If you've ever received a container of Christmas cookies from my mom or celebrated a holiday at my parents' house, you know that my mom is a great baker. She does excellent desserts--cookies, pies, cakes, breads, etc. While I think I'm a pretty decent cook, I'm not that much of a baker. I didn't really inherit my mom's talent. My brothers still like to remind me of the time I made chocolate chip cookies that tasted like nothing. I really have no idea how it happened--I couldn't think of anything I left out--but these cookies were awful. You'd be surprised how bad, as it seems pretty hard to mess up a simple chocolate chip cookie recipe. But I did. I've improved since then, but I don't get too adventurous with my baking. I think the exact nature of it is part of my problem. I like to estimate when I cook...that doesn't work so well with baking. But a couple of weeks ago, I decided to try out a recipe I found for a coffee cake, and it turned out pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. The recipe's below if you want to try it out. It's a good fall treat, especially with the abundance of apples currently in the stores.
INGREDIENTS
3 cups peeled, cored and coarsely chopped apples (3-4 hard, tart apples)
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Zest or grated rind of 1 orange
4 large eggs
1 cup canola oil
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
DIRECTIONS
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour a bundt pan or 10-inch plain tube pan and set aside. In a small bowl, combine apples with brown sugar and cinnamon. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and orange zest.
• In a third bowl, beat eggs and oil until thick and creamy, about 2 minutes at high speed on electric mixer or with a balloon whisk. Incorporate egg and oil mixture into dry ingredients, then add orange juice and vanilla extract, if using, and beat just until moistened but blended. Do not overmix.
• Pour one third of the batter over bottom of prepared pan. (I thought it was more like dough than batter.) Cover evenly with half of apple mixture and then pour another one-third of the batter over apples. Use a spatula to smooth batter over the apples. Repeat if you have enough batter, but always end with a smooth layer of batter.
• Bake for about 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the cake comes out clean. (Mine only took 45 minutes, but I think my oven cooks hot. Just check on it so as not to burn it.) Remove from oven and cool in the pan for 1 hour. Invert onto a serving plate.
7 comments:
I was going to call you for this recipe the other day but decided it was too much to get over the phone so I am glad you printed it for me. I plan on trying it real soon.
Mark remember that time Theresa baked chocolate chip cookies and they tasted like nothing. I mean there were clearly chocolate chips in them and yet there was absolutely no taste. Can't imagine her baking anything with taste.
Yeah, I do. How does one do that. I mean they should have atleast had some chocholate taste to them. She should never allow anyone to eat anything she has baked. Or tell anyone about that incident.
Theresa, your brothers are just too mean.Of course, they didn't bring it up but once it was mentioned they jumped right on it. I know they have eaten other baked goods you made and enjoyed them. Also, thanks for making me sound like such a good baker.
A great talent of the Zimmerman women is that they can bake. Myself and Theresa must have got the baking genes from the other sides. I don't like to bake and really can't, just ask my Dad. However, I am a pretty good cook.
Matthew and Mark!
I've found you both! Now get busy and update your blogs already!
Good job, Gregory! I enjoy reading yours.
See what I hate about baking is that you need 3 bowls! Who has that many mixing bowls?!
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