Return of the Cook

It was a little chilly this past weekend, y'all. It had that snap, that bite, that autumnness about it. I love new seasons and particularly am fond of fall. I mentioned last time that we've had a great grilling season and so many peaceful nights on the back deck, but I miss COOKING. So I kicked off the chill in the air with an impulse-cake, a spontaneously made applesauce spice cake. I have this bundt pan that I acquired, probably at a yard sale, for roughly $1, and every so often the big, heavy, 1978-mustard-yellow thing must be used. So, here we are.

It's not super-apple-y but even still seemed the right thing to make on Rosh Hashanah. I took a recipe and tweaked it a few times over, so it's kind a "choose-your-own-ending" sort of cake (for example, it would be just fine if you skipped the nuts). It's not an extremely sweet cake, which was sort of intentional. I opted not to glaze it, but if you're looking for something very dessert-y you might want to do so. I don't have an enormous sweet tooth and prefer the delicate dusting of confectioners' sugar - plus it looks pretty, y'all. (If you do that, I suggest putting some plastic wrap under the cooling rack to catch all the extra sugar.)

As I mentioned it's not really apple-y, so if you arrived here looking for an apple cake - you can just chop up an apple and mix it in. I encourage Pink Lady apples in baking, but Granny Smith or Honeycrisp would work well too.

Autumn Kickoff Cake

1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 1/2 cups applesauce

[*Note: my applesauce was really excessively sugary, which is what made me look for a recipe in the first place - so I reduced the sugar to 1/3 cup of white and 1/3 cup of brown. Adjust per your preferences.*]

1 cup vegetable oil [*I ran out and used half olive oil, which is healthier anyway - can't taste a difference at all.*]
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans [*Important: not huge chunks! They'll overwhelm.*]
sifted confectioners' sugar or vanilla glaze (recipe below)

Lightly butter and flour a bundt pan or a loaf pan.

In a large mixing bowl, beat sugar, applesauce, oil, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Stir in flour, soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg until well blended. Stir in chopped walnuts or pecans (and apple(s) if using). Pour batter into prepared bundt pan or loaf pan. Bake at 350° for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool cake for 10 minutes in pan on rack. Remove from pan and cool completely on rack. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar or drizzle with vanilla glaze.

Vanilla Glaze  
(courtesy southernfood.about.com)

2 cups confectioners' sugar, sift before measuring
1 1/2 tablespoons butter, soft
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 to 4 tablespoons milk

Combine all icing ingredients in small mixing bowl. Stir until smooth and well blended. Adjust for spreading consistency if necessary, adding more milk or more confectioners' sugar. Spread icing or drizzle on warm cookies, Bundt cake, or pound cake.

One Last Grill

Friends,

Hello again. The summer is winding down - technically, by the Jersey Shore calendar, it's over already, and the 49 degrees it was when I woke up this morning attests to that. It's been a lovely summer of grilling and growing, but I'm ready for cooking season. "Cooking season?" you say. Yes indeed, readers. The oven goes dormant from late May through, well, about now. So much grilled deliciousness this summer, mostly done be EPH but a little here and there by me.

Which reminds me - did I ever talk to you about the brining of everything else? During one of EPH's trips I felt like grilling, and in a fit of health had purchased skinless boneless chicken breasts. These are not something I generally have on hand as I feel they are generally bland and flavorless. But then somebody said something about brining them, I gave it a try, and just like that -- chicken breasts redeemed! The only lingering question is WHY didn't I do this before???