Slave to the oven

So, today being a nice, happy Sunday that makes me long for cool, crispy air and scents (and for some reason,neither are so totally not even remotely here in Massachusetts and it's frickin' November for crying out loud)so I decided to do some baking and cooking with all kinds of yummy autumn flavors hoping that by doing so I'd bring those things on.

Today's Menu:



Creamy Sweet Potato Soup!

It was easy to make really, and is totally worth the pain in the assiness of having to drag my blender down from the uppermost shelf of my pantry. I followed the recipe exactly, except I didn't have any stock so I made stock using four cups of water and six chicken bullion cubes. It worked out pretty well. I also added just a bit of brown sugar to the mix so we could have sweet and savory flavors. Oh, and I know you might cringe a little when it says to top with celery leaves...but really, I've tried it (as you can see from the picture above) and it's simply delicious. I also added a nice dollop of sour cream to counter-act with the sweetness of the soup. Yum!


And for dessert? Well, it was supposed to be a caramel apple upside down pumpkin spice cake, but wound up being more like a cobbler or a molten caramel cake. But even though it wasn't as pretty as I wanted it to be, it still tasted phenomenal! It was so gooey, and just sweet enough and served with some very lightly sweetened whipped cream sprinkled with cinnamon? Delicious!

So, I know a few of you are wanting the recipe, right? Now, I could be a tease and wait and post it tomorrow, but I won't. I'm not nearly cruel enough for that, so here it is.

Caramel Apple Upside Down Pumpkin Spice Cake (or cobbler...whatever you want to call it!;) )






For the Cake:

I used this recipe for it. But, if you don't feel like making a cake from scratch, feel free to use a box of spice cake mix and add a 15 oz of canned pumpkin to it!

Now, in this recipe, I find a little bit less sugar than is called for is good, because you don't want the cake to be overly sweet. Trust me, the caramel makes up for it!

For the caramel:

A stick of butter
1c white sugar
Heavy Cream
1/2 tsp vanilla

How to put it all together.

Peel and slice about 7 or eight medium sized apples (I used Cortland, but next time I might use a mix of Granny Smith and Cortland)and line the bottom of a 13x9 greased and floured cake pan. Now, don't be stingy on how thick you cut the apples because they will disintegrate in the caramel while it's baking and you don't want that! I cut it into chunks rather than slices because I wanted a nice thick layer of apple, and it worked out very, very well!

Now, melt the stick of butter in a pan on the stove and mix in the sugar, cooking over high heat until the mixture starts to darken. Add vanilla and cream and keep stirring until the caramel is a nice golden-brown. It's okay if it seems a little gritty, because it will get creamy again when it bakes and the juice from the apples mixes in with it. Let cool a bit and pour over the apples, spreading evenly so it coats the entire bottom of the pan. (I actually doubled the recipe, and it worked out great, but it was messy. If you do this, make sure you line the bottom of your oven with some heavy duty foil to catch any caramel that bubbles up and drips over the sides. It will smoke, it will smell awful when the caramel burns on the foil, but it does not affect the cake. Not even a little. Trust me. :) ) Mix together your cake and pour over the apples, and bake until a fork inserted into the center of the cake comes away relatively clean!

For the Whipped Cream

Now, you can use Cool Whip if you like because it's not overly sweet, but I preferred fresh for this dish since whipping it up myself allows it to be sweetened as I go.

Chill a metal bowl in the freezer for five minutes, and then remove. Pour in cream (as much as you think you'll need). Add a tsp. of sugar to start and 1 tsp. of vanilla and start whipping. You can hand whip if you like, but I used my electric mixer with a whisk attatchment. Beat until light and fluffy and then top a big hunk of the cake with it and sprinkle with a bit of cinnamon to make it pretty and ta-da! Yummy!

:)

I hope anybody that makes this cake really really enjoys it! I know I did, and it's odd because I'm not overly fond of pumpkin anything!