syrup, as advertised, formed a nice gooey caramely sauce, distributed between the top and bottom of the cake. I had halved the quantity of syrup, and it was plenty from a flavor perspective, but some bites of cake were on the dry side, like bites of a bread pudding to which the custard hasn't penetrated sufficiently. Perhaps it would have been moister with all-purpose flour, or with the full cup of white sugar, but I doubt it; perhaps a bit more milk or less flour? The 3 tsp. of cinnamon was detectable, but not strong; one could increase it a bit without being overwhelmed. Mostly a success, for those times when you want a dessert that doesn't contain chocolate :-)

[EDIT: Since we both thought it was a bit dry, the next day we mixed up some custard sauce to pour over reheated leftovers. I halved the sauce recipe, and I think it'll be more than enough for all the remaining cake. Yum!]

dessert: Pink Apple Tarts

[tielan]

A super-simple recipe when you want something sweet and uncomplicated to make and eat or serve!

From the book marie claire: food fast, p 78.

( pink apple tarts )

Conclusions

It all worked pretty well, so far as I was concerned! They were pretty tasty (not fantastic, but fruit, pastry, and sugar) and with a bit more care, they'd look very pretty and presentable.

I think they might have needed a bit longer in the oven to cook the pastry under the fruit - it wasn't soggy, exactly, but it wasn't very baked, either. Or perhaps the key is using semi-dried fruit or drained fruit pieces instead of freshly cut? Slicing really thinly?

I'll definitely make these again - they'd be a great 'off-the-cuff' sweet fix for when one wants something fruity and pastry-y.

cabbage soup

[adrian_turtle]

It's soup weather here, and I had most of the ingredients of the "Cozy Cabbage and Farro Soup" that caught my eye on Smitten Kitchen a few years ago. I used barley instead of farro.

https://smittenkitchen.com/2019/01/cozy-cabbage-and-farro-soup/

I had less than half of what might have once been a 6 pound cabbage. (I never weigh produce anymore. It just turns up, mostly on request.) I contemplated it, and decided I ought to make a double batch of soup. Getting the big stock pot out of the cupboard, rinsing and drying it, and putting it on the stove, was pretty hard on my hand.

( Read more... )

It was AMAZING. I love this soup. Sauteed cabbage sometimes has a bitter edge to it, but the lemon smooths that out beautifully while keeping it lively. The little chewy bits of barley were great. I deliberately reduced the barley quite a bit, because I was planning to have the soup with toasted bagel, but if I make it again I will probably use more.

ETA: I say "if" because I can't really manage chopping the cabbage and lifting the pot. I might try to scale it down to fit in my little pot and/or use coleslaw mix when I can get that after the pandemic.