Tday and Buttermilk Pie Crust

My kids were coming to visit this holiday. So mom got to cook the Tday dinner first time in a couple yrs. Sadly I haven't  been feeling well lately so I fell way behind. I usually bake the day before and prep as much as I can so I can start right in on my stuffing Tday morning and get the bird in the oven early. That just didn't happen this time.

But I did manage to bake my pies. I made two pumpkin (my guys request) and one apple. I tried a whole wheat pastry flour recipe for the pumpkin. It was ok, better than the usual. But I'm not sure Ill make it again.

You see I really hate pie crust. Its a necessary evil to encase the filling to me. I may eat the top and sometimes the bottom but never the crimped parts. To me its just tasteless........until now. This recipe I believe will be my new heirloom family pie crust recipe. EVERYONE loved it. Heck I loved just smelling it after it baked. But eating it was even better. So here it is.

Buttermilk Pie Crust (double crust)

2 1/2 c. all purpose flour (I use unbleached, organic)
1 tb. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1c. butter, frozen (yes I said frozen)
1/2c. cold buttermilk
1-2 tb. cold water
1 lg. egg, beaten

Grate the frozen butter. Grating keeps it very cold and so makes a flakier pie crust. Once grated put in freezer till ready to use. Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Mix buttermilk and egg together.

Remove frozen butter from freezer and toss with flour mixture. Use a pastry blender to mix it in thoroughly but make sure its still cold. Add buttermilk/egg mixture and mix well. Add a tb. or so of water to moisten the dough enough to stick together. You may need more or less depending on the moisture in the air. You dont want it wet, just holding together.

Pat into a ball and cut in half. Roll one half out carefully and line pie pan with it. Roll out remaining half, fill pie plate with filling and top with second crust. Crimp and bake according to your filling recipe directions.

Baked Apple Dessert

"We all have had Apple Cobblers.....and probably all have a great recipe to use. But I thought Id post this one that I use now and then. I like it because I don't have to fuss alot. When I'm getting last minute company or I want a quick dessert that I know everyone would like , this fits perfectly. Warm and topped with ice cream and nobody is complaining as it goes down. I have even used canned pie apples........but I really like this with fresh. It doesn't take that long to peel and slice a bunch up. And I always seem to have some sort of cake mix on hand so this goes together real easy.

 I must confess I have eaten this for breakfast the next day. In fact it seems no one can stay away from this once its made."

 Baked Apple Dessert 10-12 servings

• 6 tart apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
• 2 tb. fresh lemon juice
• 2 tb. cinnamon
• 1 (18.5oz.) pkg. yellow cake mix
• 1 stick butter (1/2c.), melted
• 1 c. chopped walnuts (I happen to love pecans with this too)
• Vanilla Ice Cream

  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 in. baking dish. Combine apples, lemon juice and 1 tb. cinnamon in a lg. bowl and toss well. Spoon evenly into baking dish. Sprinkle cake mix over apples, patting gently. Dust with remaining cinnamon and drizzle melted butter evenly over top. Sprinkle with nuts. Cover with foil and bake till apples begin to bubble, about 15-20min. Uncover and continue baking until top is browned and apples are tender, about 30min. Serve warm or chilled , topped with vanilla ice cream.

Apple/Blackberry Hand Pies

I've been making snacks for my bf's lunches lately. Last week was Zucchini Bread. But this week it was running out and I knew I had to bake something. I had a bag of Granny Smith apples around here that needed to be used up. I did plan on making Apple Jam but Ive been kind of busy lately so they have been sitting there. Now I know he loves apple pie and I know he loves blackberries. I picked alot of blackberries last year with my friend. This is the last bag of frozen tho so I'm using them sparingly. This yr. I hope to pick much much more. I'm just going to have to find some new patches.

But in the process of thinking of something different to bake I remembered seeing a recipe long ago for Hand pies. They are sort of like those Hostess pies you could buy years ago, individual little pies. Sort of like Pop tarts but of course much better. And so I decided to create my own. I didn't want to use plain old pie pastry even tho many recipes called for that. I just felt it might be a bit too fragile. And I don't much like pie pastry either. I also wanted the pastry to be a little sweeter. So I decided to use Pate' Sucree. Its lightly sweetened and much sturdier due to eggs binding it. Turns out it worked perfectly.

