Apple & Caramel Cake

Living in the Midwest, we love our Falls. It's cold enough to put on our favorite sweaters, scarves, and pull out the cute boots, but not so cold we hate the outdoors all together. We know winter is coming soon, so we all head outside to enjoy the last bit of warmth for 5 months. I love going to the apple orchard in the Fall and finding the best apples I've had all year (since my last trip to the apple orchard), indulging in an apple donut and some warm apple cider. Pair apples with caramel, and you've hit one of the best fall food combinations around.

This cake is just that, a perfect combination of apples and caramel. The caramel is swirled into the cake, which makes every bite from top to bottom sweet and delicious. Drizzle a little more warm caramel on top, and it's perfect.

I originally made this cake last New Years Eve actually. (It just shows how bad I am at posting...) Every year for New Years, I have my close friends from high school over and make them dinner. It's my love language- food and acts of service- so I love doing it. I love cooking for them because they are always open to trying whatever I put in front of them (unlike my family who asks what I did to it to make it healthy). This cake was a hit; I'm pretty sure we finished the whole thing.

As always, the recipe is dairy-free. This time it's even vegan! So enjoy some great fall baking!

Adapted from Oh, Ladycakes
Makes one 9″ spring form cake

Ingredients:

Cake:

2 cups whole spelt flour
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup raw turbinado sugar (I used Sugar in the Raw)
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup almond milk
2 flax eggs*
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1/2 cup caramel sauce, divided
3 tart apples, peeled and chopped

*to make 2 flax eggs: combine 2 Tbsp flax meal and 6 Tbsp water, let sit for 5 minutes.

Caramel Sauce:

1 1/2 cups coconut milk fat
3/4 cup raw turbinado sugar (Sugar in the Raw)

Directions:

Cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line the bottom of a 9″ spring form pan with parchment paper and spray with oil; set aside.
2. Stir the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and sugar in a large bowl.
3. Create a well in the center and pour in the butter, vanilla extract, almond milk, and flax eggs; beat with a hand mixer on high speed for 30 seconds.
4. Fold in the pecans then pour half of the mixture into the prepared baking pan.
5. Drizzle with 3 tablespoons of caramel, then top with the remaining batter. Run a knife through batter in a figure-8 motion several times.
6. In a small bowl, toss the chopped apples and remaining caramel. Place apples over batter and press to even.
7. Bake at 350˚F for 50-55 minutes. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Serve with warm caramel sauce drizzled on top. Keeps in an air tight container for 3 days, but is best the day of.

Caramel Sauce:

Yields 1 cup

1. Refrigerate two cans of coconut milk overnight, or at least 12 hours.

2. The next day, scoop the fat off of the top of each can and measure out 1 1/2 cups.

3. Place the coconut milk fat into a small sauce pan and heat over medium heat until liquid. Add the sugar and whisk until the mixture turns a dark caramel color.

4. Allow mixture to boil for 15-20 minutes, whisking briskly every 3-4 minutes. The longer it cooks, the thicker it will become; cook a minimum of 15 minutes.

5. Refrigerate extras in an air tight container. Reheat to soften.

Pumpkin Muffins with Chocolate Chips

As previously, mentioned: I love fall. If you care to know the reasons why, look at my recipe for Apple Bread. If you care to eat amazing pumpkin muffins, keep reading here. This muffin is yet another great fall recipe. Technically, I should be posting Christmas recipes right now. It is the second week of December after all, and Christmas is coming oh-so-soon. Here in Indiana though, it's still feeling rather fall-ish. There's no snow on the ground, rather it has been 40 degrees and rainy this past week. Only one more week here though, then I am on my way to the motherland(!!!) AKA Minnesota....minus a stop to Chicago and Arizona on the way (or not so on the way). 

Anyways, back to the muffins. These muffins are sweet enough to eat as dessert, yet light enough to eat for breakfast. The recipe pairs the favorite fall pumpkin flavor with every women's year-round favorite: chocolate. When warm, the chocolate chips melt in your mouth for some great chocolatey goodness. These muffins are gluten-free and dairy-free as well as refined-sugar-free and oil-free. They are not flavor-free though, so no worries there. OH! They also pair great with coffee, which is important since we know I love foods that pair well with coffee.

