Photo and Recipe courtesy keyingredient.com
http://www.keyingredient.com/recipes/9204057/apple-upside-down-cake/


Looking for my camera.. will have to steal from others for a few days.













Topping

2 medium apples
4 tablespoons butter
¾ cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tablespoons boiled cider or thawed apple juice concentrate
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ cup light corn syrup
Cake
¾ cup vegetable oil
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tablespoons boiled cider or thawed apple juice concentrate
2 large eggs
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1½ cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 large apple, peeled and finely chopped
¾ cup chopped pecans or walnuts, optional
Directions
1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9” round cake pan at least 2” deep. Line the bottom with parchment, and grease the parchment.
2) Slice the top, including the stem, off one of the apples and set it aside before peeling and slicing the rest of the apples into ¼” thick wedges.
3) Place the apple top, stem side down, in the middle of the pan, and overlap the rest of the apple wedges in a ring around it.
4) Prepare the topping by heating the butter, sugar, boiled cider, cinnamon, and corn syrup together over low heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
5) Pour ½ cup of the syrup mixture into the prepared pan, and set the rest aside.
6) To make the cake: Beat the oil, brown sugar, boiled cider, eggs, spices, and salt together for 2 minutes at medium speed
7) Mix the flour with the baking soda, and stir it into the batter.
8) Add the chopped apple and nuts, and mix until just blended.
9) Drop scoops of the batter atop the apples in the pan, gently spreading to cover.
10) Bake the cake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted near the center comes out clean.
11) Remove the cake from the oven, and run a thin spatula around the edge to loosen.
12) Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn it out onto a serving plate, bottom side up. Scrape out any sauce that remains in the pan, and spread it over the cake.
13) Reheat the reserved topping. If butter starts to separate as you reheat, add water by the teaspoon and stir until the butter rejoins the rest of the sauce.
14) Pour the sauce over the cake. Serve cake warm or at room temperature, with whipped cream if desired.


Yield: 8 to 10 servings.

Apple Pie Filling

Ingredients
4 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup cornstarch
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons salt
10 cups water
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 drops yellow food coloring
6 pounds apples

Directions
In a large pan, mix sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add salt and water and mix well. Bring to a boil and cook until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and add lemon juice and food coloring.


Sterilize canning jars, lids and rings by boiling them in a large pot of water.
Peel, core, and slice apples. Pack the sliced apples into hot canning jars, leaving a 1/2 inch headspace.
Fill jars with hot syrup, and gently remove air bubbles with a knife.
Put lids on and process in a water bath canner for 20 minutes.
*Enough to fill approx. 7 guart size jars*

Recipe via AllRecipes.com  http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/canned-apple-pie-filling/detail.aspx

Smells like fall! - Apple Pie

I never really make pies. I love pie. BUT I have always been challenged by the crust portion. I could never get that perfecly golden flakey crust. I set out to master the pie crust this fall... yes I actually did. My sister has the same issue, and we've secretly come to the conclusion that we think even Grandma's pie crust falls short. I was looking at Ree's blog (pioneer woman) and came across 'Pam's Pie Tutorial' and decided I'd start there. I was more than pleased.. I need look no further. This is the most perfect pie I have ever baked in my life! This will definitely be my go-to crust for both sweet and savory pies.

Filling is:
8 cups sliced, peeled assorted baking apples - about 3 lbs. (Granny Smith, Cortland, Jonathan)
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 egg
1 tablespoon water


In a large bowl, toss the sliced apples with lemon juice.
Combine sugars, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg; add to apples and toss well to coat.
Fill pastry lined 9 inch pie pan with apple mixture. Dot with butter.
Place second crust on top of pie filling, cut slits in top of crust to vent. Seal the edges of the crust with a fork
or by hand. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolk and water. Brush mixture over top crust.
Bake at 425 degrees, until the pie starts to brown, about 30 minutes. Cover the pie with foil to hinder more browning, turn the oven down to 375 and continue baking until the juices in the pie begin bubbling. Depending on the fruit used this could take twenty to forty minutes more. Be patient. As long as the pie crust is covered to prevent over-browning, the pie can continue to bake.

Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake- Martha Stewart

Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake

Martha Stewart

Link to Recipe

Makes one 9-inch cake Serves 10
Ingredients

For the Topping
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
Coarse salt


For the Cake
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for buttering pan
1 pound rhubarb, trimmed and cut on a very sharp diagonal about 1/2 inch thick
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
Coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange zest plus 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
2 large eggs
1 cup sour cream


Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the topping: Stir together butter, flour, sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt until moist and crumbly.
2.Make the cake: Butter a 9-inch round cake pan (2 inches deep). Dot with 4 tablespoons butter (cut into pieces). Toss rhubarb with 3/4 cup sugar; let stand for 2 minutes. Toss again, and spread in pan.
3.Whisk together flour, baking powder, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Beat remaining stick butter and cup sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in zest and juice. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, until incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl. Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with sour cream, until smooth. Spread evenly over rhubarb. Crumble topping evenly over batter.
4.Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and top springs back when touched, about 1 hour. Let cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake, and invert onto a wire rack. Let cool completely.

*Cook's Note
Let the cake cool for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan. The rhubarb will be too hot to handle safely right after baking. But if the cake sits much longer, it may stick

Candied Pecans

* Made these for Christmas this year to go with my cookie assortment. Very good and SO easy! *

2-1/2c. raw pecans
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
1/4c. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 300deg. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, stir the pecans with the egg white. In a small bowl, stir together the sugar, cinnamon, allspice, and salt. Pour over nuts and stir until evenly coated. Spread in a single layer on baking sheet and bake for 30 min. Remove pan from oven and slide parchment paper (with nuts on it) off the baking sheet and onto wire rack or counter to cool. Break up nuts into a bowl and serve or store at room temperature in an airtight container.

Scary Eye Balls (Peanut Butter Balls)

*Used a Peanut Butter Ball recipe and Jazzed it up a little.*
*Make sure to use white chocolate bark. I used White Chocolate chips and needed to add A LOT of shortening to make the white chocolate smooth*

Ingredients

4c. confectioner's sugar
1-1/2c. smooth peanut butter
1c. (2 sticks) butter
1-1/3c. graham cracker crumbs
2c. white chocolate chips (16 oz.)
1 TBL shortening

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, combine confectioner's sugar, peanut butter, butter (melted), and graham cracker crumbs. Mix until well combined. Shape into 1-in. balls (don't make too big, they are very rich) and place on parchment paper lined cookie sheets. Place in freezer. Melt chocolate chips and shortening. Remove balls from freezer and use a toothpick to dip each ball into the white chocolate. Place back on cookie sheet. Use extra chocolate to color and decorate as you choose. I used red food coloring to color chocolate for eye veins. I topped with an m&m (for the colored part of eye) and piped a dot of melted chocolate chips for the pupil.