I didn't have a round cutter to make lg. pies. I was going to do square instead. And then I remembered a lg. heart cutter I had so I used that. Honestly while they are cute, it was a bit tedious so I think next time Ill just cut squares. After all these were just for his lunch. However a sweet thing happened due to them being heart shaped so you might want to do this. When I packed his lunch, I put two pies in since they are not real big and he works outside doing construction. I figured he would be hungry. And I stacked them at first on the plastic wrap, then thought, no I better not. He takes it in a paper bag and it might get crushed. So I laid them next to each other in a hurry and a bit of serendipity happened. The two heart halves made a whole heart which I decided to wrap just like that. I thought to myself.....aww how sweet.

And when he came home he told me about the heart, He thought it was so cute too. Who would have thought he would even notice? BTW he said the pies were really good. So here's my recipe and I'll be making these again. Also I just realized today that unless you take turns flipping which side of the heart over the filling, you wont get hearts. I only did a couple differently and didn't realize that. But of course I wasn't doing it originally to make hearts. But if you are then be sure to flip every other one over differently.

 Apple/blackberry Hand Pies... Makes 16

Pate Sucree
Makes one 11-to 12-inch or two 8-to 9-inch or two 14-by-4-inch crusts or about 16 hand pies (depends on the size of your cutter)

    2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
    3 tablespoons sugar
    1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
    2 large egg yolks ( reserve whites to use for brushing on dough when baking)
    1/4 cup ice water

Measure flour, sugar and butter into a bowl. With pastry blender, cut butter into the flour until it looks crumbly and the size of small peas.  

 Mix egg yolks with the water and pour into the flour mixture. Toss with a fork till the dough begins to hold together. 

 Press some together to see if it holds the shape. If it doesn't, add 1 Tb. extra water at a time till it does. Take dough from bowl and make two balls, wrap with plastic wrap and put in refrigerator  to chill for 1 hr. 

 Preheat oven to 375 or 350 if using a convection oven.

Filling:
2 lg. apples, peeled, cored and diced small (I used what I had Granny Smith)
2c. blackberries, mine were frozen, picked this summer :)
1/2c. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. fresh grated nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 Tb. flour

Mix well. 

Roll half the dough out onto a floured board. (Keep the rest chilled and also chill any scraps to reroll.)  I rolled mine on floured  parchment cuz I didn't want the flavors from the board to get in the dough. (I use my butcher block daily for all kinds of things.) Roll thin but not so thin you can see thru it. I used a lg. heart shaped cookie cutter to do mine. You could use any size cutter or just cut into squares or rectangles.  

Take the leftover egg whites from the dough and mix with a bit of water. Brush on each dough piece. This helps it seal. Scoop about a Tb or two of filling depending on the size of your dough pieces. For my heart shapes I used a scant 1/4 c. measure.  

Fold dough over and bring edges together to seal. You might have to pull the dough and stretch it a bit to make it fit. That's ok. Use a fork to press the edges together and prick the top for steam holes. Brush with egg white mixture again.

Depending on the size of your pies, you could put 5-6 of them on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Juices will run out a bit so the parchment helps keep them from sticking. Bake about 20min. but check as you get closer to the end time. Depending on the size you make you might need less or more time.  

 Remove from oven and put on rack to cool. Sprinkle with some powdered sugar to serve. If you like them sweeter you could make an icing to drizzle on them. 

*** I used Granny Smith apples cuz its what I had here but they were quite tart. If you want a sweeter apple taste use a sweeter kind of apple. I bet the Honey-crisps that come out in the fall would be awesome in these.

Rosemary Della Robbia Jam

The other day I was given a lot of grapes. Now I can only eat so many and my bf wont eat many either. So I wandered online looking for recipes to use them in. I was looking to preserve them. There's really not many recipes out there for grapes other than Concord and those kind. The grapes you get from the store which is plentiful for me, I never see any canning recipes for. So I gathered the few I did find and went into my kitchen to do what I do best....play Mad Scientist.

I had two nice Honeycrisp apples left I wanted to use up so I decide to add those and I'm glad. These grapes really don't have much substance, there's more juice than pulp. And I didn't want skins in this either, I don't like them. But once I cooked up the grapes and apples they had a sickly pale beige color. Yuck. And so I had some plums here yet and decided to add just one for color and it worked. Its a nice rosy color now. But again I wanted more, I wanted spice. So I added cinnamon. It was good but needed more so I added orange zest.........okay NOW we're talking! Yum. But again I wanted more so I added fresh ground black pepper....lets get this thing spicier now. That gave it a little bit of heat, not alot. And finally I decided to try an herb and I picked rosemary cuz I know its yummy with orange.

