Honey-Spice Apple Butter

I am sooo excited because it's apple season again! To me, the scent of apples and cinnamon is one of my very favorite combinations. The sweet and spicy combination is a hallmark Autumn scent and it makes all the rainy weather and "back to school blues" just that much more tolerable. Just knowing that a whole season of apple pies, cakes, squares and cookies lies ahead makes me happy.

On the weekend I made honey spice apple butter from Fine Cooking magazine. Apple butter is essentially a thicker and spicier version of applesauce, traditionally made by slow-cooking sliced or pureed apples in copper kettles for up to 12 hours or more. The apples are constantly stirred with long paddles. The heat causes the fruit's natural sugars to caramelize, thus giving apple butter its distinctive deep brown color. It goes wonderfully on toast and can also be used to complement and heighten the flavor of apple recipes or to replace some of the fat in muffin and cake recipes.

I am submitting this to Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice for Magazine Mondays.

Honey-Spice Apple Butter
Makes 1 1/2 cups | adapted from Fine Cooking, October 2004

2 lbs apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 cup apple cider
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/8 tsp cinnamon
pinch ground cloves, all-spice and/or nutmeg (to taste)
pinch salt

Combine the apples and cider in a heavy 3-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce the heat to a maintain a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples have mostly broken down, about 30 minutes.

Use a rubber spatula to force the mixture through a medium sieve into a bowl. Rinse out the saucepan and return the mixture to the pan. Whisk in the brown sugar, honey, cinnamon, allspice, and salt. Bring back to a simmer over medium heat and adjust the heat to maintain a vigorous simmer. Cook until the mixture reduces and thickens to a spreadable consistency, about 75 minutes.

As the mixture cooks, stir occasionally at first and then more frequently as it thickens; keep in mind that the apple butter will thicken a little more as it cools. Scrape the apple butter into a storage container and press a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming as it cools. Once completely cool, you can remove the plastic, cover with a lid, and refrigerate for up to two weeks.

Heath Bar-Inspired English Toffee

Make your own English Toffee Bits (like Heath or Skor bars) for a fraction of the cost! Plus, it's fun to take out a little of your energy by pounding the toffee to little pieces in a heavy duty zipper-lock bag. Don't let the words "candy thermometer" scare you like they used to scare me. Just be watchful that it doesn't burn and take it off the heat when it gets near the right color as the candy will keep cooking from the residual heat.

I don't have a picture of the toffee crushed up into bits. I kinda forgot to do that, but you get the idea. You can either put the chocolate on or leave ir off. I like the chocolate on for snacking but if I'm just using the toffee in baking then I leave it off.



Homemade Toffee Bits
Makes 1 tray

1 cup sugar
1 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup water

1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

1. Heat sugar, butter and water to boiling in heavy 2-quart saucepan, stirring constantly; reduce heat to medium. Cook about 13 minutes, stirring frequently, to 300 degrees F on candy thermometer or until small amount of mixture dropped into cup of very cold water separates into hard, brittle threads. (Watch carefully so mixture does not burn.)

2. Immediately pour toffee onto ungreased large cookie sheet. Quickly spread mixture to 1/4" thick. Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips on top if using. Let stand to soften then spread out evenly over the surface with an offset spatula.

3. Let stand until fully set and firm (overnight is best).

For baking bits: Break into pieces the place in a sturdy plastic bag and pound with rolling pin/meat tenderizing mallot/other heavy object until you have a toffee bits. Store in airtight container or use as you would use storebought ones.

Train Cake & Construction Site Cake

Happy Birthday Zachary! I love you more and more as each day goes by and your personality develops and shines through. I am constantly amazed and amused by the things you do and the talents you have. Thanks for sticking out the past 3 years with me :)
*****
So... Today is my son's 3rd birthday. I still remember being pregnant, worrying about delivery, being HUGE and waddling around - lol. I can hardly believe 3 years has gone by and my baby boy will be starting preschool next week. I feel like the time is moving too quickly and I'm not doing enough of the things I should be doing for him. As (most) moms probably do, I worry that I'm not a good enough mother.

But for now... let's eat some cake!!! This year he was very much into trains. The Thomas set we have takes up way too much floorspace in our living room and has me constantly tripping over trains, but I guess it's worth it for the smile on his face.

