Caramel Apple Upside Down Cakes

“Can we get to the place where there is no place to get to?”

— Michael Stone

How is it possible that in 30 years of my life, I am just now making an apple upside-down cake?! These little babes have changed the game!

There’s nothing like a pineapple upside down cake, am I right? It’s so sweet and gooey and honestly, perfect. Years ago, I made a pineapple upside down layer cake—now THAT was extravagant! But, this year, it’s like something hit me and I finally made a caramel apple upside down cake. YUM. As my husband loves all things apples—he has his own honey crisp apple section at our house, loves apple pie, we had an apple pie tier in our wedding cake… I decided to make these for our anniversary this year! Sadly, it was sort of a fail, they just didn’t come out the way that I wanted, mainly because it was so last minute, and I was pressed with time as our baby was most likely crawling around like a madman! Anyways, I knew that I needed another go with these, so, voilà, we did it!

To start, I made a caramel. All on its own. On the stovetop, like the true pastry chef that I am! (laughs a little) And from there, I used a tried and true banana cake recipe that I have, tweaked it slightly, and made that the cake! It’s so dang moist (sorry!), not overly sweet, the perfect blend of fall spices, this is what dreams are made of—thank you Hilary Duff. Was I nervous that the caramel would stick when I took them out of the oven? Duh! But did it? Hell no. This cake seriously must love me because it came out so. dang. perfect.

So now, about a month after our anniversary, I have the most incredible anniversary cake for you! Of course, I did make these mini chocolate anniversary cakes years ago, and those are GOOD, but these are better! What can I say, we love an upside-down cake, we love an apple!

Oh, can I also add in that I made these all within Oliver’s 90-minute nap?! I believe it took me under an hour from start to finish, including the clean up!

caramel ingredients

Butter—2 oz, or 4 TBL

Brown Sugar—2.75 oz, or 1/3 C

Cinnamon—1 tsp

Vanilla Extract—½ tsp

Apple—1 medium

process

In a small sauce-pot, melt the butter and brown sugar together

Allow to boil for 1 minute

Remove from the heat and mix in the cinnamon and vanilla

Pour into the bottoms of your muffin pan, I used a large muffin pan, this makes 6

Press your apple slices on top of the caramel and set aside while you make the cake batter

cake ingredients

Butter, softened—4 oz, or ½ C

Coconut Sugar—4 oz, or 2/3 C

Banana—2 medium, ripe

Vanilla Extract—1 tsp

Flour—5.5 oz, or 1 C

Baking Powder—¾ tsp

Baking Soda—½ tsp

Salt—½ tsp

Cinnamon—2 tsp

Cloves—½ tsp

Milk—2 oz, or ¼ C

process

Preheat your oven to 350˚ F

In a large bowl, combine your softened butter and sugar

Mix in the mashed banana—I find very brown bananas are best for the job!

Add vanilla

In another bowl, soft together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and cloves

Add this to the wet ingredients and fold in until just combined

Add in the milk

Fill up each muffin cup until they are about ¾ of the way full

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, then rotate the pan, and bake for another 10-12

The cakes should spring back when touched, and you can always do the toothpick test.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a couple of minutes

Carefully, flip the muffin pan over before the caramel becomes too solid and cool

To enjoy, warm up so you have a soft caramel and a warm cake!

Bon Appétit!

Apple Pie Stuffed Snickerdoodles

“I choose to slow down to connect with the gift I’m given in this moment.”

HELLO FALL!

Something about this season really just gets me every dang time! I don’t know if it’s the beauty that fall brings in New England (yes, I know I live in the south now!), the fact that I was married in the fall, the smells and flavors, the coziness… the list truly could go on FOREVER! There are just so many amazing foods that make me think of fall, apples and apple pie being at the top of the list!

I’ve done my fair share of apple desserts, and it helps that my husband and son love all things apple—I mean my husband buys apples specifically for himself… and that being said, I just wanted to add another good one to the books! This all started with me really wanting to make snickerdoodles, but that just doesn’t sound exciting enough for me, which is where the apples came in. As my 4-year wedding anniversary is coming up in just a few weeks, I will most likely spend every day until then reminiscing about what a beautiful, crazy, exhausting, perfect day that was, and there were SO many apples included in it. Like so many. One of the tiers of our cake was apple pie, we had baskets of apples all over the venue (a family tradition, oddly enough!), my father-in-law brings up said baskets every time we are together, part of my gifts to my bridesmaids were fall scented (mainly apple) candles, the list goes on and on.

Anyways, stuffing these spiced up cookies with some delicious apple pie filling only made sense! I’ve stuffed cookies before, like these caramel stuffed gingerbread cookies or maybe these caramel corn Nutella cookies helllooooo (!!), and I just love it! It’s a fun little surprise and adds so much more flavor. These cookies are soft and chewy all on their own but adding extra moisture to the middle only ups their game! I’ve also increased the spice level as well. Cinnamon is great and all, but freshly grated nutmeg and some cloves really intensify the fallness in this cookie!