This turned out really  yummy. Even my bf tasted it and said its really good. I picture this for the holidays for entertaining........with some nice goat cheese or even a brie on crackers. I have just a bit left chilling in the fridge now that I'm hoping to snack on later. So for those interested , here's my recipe. You could add more pepper if you want it hotter but since I wasn't sure what would happen with cooking and canning, I didn't want to overwhelm it. Right now it has a nice bite but something you don't notice right away.

Rosemary Della Robbia Jam Makes 3 pts.

6c. assorted grapes off the stems
2 Honeycrisp apples, quartered, cored
1 Italian plum, pitted 
1c. water
1 lg. orange
1tsp. cinnamon
1tsp. fresh ground black pepper
1 4 in. long sprig of fresh rosemary
4 tb. low sugar pectin
1 1/2c. organic sugar
3 extra sprigs of rosemary about 2in. long each

Cook grapes, apples and plum in the water till soft and skins are tender. Cool a bit then run thru a food mill to remove skins. I used a plum to add a better color. I was given a big batch of red and greens grapes and the color was a pale pink beige and just didn't look too appetizing, so I added the plum to give it more color.

Put juice and pulp back in pan and heat. Add one tb. of zested orange peel, chopped fine and the juice from the orange. Add the cinnamon and pepper and bring to a boil.

Add pectin and stir in quickly. Let come back to a boil and boil for 1min. a boil you cannot stir down.

Add sugar and bring to a boil and let boil for 1min. with a boil you cannot stir down. Remove Rosemary from pot.

You should have your jars hot and ready to go. In each jar put a piece of Rosemary about 2in. long and pour hot jam over and seal. Water bath for 10 min. Turn off heat and let sit 5min. more then take out and let cool on counter for 24 hrs. Check seals.

This has a sweet, orangey, herby taste with a bit of heat you don't feel right away. It would be yummy with cream cheese or goat cheese on crackers for the holidays.

This is Not your Gramma's Pie Filling!

Several yrs ago I found a recipe for an Apple Cider Pie. It was awesome and from that day on, I would make this pie for Thanksgiving. http://mermaidstreasures.blogspot.com/2007/09/apple-cider-pie.html

But this requires you to boil down a bottle of cider to make a thick syrup to add to your mix. Sometimes I just dont have time. And then I ran across a recipe for canned pie filling. I just bought several lbs. of Honeycrisp apples. These are a fairly new apple but very tasty to eat out of hand. They are sweet and yet a bit tart, very, very good. And so I decided to make some pie filling to keep on hand, using these apples.

I can never leave a recipe alone. I read them and then think ooooo I could use this or .......maybe Ill add this and change that. And so I did this with the filling recipe only I added the things that would make it the wonderful apple cider pie filling instead so I could have that anytime. Now you dont cook the cider down for this, it gets thickened tho. But it tastes heavenly!

Apple Pie Filling  Makes 7 qts.

4 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
10 cups apple cider
Juice of one lemon
7 quarts peeled, cored and sliced apples (about 7lbs.) (Toss with some Fruit fresh or Vit. C.)

Place a rack in the bottom of a large stock pot. Fill pot with hot water. Sterilize 7 1-quart canning jars, 7 lids, and 7 rings by placing on rack, jars upright. Bring water to a boil. Boil 10 minutes. Remove with a holder and allow jars to air-dry. Save water for processing apples.

(Sorry for fuzzy pic but this is the thickened syrup to fill the jars with)

Combine sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cider in a large saucepan. Place over high heat and cook until thick and bubbly, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.

 Tightly pack apples into sterilized jars. Slowly pour syrup over apples, covering them completely. Gently tap jars on counter top to allow air bubbles to rise. If syrup doesn't drip down, run a butter knife around the sides and up and down till it starts to fill in. Keep doing it till the jar is full. Leave 1in. head space. Be sure to wipe off rims and threads of jar so it will seal good.  Screw lids on jars.

