Applecake

Apfelkuchen! There, it needed to be said. How does one take the most simple of ingredients and, with equally simple preparation, produce the most delightfully down-to-earth treat ever? Apfelkuchen, or Applecake, is the answer.

With the plethora of apples spilling over the shelves of any market you go to at this time of year, and their rainbow of colors and patterns, we have been seduced into making all sorts of treats. Whether it's apple pancakes (see our previous post), apple crisp, quartered apples smeared with peanut butter, overnight muesli with fresh apples, or just sinking your teeth into a crisp, juicy, sweet or tart, flavorful (insert your favorite kind of) apple, we're on it!

This recipe was so quick to throw together and was met with such great reviews that Jen is considering throwing it into the Thanksgiving mix this year... And you know we take these decisions pretty seriously.

So you start with three bowls. One small one to mix together the brown sugar and butter topping - don't forget to bring your butter to room temperature in advance! (Bonus: If you are avoiding dairy you can totally use Earth Balance, or your dairy-free butter of choice, and almond milk. Voila!) One medium bowl for your eggs and milk. One large bowl (or oversized measuring cup) for your dry ingredients.

We like to keep in mind, the simpler the recipe, the more important the quality of ingredients. Which is really a win-win situation.

We reduced the amount of sugar called for by 2/3 cups, since we had sweet apples instead of tart and we like the flavor of our awesome ingredients to take center-stage over the sugar. We were a bit concerned, with the science of baking and all, that the texture might suffer.... We actually considered that this might be our first fail. But fail, we did not!

It certainly helped a lot in the preparation process that Jen has this crazy contraption that peels and slices apples all in one whirl (Tara will have one someday too, see the video on our sauerkraut recipe and prepare to be amazed), but grab a friend and a couple of paring knives and we're sure that part of the prep process will fly by with good conversation.

Once you've mixed the wet ingredients into the dry, you'll find that it is a pretty thick batter that needs to be spread evenly with a spatula, and that's ok. Then, if you are as OCD as we are, you will lay out your apple slices in a perfect mosaic pattern and realize you have way too many apples for that and dump the rest on, spreading evenly with your spatula. Last, dot your very moist, not crumbly and dry at all, topping all over the top.

The recipe suggests to eat this warm out of the oven, and we are not arguing. But this is a fairly large cake, good for a crowd, and if there are four of you it is likely you will have leftovers. Eat them for breakfast. Yes, we're serious. This is a sturdy, pastry-like cake and with our reduction in sugar it is perfectly but not overly sweet. Great for dessert AND breakfast (or lunch!), as Rob and GK would attest to. Go on, ask them!

We also had a moment of thinking that the delicious sour cream sauce from the apple pancakes would be sooo good with this cake. Not that it needs anything else. But come on, that sauce?!

Oh, one last thing... We used vanilla almond milk, which was divine. It is completely acceptable to use any plain milk of your choosing, but we strongly suggest throwing in a teaspoon of vanilla extract or scraping some vanilla beans into the mix. We think that flavor really took it over the top and the recipe might be a bit plain without it.

Happy mixing!

Apple Pancakes

Breakfast for dinner, anyone? Or just looking for that perfect Sunday morning pancake recipe to serve to weekend guests or your sweetheart? However you choose to enjoy them, you can't go wrong with these delicious, hearty yet fluffy apple-filled treats.

As a tinge of chill begins to lend a crispness to the fall air, the leaves change colors in places where leaves change color (jealous!), apple-picking and cider house visits segue into hayrides and autumn bonfires, and your belly is ready to move past the salads and grill-outs of summer to the warm comforting foods of fall and winter... Go pick those apples people! Or just pick them up at the store, that's what we did. Apple orchards are probably not in abundance in LA.

Remember this cool contraption from the sauerkraut recipe? Gotta love it.

This is a pretty basic pancake recipe, but with some distinctly German touches - namely, the sour cream sauce and apple combo. It was so good that Tara has decided this sauce may well replace syrup in her life for all pancakes from now on. Due to dairy restrictions, she is thinking maybe a plain non-dairy yogurt might be a good replacement with coconut oil instead of butter? 

Sour Cream Topping

We decided to cut the sour cream sauce in half, which turned out to be the perfect pancake to sauce ratio. Unless you want to double the pancake recipe for a crowd or use the sauce for other creative purposes, we suggest you do the same. Also, with all the ingredients out in front of us, trying to decide how the honey would blend in to a cold sauce, Jen suggested switching to maple syrup (perfect for pancakes, right?) and it was brilliant! It blended completely and added a wonderful hint of maple flavor. Make sure to get the real stuff though! No Aunt Jemima, you know what we're saying? Well, you could try it but in that case we're not making any promises....

We attempted to bring the egg and milk up to room temp as much as possible so the melted butter didn't clump up. Oh, and check out the bit about the "rotary beater"?! Does anyone else remember those? It's little moments like this that remind us that these recipes were originally published in 1960. Pretty cool.

We used a whisk. Otherwise we mixed and griddled as directed, with Tara's master flipper skills evading that ultimate pancake tragedy of which we're sure we are all familiar. 

Soooo, we all loved them. They were simple to make and satisfying, sweet but not too sweet. We suggest you try them. Like, now. 

Get flipping!

Sauerkraut With Apples

Mmmmm! Who doesn't love a heap of warm sauerkraut with their weiner? Especially with apples?! Seriously.

Sauerkraut With Apples from Grandma's Cookbook was a fairly simple recipe to throw together, and you simply have to check out this cool contraption of Jen's which took it to a whole new level of quick and easy:

 

Would you believe she scored the #1 selling sauerkraut of Germany at Big Lots?? At least that's the claim on the jar... It's nice because, unlike some jars of kraut you find around these parts, it only contains real ingredients - the things that are supposed to be in sauerkraut - and even a little wine.

In case you weren't aware, we are at the beginning of apple season (yes, apples are indeed a seasonal fruit even though it's easy to find them year-round), so we've taken advantage of that for a number of recipes. We're talking apple pancakes, apple strudel, as well as this apple sauerkraut... Is your mouth watering yet?

Just a few simple steps and this kraut will be sitting prettily on your table to serve alongside whatever main dish suits your fancy - first butter and onions, then kraut, then apples, then broth, some cider vinegar, thicken it up with a bit of flour and some potato, and you're good to go! 

The one thing we did, as in the Breasts of Chicken Paprika, is we boiled our organic free-range chicken broth down to the amount called for rather than buying conventional condensed broth. Scroll on down to that recipe if you'd like to see our method.

Guten tag, and happy Oktoberfest!