While our fall here in Atlanta is still in the 80’s, there is definitely some foliage going on in our backyard and I’ve added some candles to the mix, so we are getting to the coziness level that I love! Our son may not remember his first fall except through all of the hundreds of photos we take per day, but I hope that when he starts to love all of the seasons like I do, it’s the smells and colors and flavors that bring him joy, just like they do me!

apple filling ingredients

Apples—2 large, I love Gala or Honeycrisp

Cinnamon—1 TBL

Lemon Juice—½ lemon

Water—2 TBL

process

Cut up your apple into small, bite-sized pieces. Peeling is optional, I prefer to keep the peel on!

In a small saucepot, combine apples, cinnamon, lemon juice and water over low heat

Continue to stir every minute or two to make sure that all of the apples are getting cooked evenly

Cook until the apples become soft, this should take about 10-15 minutes depending on how small you have cut the apples

Remove from the heat and allow to cool while you’re making the cookie dough

cookie ingredients

Butter, room temperature—8 oz, or 1 C

Brown Sugar—6 oz, or ¾ C

Coconut Sugar—4.5 oz, or ¾ C

Eggs—2

Vanilla Extract—2 tsp

Flour—18 oz, or 3 C

Salt—1 tsp

Baking Soda—1 tsp

Cream of Tartar—2 tsp

Cinnamon—2 TBL

Nutmeg—1 ½ tsp

Cloves—1 tsp

process

In the bowl of your mixer, combine the softened butter and both of the sugars

Cream on medium speed for about 10 minutes, making sure to scrape down the bowl often

Once fluffy, turn mixer to low speed and add in the vanilla and then the eggs, one at a time

Beat until combined, again, making sure to scrape down the bowl often

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, cream of tartar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves

Slowly add this to the mixing bowl, while on low

Scrape down the sides of the bowl

Once all combined, turn the mixer off and prepare 2 cookie sheets with either a Silpat, nonstick spray or parchment

Scoop out all of the cookie dough using either a small-sized ice cream scoop, or about 2 TBL of dough.

Take one ball of scooped dough and flatten it

Add in about 2 tsp of the cooked apple pie filling

Take another ball of dough, flatten, and cover the apples

Pinch the sides together, roll the large cookie dough ball in your hands to make sure that no filling will leak out, and place on the baking sheet

Do this with the rest of your cookies

You may have some left-over apple-pie filling! This is amazing for a snack, my 7-month-old loves it, as it is just soft enough for him to eat!

Put your cookies in the fridge while you preheat the oven—this is the only chilling that is necessary!!

Preheat your oven to 350˚F

Once your oven is preheated, you now have two options: you may either bake just like this, or you can mix ½ C of sugar with 1 TBL of cinnamon and dip the tops of the cookies in this for extra flavor and crunch! They are so good both ways, but I love the added spice!

Bake for 12 minutes, rotate the pan, then bake for another 8 minutes

Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a cooling rack

These are best enjoyed warm, so if you are reheating, a good 20-30 seconds in the microwave does the trick!

Bon Appétit!

Apple Bacon Bread Pudding

Happy Holiday Season, my friends!

We have made it past Thanksgiving, so I can officially be as annoying as possible with my over-the-top Christmas spirit! Yay! Woo! Candy Canes! Gingerbread!

As I write up this blog post, I may or may not be snuggled up on the couch with Mr. Raleigh, wearing a shirt covered in gingerbread men, listening to some Christmas tunes while drinking coffee with a candy cane swirling around in my big mug…

If you don’t recall from last holiday season, this time of year just speaks to me—it’s truly the time when everyone’s love just comes out, no questions asked, and that makes me even more warm and fuzzy than usual! And if you’re at my house for Christmas, it’s going to be gingerbread house making, Bad Santa watching, spiked eggnog and Cognac drinking, and I-spy Christmas ornament playing. Things get pretty wild up there.

ANYWAYS! Let me stop rambling about the upcoming excitement in Maine, but instead about this even bigger thrill of the recipe below! Bacon. Apples. Spices. Bread. Crumb Topping.

I think I should have had you at bacon, but had to add in the crumb topping incase you’re nuts and your mouth doesn’t water at the thought of bacon.

Alright, so I have a small confession…the idea of bread pudding hasn’t always appealed to me. I see it on a brunch menu, a dessert menu, I’m kind of like well…pancakes, waffles, chocolate cake…they’re all higher up to me. But then after the past few weeks at work of making savory bread pudding almost everyday, I decided to put aside all of my past feelings and give it another shot. See, at work, we use day old savory pastries—croissants, gougeres, ham puffs—and that’s when I realized it can’t be that bad if there’s flaky, buttery pastry in it.