Carefully lower jars into pot using a holder. Leave a 2 inch space between jars. Add more boiling water if necessary, until tops of jars are covered by 2 inches of water. Bring water to a full boil, then cover and process for 30 minutes.
Remove jars from pot and place on cloth-covered or wood surface, several inches apart, until cool. Once cool, press top of each lid with finger, ensuring that seal is tight (lid doesn't move up or down at all). Sealed jars can be stored for up to a year.

-------------------------------------------------------------
Ok , I tested this today. I used one jar and made an Apple Streusel pie..........it was the bomb! This apple filling is the best Ive ever had. The Honeycrisp apples were very good too.

Apples, apples, apples.....

I picked apples last week at my in-laws and came home with 10gal. of them. With 1/4 I made this apple sauce. These apples were either not ripe enough or a different kind of apple. They don't do well on heat, they fall apart and.......they get really thick. So I have to assume they are loaded with pectin. That's ok. But I really wanted to put some up as pie filling. I wont with these tho. But they made a great tasting applesauce. I kept adding unfiltered organic apple juice but they just kept absorbing it. I finally came out with what you see up there. And its nice and thick. I just added a bit of sugar and some cinnamon. I think Ill either make more of this or some apple butter with whats still in the garage. 

Sunday I went to the farmers market and bought a half flat of blackberries. The ones in my yard are still lil green things and most likely the critters will get to those before I can. They ate everything else out there already. So the other day I made Plum/Blackberry/Ginger Jam and today I made Blackberry Apple Jam. Here's that recipe. 

 Blackberry Apple Jam Makes 7pts.

3lb. apples
4pts blackberries
2c. organic sugar
3c. organic unfiltered apple juice
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Juice of one lemon
1 box Ball No sugar pectin
1c. organic sugar

Check apples for soft spots and cut out, then quarter. Toss with about 2 tsp. Fruit Fresh or ascorbic acid and apple juice.Toss all fruit in a lg. pot with the 2c. sugar and mix well to coat. Let stand overnight to macerate.

Next day cook till fruit is hot and apples are breaking down. 20min or so. Take off heat and let cool enough to handle. Run mixture thru a food mill to remove all seeds, skins etc. Measure fruit puree. I got about 12c.

 Place in lg. pot and add vanilla, cinnamon and juice of one lemon. Bring to a boil. Stir in pectin mixed with 1c of sugar. Whisk till dissolved. Boil for 3 min. Mixture should start to thicken a bit. I start the water bath canner while I'm doing all this and bring it to a boil, then lower at a simmer till ready to use it. Then can and water bath for 10min. I start counting once the water bath canner is boiling after the jars are in.

This mixture was very thick to start with. I only added a box of pectin to thicken it more for jam. I do believe it may be the apples I used. They were from my in-laws tree and I think many were not very ripe yet. Or perhaps its just the kind of apple they are. My applesauce thickened easily without much cooking, so perhaps its the apples I used. If you find that its very watery when you do yours, either cook down a bit more and add the one box ...........or add two boxes to be sure.

I always end up with a little bit more than will fit in the jars no matter how many I make. I think I have about a cup left so Ill just refrigerate that.

Apple Pie with Oatmeal Pecan Streusel and Butter Crust

This pie is a compilation of a couple recipes. This is the first time however that Ive made an all butter pie crust and I just love it. You could smell the buttery, cinnamony aroma in the house and I was just dying to have a piece. I like the idea of oatmeal added to the streusel. While it is a dessert, anything that can make something like this just a wee bit healthier is always good. :) It made the streusel a bit chewier too which I liked. And of course the pecans added just worked good with all the buttery flavor going on. This is a winner!!

Apple Pie with Oatmeal Pecan Streusel and Butter Crust

6 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
Juice of one lemon
3/4 c. sugar........I use half reg. white sugar and half dark brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
Dash of Nutmeg
3 tb.flour

Pour juice of one lemon over sliced apples in lg. bowl. Toss to coat. Add rest of ingredients. Mix all together. Let sit while making rest of recipe.

Butter Pastry Pie crust

6 oz. (1-1/2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp. granulated sugar
3/8 tsp. table salt
4 oz. (8 Tbs.)  butter, room temp.
3 to 4 Tbs. ice water

Put the flour, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl and stir with a rubber spatula or a fork to combine. Add the butter to the bowl. Cut butter into flour mixture using pastry blender or two forks till crumbly. Add water and toss with a fork till all water is absorbed. Press into a ball and refrigerate while making streusel.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Oatmeal Pecan Streusel

4-1/2 oz. (1 cup) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 tsp. table salt
4 oz. (8 Tbs.) unsalted butter, melted
1/2c. pecans, chopped

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, oats, sugar, and salt. Using your fingers, blend the butter into the flour mixture. When butter is absorbed thru out the mixture toss in the pecans. 

