Cake Tuesday: Shenandoah Apple Cake

*** Enjoy an easy to make old-fashioned cake with links to 2 more similar recipes!




This is an apple and pear cake with the link to the recipe after the post


From Denny: Apple cake is one of those first cakes a beginner baker learns to make because it is so tasty for breakfast, a weekend brunch or an afternoon snack with a cup of coffee or tea. At our house we like fruit desserts like fruit pies and fruit cakes.

Also, on the health side, when you eat fruit in a sugary dessert the fruit helps minimize the effects of sugar causing that roller coaster ride for the blood sugar that can leave you depleted of energy a few hours later. So, if you like sweets - but have some issues breaking away from too much sugar in your diet - this fruit in a sugary dessert helps you work your way out of it. If you don't have any issues with too much sugar in your diet, just enjoy! :)

When I make apple cake in the summer I like to add 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg to the cinnamon. When I make this cake in the fall I add 1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves to the cinnamon. Nutmeg is lighter and fresher to the senses just perfect for the spring and summer. Cloves as a spice is mysterious and warm in sensation.

It is an extremely strong spice so don't add more as the spice can take over the flavor of a dish. Using cloves as a background hint does wonders for more than baked goods. I use it in marinara and spaghetti sauces and even when I make oatmeal for breakfast. Here in Louisiana we use ground cloves in our seafood boil seasonings too. There is more to the clove spice than just studded in the fat to bake a ham! It's sweetness is versatile when used with a very light hand.

In my ongoing effort to promote small business over Big Business I'm featuring this Virgina bed and breakfast inn today. Considering that the Fourth of July is this weekend, what could be more patriotic than to remember the earliest history of America? This inn dates back to 1740! It once stood on the American frontier and has been restored to 12 guest rooms for gracious comfortable country living.





Restored inn from Colonial times on the Shenandoah River in Virginia

From the website of The Inn at Narrow Passage: Our historic 1740 Shenandoah Valley bed and breakfast is the perfect place to relax and enjoy the beauty and history of the Valley of this special location between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Alleghenies.

Once a haven against Indian attacks on the Virginia frontier and later Stonewall Jackson’s headquarters during the Valley Campaign of 1862, our Shenandoah Valley inn now welcomes travelers looking for comfortable lodging and friendly hospitality.

On Route 11 (the Old Valley Turnpike), only two miles from Interstate 81 at Woodstock, our Virginia Bed & Breakfast inn has a real country atmosphere. We are located five private acres along the Shenandoah River. The Inn offers 12 guest rooms, a well-equipped meeting room for small executive retreats, many common areas, and lovely grounds to host your wedding.

*** Recognized for "Excellence in Preservation 2007" by the Shenandoah Preservation League

*** Selected by National Geographic Traveler as one of 150 hotels and inns in North America that "Celebrate their Sense of Place" (April, 2008)






This is an apple and pear cake with the link to the recipe after the post



Shenandoah Apple Cake

The Inn at Narrow Passage
Ellen and Ed Markel, owners and innkeepers
50 Chapman Landing Road (P.O. Box 608)
Woodstock, Virginia 22664

Email: innkeeper@narrowpassage.com
Phone: 540-459-8000 ~ Toll Free: 800-459-8002


Shenandoah Apple Cake

Ingredients:

5 apples, pared, cored, and thinly sliced
5 tbsp. granulated sugar
2 tbsp. cinnamon
4 eggs
2 c.sugar
3 c. flour
1 c. oil
3 tsp. baking powder
2 + 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Juice of one orange (1/4 c.)

Directions:

Mix first three ingredients together and set aside.

Beat eggs with sugar, add oil, flour, baking powder, vanilla, and orange juice.
Beginning with batter, alternate layers in a greased and floured ring pan, ending with batter.

Save some apples to decorate the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hr. and 10 min. Cool on a wire rack and remove from pan. Sprinkle with confectioners sugar before serving, if desired.


*** See Also from Smitten Kitchen: Mom's Apple Cake

*** See Also: Here's what you do when you only have 2 apples and some pears to make the same cake, go here.

*** See Also: Muffin Monday and Cake Tuesday recipe links

*** Photo of apple and pear cake by joyocity @ flickr

*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

*** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:

The Social Poets
Dennys Global Politics
The Soul Calendar
Visual Insights
Beautiful Illustrated Quotations
Poems From A Spiritual Heart
The Healing Waters
Dennys Art Sanctuary
Romancing The Chocolate
Comfort Food From Louisiana
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Muffin Monday: Pina Colada Muffins

*** Have a little fun in your muffins today!





From Denny: Here's a fun little recipe from a bed and breakfast down in Florida. It includes coconut and pineapple for a sweet moist muffin of sheer delight. It's also very easy to make because it employs a yellow cake mix. If you don't have any rum extract you can easily substitute vanilla extract in its place.


*** Remember to support small business in your area and when you travel. Why stay at a Big Business hotel as you travel when you can stay in a more home like atmosphere of a bed and breakfast inn? The prices are comparable, the people friendlier and your stay will be memorable.