How I made the cake:

Baked the cake 1 day in advance and refrigerated it to make handling easier.

Piped melted chocolate for the rail-road track.

I baked a regular yellow cake in 2 loaf pans and a soup can. To remove the cake from the can, just open the other side of the can and push the cake through.

For the engine I used 1 loaf. I cut off 2" from one end and stacked that on top of the loaf and held together with a skewer pushed all the way through. Level one side of the cylinder so it sits better on top of the loaf cake.

Used a marshmallow for the smoke-stack.

I cut the second loaf in half for the 2 smaller cars.

The circus car cage bars are finger-type cookies and the top of the cage is made from a graham cracker.

The wheels are Oreo cookie halves.

I frosted this cake with a no refrigeration needed frosting, recipe below. I fell in love with the consistency and ease to work with. It's not too sweet either.

The assembly took 3 hours (baking time excluded).





I also made a second cake, construction site themed, for the party at his preschool. It was such a huge hit especially amongst the little boys who started digging at the Oreo "dirt" with the toy vehicles on the cake. Compared to the train cake, this one was a breeze. I used a sour cream chocolate frosting, recipe here.

No Refrigeration Bakeshop Frosting
Makes 3 cups | adapted from KittenCalsKitchen

1 cup shortening
1/4 cup powdered coffee creamer (Coffee Mate)
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
16 oz. confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/3 cup water (approx.)
food coloring as needed

In a large mixing bowl beat the shortening creamer and extracts. Gradually beat in the confectioners sugar. Little by little add in enough water until frosting reaches desired consistency. Add food coloring until the desired shade is achieved.

Slow Cooker Dulce de Leche

I am now officially totally infatuated with my slow cooker. Not because it helps me get dinner on the table. No ma'am. The newest reason my crockpot rocks my world is because for virtually no effort it transforms sweetened condensed milk into a decadent foolproof dulce de leche. 8 hours of crock pot magic and voilà - heaven in a can. This method makes it so there are no more worries about popping pressurized cans or watching the stove for hours and hours. The first time I made this I had no idea what to expect when I opened up the can. To put it mildly, I was nothing short of overjoyed. To little ole me, it was like magic!

Now my only problem is deciding what to use my dulce de leche for - so many options!!! If you make this and remember, please rate it here at Dulce de Leche on Recipezaar.

Slow Cooker Dulce de Leche

1 can sweetened condensed milk, unopened
Water

1. Wash and remove the labels from your cans of sweetened condensed milk. Make sure the cans are undented and unopened.
2. Stand your cans up in the slow cooker and pour water in to cover cans fully.
3. Cook on low for at least 8 hours (I've gone up to 12 hours once when I forgot about the cans, results were still good). You could probably do this on high for 4-5 hours but I haven't tried it.
4. Allow to cool fully before opening the can. Store in refrigerator.
5. If you open the can and find that it's not golden enough (highly unlikely), scoop out contents into a saucepan and simmer on low until desired color.

Fruit Leather

This is my favorite way to use up rapidly ripening fruit or too much fruit. You can use your oven or a special food dehydrator appliance. The best home food dehydrators are made by Nesco. Almost any combination of fruits will work, so be creative! These rolls pictured here are apple-mango. I used 2 gaga apples and 1 mango with a few spoons of sugar to sweeten. Mine were done in 12 hours using a dehydrator.

**TIP**: I find that apples gice the best textured leathers and work especially well when mixed with other runnier fruits such as berries. They are often complement almost any fruit and are a good 'filler' to stretch expensive fruit further without compromising the taste.

When making fruit leather, there is no set recipe. So much of it depends on the specific fruit you are working with, its sweetness and your personal taste preferences. Here are some general tips from www.simplyrecipes.com.

Fruit Leather Master Recipe
yields about one baking sheet

4 cups fresh or canned fruit (peaches, plums, berries, apples, pears, grapes)
Water
Lemon juice
Sugar/Honey (as needed)
Spices (optional)

1. Rinse, peel, remove stems, de-seed and chop the fruit. Taste it to see how sweet it is. If still a little tart, you may need to add some sugar in the next step.