 

Roll out pie crust on a floured board and fit into a 10inch pie plate. Crimp edges. Sprinkle 1 tb. flour over the bottom of crust. Pour apples into prepared crust and arrange so its evenly distributed. Take handfuls of streusel and squeeze together before sprinkling on top of apples in pie. Do this to make large streusel crumbs. It will be crumbly but to get some chunks and some not......the squeezing helps. Distribute this evenly over apples and put in hot oven. Bake for 55-60min. or till crust is browned and pie is bubbling. Serve warm or cold.

APPLE-PLUM BUTTER

This is my breakfast this morning. I had leftover biscuits from the other day so I warmed them, topped them with butter and apple-plum butter I made the other day. You all know Ive got a bunch of plums so Ill be trying to use them up.

This is very tasty tho and is a nice surprise. Some of you know Ive been looking for a recipe for yrs and yrs for something I ate at a Pennslyvania Dutch place I went to as a lil girl with my gramma. They served 7 sweets and 7 sours on the table and the food was family style. But the thing that stuck with me all these yrs was something I had .......it looked like plums but didnt taste quite like it. I searched and searched to see if there were traditional things served but nothing ever seemed right. After making this....I tasted it and OMG THIS IS IT!!!!

So heres the recipe for it and if I made it again , I think Id tweak the sugar a bit. It seemed like a lot and it did get nice and thick. But it is a bit sweeter than I remembered it being.

APPLE-PLUM BUTTER

2lbs. slightly underripe red plums, quartered
2lbs. tart apples, quartered
2c. unsweetened apple juice
3c. sugar
2tsp. ground cinnamon

Combine plums, apples and apple juice in a heavy non aluminum lg. saucepan. Bring to a boil over med. heat. Reduce heat, cover partially and simmer 25min. stirring occasionally. Uncover and cooktill fruit is very tender, stirring occasionally (20-30min)

Cool slightly and force thru a food mill discarding peel and seeds. Return puree to pan and add sugar and cinnamon. Bring to boil over med. heat, stirring constantly. (Can scorch easy so watch it) Reduce heat and simmer till thick and glossy. Remove from heat and spoon into hot sterilized jars and seal.

Butter can be stored in refrigerator for up to 3wks or processed in a boiling water bath (15min. for pts. or 10min. for 8oz. jars) and can be kept on a cool, dark shelf for 1yr.

Makes 3pts. or 6 halfpts.

APPLE CIDER PIE

I made this pie last Thanksgiving and its really good! I make pies every Thanksgiving but this one is so good, its my new family heirloom recipe. I dont know why I didnt think of it sooner!


APPLE CIDER PIE

Crust:
1/4c. cold water
2 tsp. cider vinegar
2c. all purpose flour
1/3c. cold butter or regular stick margarine, cut into small pieces
1/4c. solid vegetable shortening or regular stick margarine
Filling:

3c. apple cider
3/4 c. granulated sugar
1/4c. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground mace or nutmeg
5 lg. Granny Smith or Braeburn apples (about 2 1/2lbs.)
3 lg. Golden Delicious or Cortland apples (about 1 1/2lbs.)
1 1/2 tsp. granulated sugar

Boil apple cider in heavy saucepan about 20min. or till reduced to 1/2c. Cool about 20min. (can be prepared up to 3 days ahead, covered and refrigerated.) To make crust in food processor, mix water and vinegar in 1c. measure. Process flour, butter and shortening with on/off turns until coarse crumbs form. With motor running, add water mixture. Process until dough just leaves sides of bowl.

To make crust by hand, mix water and vinegar in a 1c. measure. Put flour in a med. size bowl. Cut in butter and shortening with pastry blender or 2 knives till mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in water mixture with fork till crumbs clump together into a dough. Gather dough into a ball , divide in half, flatten each half into a disk and wrap in wax paper. Refrigerate 45min. or till firm enough to roll.