What bread is in my sweet variation? Cinnamon bread and challah, thank you very much. Luckily, homemade OR store bought is just fine, and day old is even better. And then I just added almost every favorite ingredient of mine: bacon for some savory-salty action, apples for a tart crunch, cinnamon and nutmeg—I mean, it’s Christmas, brown sugar for that wonderful sweetness, and a buttery, big crumb topping for even more little flavor bursts.

After making my own bread pudding and seeing how fun it is to experiment with flavor combinations, there’s absolutely no reason why this incredible custard shouldn’t move up in your ranking, too! One of the best parts? You can make this and let it sit overnight in the fridge, and then bake it fresh in the morning—hello simple brunch!

Oh, and I heard Christmas is on a Sunday this year, the day of brunching…so here is one less thing you need to plan!

crumb ingredients

Brown Sugar—1 oz, or 2 TBL

Flour—0.75 oz, or 2 TBL

Cinnamon—¼ tsp

Nutmeg—pinch

Butter, cold+cubed—1.5 oz, or 3 TBL

process

In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients.

Either using a fork, a pastry cutter, or, my favorite, your hands (!!), work the butter into the dry ingredients.

You want to have large and small crumbs of the topping, this will give you little buttery, spicy pockets once the bread pudding is baked!

When you are ready to bake your bread pudding, sprinkle this all over the top before putting into the oven.

ingredients

Bacon, cooked—8-10 pieces

Apple, diced—1

Bread—10 oz, or 4 C (packed!)

Milk—8 oz, or 1 C

Eggs—4

Vanilla—1 tsp

Brown Sugar—2.5 oz, or 1/3 C

Salt—¾ tsp

Cinnamon—2 tsp

process

In a large bowl, combine the bacon, diced apple, and bread.

*For bread, using day old is great, really soaks up the liquid. You may also use whatever type you’d like—but a sweet challah or cinnamon raison are the perfect flavor combinations!*

In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, vanilla, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon.

Pour your liquid mixture over the bread and mix well.

Once thoroughly mixed, pour all into a baking dish—I used a pie dish, makes it look pretty!

Cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit in the refrigerator to soak for at least 2 hours to overnight!

When you’re ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350˚F.

Sprinkle the crumb topping (recipe below) over the bread pudding.

Bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes, until you can see that the custard has set and there are no more runny eggs.

Remove from the oven, allow to cool slightly, and enjoy!

Bon Appétit!

Ginger Apple Cake with Dulce de Leche Drizzle

I know that an apple pie is basically a must at any and all fall events, especially at Thanksgiving, but today, I am giving you an addition to an apple pie—a ginger apple bourbon cake. Those three ingredients go together better than a peanut butter & jelly fluffernutter.

Mmm mm mmm.

Come to think of it, I don’t know why all apple pies don’t have the ginger and bourbon in them as well. Although bourbon and I weren’t that great of friends until we met up in Louisville and became besties, now I have the urge to put it in every single thing that I bake with. Whether cookies, cakes, pies, in a glass, we are sort of attached at the hip.

Did I just say that I am best friends with bourbon? I guess it can’t be too far off, seeing as I am basically a cookie in human form—yes, I seem to eat at least a couple a day…

So, when I decided to bake this cake, I figured that I wanted as much flavor as possible, for this to taste more like an apple covered in bourbon and rolled in ginger, which, I believe, is what the final product truly tastes like. By soaking the apples in the alcohol, they really absorb all of the flavor, and then adding the saturated apples as well as remaining liquid into the cake batter, it’s like a delicious punch in the face!

Okay—let’s go for a big hug of flavor instead.

Fresh, minced ginger. Enough said. Covered in some caramel or dulche de leche. I know I have you salivating!

As I sit here and munch on a piece that is bigger than I care to admit, I feel like if I could just hand out a cake to each of my readers, you would be instantly sold and would be saying “this is the bomb”—like Roberto did. Sadly, I can’t see all of you fabulous KBBakers and give out cakes, so you’re going to have to trust my apple-ginger-bourbon trio, knowing that it is to die for, and bake a few cakes yourself!

ingredients

Granny Smith Apples—2 medium

Butter—6 oz, or 12 TBL

Brown Sugar—3.75 oz, or ½ C

Sugar—2 oz, or ¼ C

Eggs—2

Bourbon—0.75 oz, or 2 TBL

Flour—6.25 oz, or 1 ¼ C

Fresh Ginger, minced—0.35 oz, or 1 TBL

Cinnamon—0.2 oz, or 1 tsp

process

Dice the apples into small cubes.

Combine the diced apples along with the bourbon in a small saucepot.

Put on the heat, bring to a boil, and then turn off the heat, cover and allow to sit until ready to put in your cake batter.

Preheat your oven to 325˚ F.