2. Place fruit in a large saucepan. Add a half cup of water for every 4 cups of chopped fruit. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook on a low for 10-15 minutes, or until the fruit is cooked through. Uncover and stir. Use a potato masher to mash up the fruit in the pan. Taste the fruit and determine what and how much sugar, lemon juice, or spices to add. Add sugar in small amounts to desired sweetness. ***Note: The fruit seems to get sweeter after drying as the flavor becomes concentrated. Add lemon juice one teaspoon at a time to help brighten the flavor of the fruit. Add a pinch or two of cinnamon, nutmeg, or other spices if desired.

Continue to simmer and stir until any added sugar is completely dissolved and the fruit purée has thickened, another 5 or 10 minutes (or more).

If you are working with grapes - strain the juice out of the mashed grapes to make grape juice.

3. Puree cooked fruit in a blender/food processor until very smooth. Taste again and adjust sugar/lemon/spices if necessary. Line a rimmed baking sheet with a silpat/silicone mat or grease it with a neutral oil (ex. canola oil). Pour out the purée into the baking sheet to about an 1/8-1/4 inch thickness.

4. Place the baking sheet in the oven at 140 degrees F. If you have a convection setting, use it, it will speed up the process and help dry out the purée. Let dry in the oven like this for as long as it takes to form fruit leather (8-12 hours, can do this overnight). If you have a food dehydrator, use it instead of the oven, set at 135-140 degrees F. The fruit leather is ready when it is no longer sticky, but has a smooth surface.

5. When ready, you can easily peel it off the Silpat mat. To store, cut into 1 inch strips, roll each strip up in waxed paper and tie with a of string. Store airtight. Can be stored in freezer up to 1 month.

Caramel Sauce

One of the best foods ever! A pure rush of sugar. What could be better? It's even better when it's home made, not to mention cheaper. David Lebovitz has some great tips to simplify caramel making and an explanation of why he does not recommend using a thermometer.
See: Making Perfect Caramel and Ten Tips for Caramel.

The recipe I used is a liquid (sugar & water) not a dry caramel (just sugar) from pastry chef Anna Olson. By the way, there are some really great recipes in her little book named after the TV show she hosts: Sugar

Caramel Sauce
Makes 1 cup

3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup white corn syrup
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup whipping cream

1. Bring sugar, corn syrup and water up to a boil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Boil without stirring, brushing the sides of the pan occasionally with a brush dipped in water.
2. Cook for about 10 minutes, until sugar turns an amber colour - like the color of a copper penny.
3. Remove from heat and whisk in cream, taking care as it will rise and steam. Allow to cool, then chill until ready to use.

Ice-Cream Cake

I'm a total daddy's girl. My dad is awesome. He's a quiet, soft-spoken guy who will do anything for his family. While my mom and I go head to head and battle it out, my dad and I rarely fight. To me, fighting with him would be like kicking a puppy because he's such a nice guy. It's funny how Mother's day seems like a much bigger deal than Father's day. I would guess that people probably spend more on their moms than on their dads, maybe because dads are more easygoing. I know my mother would get really upset if Ii don't make the day feel special enough for her, but my dad is just happy to go out for dinner as a family and have some cake.

For Father's Day I made a heart shaped ice-cream cake. The base is made out of chocolate chip cookie. The layers are: Rolo ice cream, mini Rolo candy pieces, a thin layer of vanilla ice cream followed by another layer of Rolo ice cream.The whole thing was so easy to throw together. The only thing I would change next time is to make a brownie crust or an Oreo cookie crumb crust because the chocolate chip cookie was a little difficult to cut through after being frozen.

I also made these super-cute sugar spirals. They are similar to spun sugar but less messy and easier to work with and keep.

Caramel Sugar Decorations

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Directions:

1. Dissolve sugar in water. Bring to a boil. Stir in cream of tartar. Brush side of pot with cold water occasionally to clean sugar crystals from building up. Continue to heat sugar to 312 degrees F or to desired caramel stage. Immediately plunge bottom of pot in ice water to stop the cooking.

2. Decorations are made by drizzling caramel sugar onto parchment paper in a decorative fashion. Let cool. Reserve. Spun sugar is made by drizzling sugar with a fork over a wooden spoon handle.