Pina Colada Muffins

From: Magnolia Plantation Bed & Breakfast Inn
309 SE 7th Street * Gainesville, Florida 32601

Email: info@magnoliabnb.com

Makes: 24 Medium muffins.

Ingredients:

1 lb box of yellow or butter cake mix
1 tsp. pure coconut extract
1 tsp. pure rum extract
1 cup flaked coconut
1/2-1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)
8 oz. can crushed pineapple, undrained

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cake batter according to package directions. Add remaining ingredients and mix for 1 minute. (Do not over mix.)
Fill greased muffin cups 3/4 full and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool on wire racks.



*** Check out:

American Revolt: How You Can Break Big Business, Big Banks, Big Insurance, Big Oil, Big Lobbyists

Muffin Monday: Polynesian Bread or Muffins, Gluten Free Pineapple Muffin

Muffin Monday: Savory Feta, Roasted Pepper Basil Muffins From Sur La Table

Muffin Monday: Banana Praline Muffins, White Chocolate Banana Bread



Muffin collage photo by _Nezemnaya_ @ flickr


*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

Muffin Monday: 3 Cappuccino Chocolate Chip Muffin Recipes

*** Enjoy 3 quick and easy recipes for chocolate and coffee all wrapped up and baked into the goodness of a muffin.





From Denny: Muffin Monday just seemed like a natural when writing about food. What a great way to start off our work week! I wanted to see what the Bed and Breakfast Inns around America offered up in the way of muffin delights and found a real treasure trove.

If you happen to live in the area of this inn, or will be traveling there soon, you can check it out. Whenever I travel I like to check the menus of the hotel, inn or local restaurants and plan my excursions around the local food. The local cuisine is half the learning experience when traveling and tells you so much about the culture.

I found the last two recipes while researching a Creative Commons usable photo from Flickr. My fellow photographers definitely like to eat well and enjoy posting many of their favorite recipes. Whenever I get lucky and run across them I try to post those recipes as so many of them are fabulous. Enjoy baking!


*** Remember to support small business in your area and when you travel. Why stay at a Big Business hotel as you travel when you can stay in a more home like atmosphere of a bed and breakfast inn? The prices are comparable, the people friendlier and your stay will be memorable.


Cappuccino Chocolate Chip Muffins

From: Deacon Timothy Pratt Bed and Breakfast Inn c.1746
325 Main Street
Old Saybrook, Connecticut 06475



Email: betterbedbreakfast@pratthouse.net



Ingredients:

6 T. butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cup unsifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
2 T. Instant Coffee
2 T. coffee flavored liquor (optional)
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 6-muffin pan. In large bowl, beat on medium speed: butter and sugar till light
and fluffy. Beat in egg, vanilla, disolve coffee granuules, and coffee liquor until blended.

In medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternating with
milk, beating just until combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Divide batter among muffin-pan cups.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until centers spring back when lightly pressed. Serve warm.







William Shatner’s Cappuccino Chip Muffins

From: William Shatner, star of the Star Trek TV and movie series

Makes: 8-12 muffins (when you fill the tins up to the top you will get 8.)

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg (room temp)
1 cup milk (room temp)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips or equivalent of other chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with flour-added cooking spray. For bigger muffins, spray 8 of the cups.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, espresso powder, cinnamon and salt.

In a medium bowl, whisk egg lightly. Whisk in milk, melted butter and vanilla extract. Make a well in center of dry ingredients and pour in milk mixture. Stir just until evenly blended. Stir in chocolate chips.

Divide batter among 12 or 8 greased muffin cups. Bake 15 to 18 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in center of muffin comes out clean.






Cappuccino Muffins

From: Taste of Home magazine

Ingredients:

Spread (filling)

* 4 ounces cream cheese, cubed
* 1 tablespoon sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon instant coffee granules
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Muffins

* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup milk
* 2 tablespoons instant coffee granules
* 1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
* 1 egg, beaten
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 3/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips


Directions:

In a food processor (or using a hand mixer), combine the spread ingredients, cover and process until well blended.

Cover and refrigerate until serving.

For the muffins: In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl, stir milk and coffee granules until coffee is dissolved.

Add butter, egg and vanilla; mix well.

Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.

Fold in chocolate chips.

Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full (Sprinkle with raw sugar...)


Bake at 375°F for 17-20 minutes or until muffins test done. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.
I used 2tsp of expresso powder instead of the instant coffee and mixed it with the milk to dissolve, added a few extra shakes of cinnamon and extra choc chips. I also overflowed the vanilla flavoring, I baked at 370 for 18-19 mins … made 17 muffins. Very moist and delicious!

Serve with espresso spread.


*** Check out the origin of Muffin Monday recipes: American Revolt: How You Can Break Big Business, Big Banks, Big Insurance, Big Oil, Big Lobbyists

*** Photo by Laura HB @ flickr

*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!