In the bowl of your mixer, cream the butter and sugars.

Add the eggs.

Once incorporated, add in the sifted flour, cinnamon and minced ginger.

Add in the apples/bourbon mixture.

Only mix until your batter has formed, overmixing will lead to air bubbles in your final product.

Spray a bundt pan with nonstick spray, and then coat with a light layer of flour so that the cake will come out easier after it has baked and cooled.

Pour your batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 45 minutes, until the cake springs back when touched.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before taking it out of the cake pan.

to make dulche de leche

Fill up a large pot with water and bring to a boil.

Take a can of sweetened condensed milk and remove its label.

Once your pot is boiling, place the can (I like to make at least 2 cans at once, always a great sauce to have on hand!) on its side, making sure that the water is fully covering the can.

If you do not keep the cans covered with water the entire time, there's a chance that the cans will explode from uneven heat!

Allow the cans to simmer for anywhere between 2 hours 30 minutes and 3 hours.

After the time has passed, very carefully remove the cans from the simmering water (oven mitts and tongs!),

Allow them to cool completely before opening.

Once cool, open and use!

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Bon Appétit!

Apple Cider Crumb Donuts

Since moving to this truly wild state of WV, I have discovered many things that my fall obsessed self took for granted back in beautiful ol’ New England. To start, there is the issue of seasons, which hardly exist here. Yes it was 35˚ out this morning, and yes it will be 70˚ later in the week. After sweating my little butt off all summer long—April to September, that is—I was ready for some brisk weather, was being the key word. I had big plans to apple and pumpkin pick, to run around in the crunchy, fallen, beautiful leaves and to eat 10# of candy corn while watching Hocus Pocus.

Sadly, my friends, this fall plan of mine is only about 10% possible. Why of course I can eat as much candy as I want and watch all the classic Halloween films, but the true fall activities aren’t exactly doable…

Do I want to drive 2+ hours to an orchard with an 80% of rain on a Sunday? The idea doesn’t sound too appealing, so naturally I will bring my fall fun to Charleston! So, as I light my plethora of autumn candles, I can now let the fall baking obsession commence yet again!

Apple Cider donuts are something that I could easily scarf down a dozen of, guilt free. I love the tartness from the cider, the warm coziness that is jam packed from so much cinnamon, and the pie-like crumble I sprinkle on top! Pie crumble? Yeah, you saw that right. I mean, who doesn't just love anything pie, perfect for literally any time of the year and in any form. If apple cider donuts don't make your mouth water enough, the addition of a buttery crust crumbly bit sure will! These donuts are not overly cakey, but have a rich denseness that, along with my way too many candle scents, will have you thinking you’re at an orchard stuffing your face with some post-picking goodies! 

Whether you're like me, who has to make their own little fall happen, or are surrounded by haunted houses and warm cider at the pumpkin patch, these super simple, and super autumn, donuts are just another addition you can add to your fall baking obsession repertoire!

topping ingredients

Flour—7.5 oz, or 1 ½ C

Brown Sugar—1.25 oz, or 2 TBL

Cinnamon—0.1 oz, or 2 tsp

Butter (melted)—4 oz, or 1 stick/8 TBL

Apple Cider—1 oz, or 1 ½ TBL

topping process

Preheat your oven to 350˚ F.

In the bowl of your mixer, mix together the flour, sugar and cinnamon.

Slowly stream in your melted butter and apple cider just until the topping begins to form into little pebbles.

On a parchment paper lined sheet pan, spread out the crumble topping.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until they begin to lightly brown.

batter ingredients

Apple Cider—12.5 oz, or 1 ½ C

Cinnamon Sticks—2

Flour—9.5 oz, or 1 ¾ C

Baking Powder—0.15 oz, or 1 tsp

Baking Soda—0.2 oz, 1 tsp

Cinnamon—0.05 oz, or ¾ tsp

Salt—0.05 oz, ¼ tsp

Egg—1

Butter (melted)—1.5 oz, or 3 TBL

Brown Sugar—6 oz, or 2/3 C

Milk—4.5 oz, or ½ C

batter process

In a small pot, combine your apple cider with the 2 cinnamon sticks.

Allow to boil until it has reduced to half (¾ cup), and cool.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

Whisk together your egg, brown sugar and milk.

Add your melted butter to the dry ingredients and mix.

Next, add in the egg mixture, followed by the cool and reduced apple cider.

Once you have a smooth donut batter, pour into your donut pan (which should be sprayed with nonstick spray), filling up each compartment about halfway.

Sprinkle the baked crumble on top of your batter, completely covering it.

Bake your donuts for 12-15 minutes, until the outer edges are slightly brown.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Take them out of the pan and enjoy!

These apple cider donuts are so yummy with a glass of warm cider, coffee, or even on their own!

Bon Appétit!