Meanwhile, prepare filling. Mix sugar, flour, cinnamon and mace/nutmeg in a lg. bowl. Halve, core and peel apples. Cut each half into 1/2in. thick wedges, then cut wedges in half crosswise. Add to sugar mixture along with the reduced apple cider. Toss till evenly coated. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Position rack in lowest part of oven. Have ready a 9in. pie plate.

On lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out half the dough to a 12 in. circle. Fit circle into pie plate. Spoon filling into pie shell, mounding it high in the center. Roll remaining dough into a 12 in. circle. Place over filling. Press edges together and roll up to form an even rim. Flute or crimp decoratively. Brush top with water, then sprinkle with the 1 1/2tsp. of sugar. Cut slits in top for steam to escape. Place pie on a cookie sheet to catch drips. Bake for 25min. Reduce oven temperature to 350degrees. Bake for 40-50 min. longer until crust is golden brown, apples are tender when pierced through a slit and juices bubble. Remove to wire rack. Serve warm or cool completely.

And while we are talking cider these sounded pretty good too. I like muffins that use whole wheat.



SPICED APPLE CIDER MUFFINS

Streusel

2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
4 teaspoons whole-wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts (optional)

Muffins

1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 large egg
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup apple butter, such as Smucker's
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup apple cider
1/3 cup low-fat plain yogurt
1/4 cup canola oil

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat 12 muffin cups with cooking spray.
2. To prepare streusel: Mix brown sugar, whole-wheat flour and cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in walnuts, if using.
3. To prepare muffins: Whisk whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl.
4. Whisk egg and brown sugar in a medium bowl until smooth. Whisk in apple butter, syrup, cider, yogurt and oil. Make a well in the dry ingredients; add the wet ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups (they'll be quite full). Sprinkle with the streusel.
5. Bake the muffins until the tops are golden brown and spring back when touched lightly, 15 to 25 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Loosen edges and turn muffins out onto a wire rack to cool slightly before serving.

Apple Cider Cakes

I got a yummy recipe in the mail for this cake which got me looking online for more things . There's a theme here all apple cakes. I love pound cake so couldn't resist this one. Can't wait till it gets cooler I think Ill bake it.

"Spiced Up" Apple Cider Pound Cake

6 lg. eggs
3 Cups Flour -- unsifted
2 sticks Butter or margarine (16tb.)
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 c. Shortening
1/2 tsp. Allspice
3 c.Sugar
1/2 tsp.Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Baking powder
1 c. Apple cider
1/4 tsp Cloves
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Vanilla

caramel glaze:
1/2 c. Sugar
1/4 c. Buttermilk
1/4 tsp. Soda
1/2 tbsp. Corn syrup
1/4 c. Margarine
1/4 tsp. Vanilla

Soften margarine and shortening. Add sugar gradually, beating for 1- minutes. Add egg one at a time, beating 1 1/2 minutes after each egg. Sift together all the dry ingredients and add alternately with the cider and vanilla to the shortening mixture. Blend well and bake in a 10" tube pan at 235~F for 1 1/2 hours. CARAMEL GLAZE: Bring ingredients to a rolling boil over low heat and boil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Source: Prize Winning Recipes from the State Fair of Texas, 1976.

This is another one I thought sounded good. Ive never had Buttermilk Icing.

Apple Cider Pound Cake with Buttermilk Icing Cake

3 cups sugar
1 1/4 cup butter
6 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 cup apple cider
1 tsp. vanilla extract

In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter. Add eggs one at a time, beating well. In separate bowl, stir together all dry ingredients; set aside. Add dry ingredients alternately with cider to batter mixture. Mix well. Spoon into greased 10-inch tube pan. Bake at 325 F for 1 hour, 10 minutes. Invert onto serving dish. While cake is warm, drizzle buttermilk icing over cake if desired. (serves 12-16)

Icing
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. baking soda

In a saucepan, combine all ingredients and bring to a boil; Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Drizzle over cake.

APPLE POUND CAKE


2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups chopped, peeled tart apples
1 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup raisins

APPLE CIDER GLAZE: 1/2 cup apple cider or apple juice 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 2 tablespoons butter or margarine In a mixing bowl, combine sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla; mix well. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg; add to egg mixture and mix well. Stir in apples, almonds and raisins. Pour into a greased and floured 10-in. fluted tube pan.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hours or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan to a wire tack to cool completely. In a saucepan, combine glaze ingredients; cook over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Prick top of cake with a fork; drizzle with glaze. Original recipe yield: 16 servings