Enjoy these muffins next time you want a great breakfast, snack, or dessert- because they're that good and that versatile. 

Adapted from Running with Spoons
Makes 8 muffins

Ingredients:

¼ cup almond butter
¾ cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
6 Tbsp. honey
½ cup rolled oats
2 Tbsp. ground flaxseed
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground nutmeg
½ tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ cup mini dairy-free chocolate chips, plus more for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F and prepare a muffin pan by lining 8 cavities with muffin liners
2. Add all ingredients except chocolate chips to a blender and blend on high until batter is smooth and creamy.
3. Pour batter into bowl and stir in chocolate chips by hand
3. Scoop batter into prepared muffin pan, filling each cavity until it is about ¾ full
4. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the tops of muffins are set and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Check muffins at 10 minutes and sprinkle with extra chocolate chips. When done, allow muffins to cool in pan for about 10 minutes before inverting onto cooling rack. 
5. Muffins can be stored in an air-tight container for up to a week

Apple Cinnamon Bread

Fall is my favorite season. It always has been, and probably always will be. Growing up, this was because my birthday is in the Fall (October 15 to be exact). In high school, this also meant volleyball season and Friday night football games. I loved warm bonfires on a chilly night, having an excuse to drink warm drinks, and LOVED the Fall colors. Now, much of this is still the same, I love the colors, love drinking warm drinks, and shockingly, by birthday is still in the Fall. Soccer games have replaced football games (thanks Josh), and I spend a good majority of my time salivating over Fall recipes. If it has pumpkin, apple, or sweet potato in it, you better believe that recipe is getting saved to be made later. As I've mentioned previously though, I'm not a huge fan of sharing a kitchen with 300 girls (because yes, I do still live in a dorm). Therefore, these recipes pile up until I'm home for Thanksgiving, then voila! our empty kitchen turns into my test space for a week.

All that to say, this was one of the Fall themed items I made during Thanksgiving break this year. This apple bread is amazing. It's moist and soft, and I can easily eat half the loaf by myself. The type of apple used plays a key part the success of this bread. Originally, I used Braeburn apples because it was all I had on hand, but this didn't give the bread the distinct apple taste I was going for. The next time I used a sweeter Cortland apple, which gave the bread the perfect sweet, apple taste I had hoped for. At first, I had some trouble with baking the bread all the way through. The first batch crumbled at the touch of a knife because it was so moist and undone, but a couple tries later, I nailed it. The bread definitely does not rise like banana bread (it is made of nuts and oats after all), which means it is more dense than a flour-made loaf of bread.

Hope you enjoy this Fall recipe as much as I do!


Adapted from Nutrition Stripped
Makes 1 large loaf or 2 small loaves

Ingredients:

5 small (about 520g) apples
2 whole eggs + 2 egg whites
2 Tbsp coconut oil
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup oat flour
1 cup almond flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and line 9 x 5 in.  or two 6 x 3 in. bread pan with parchment paper
2. In a high speed blender, combine apples, eggs, maple syrup, coconut oil, and vanilla and blend until smooth.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine flours with baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Stir to combine. Pour wet ingredients from the blender into the dry mixing bowl. Stir until combined into a dough. Dough should hold its shape and stick to the sides of the bowl when stirred
4. Pour the batter in prepared pan and spread evenly
5. Bake for 50-55 minutes for a large loaf or 34-45 minutes for small loaves. If bread becomes too brown while baking, cover pan with tin foil. Test bread doneness by inserting a knife or toothpick; if it comes out clean, it's done.
6. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes before inverting and slicing
7. Enjoy toasted and serve with apple butter, pumpkin butter, honey, or simply plain!
8. Store leftover bread in fridge for 4-5 days or freeze individual slices for later use. Wrap bread in air-tight cling wrap for best results then toast to reheat.