Apple Spice Cake with Maple Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing

I love autum. I always have, but that love has definitely intensified througought my adult years. 

In my childhood, fall always meant new beginnings for me. That's when school started and everything was new. New schools, new friends, new relationships. It was a time for beginnings, even as nature began exploding with the colors and smells of dying. 

I love the temperature change, the crispness to the air, and the smell of smoke from fireplaces and outdoor fires. I love carving pumpkins and roasting pumpkin seeds and creating pumpkin treats such as Pumpkin Spice Bread. 

I also love apples - a good crisp sweet and tart apple to enjoy, especially a Granny Smith coated in hard red cinnamon candy... you know, candy apples, and making apple sauce for my daughter with as many varieties of apples as I can get my hands on. The batch I made for her the other day had 10 different apples in it. That is what makes a delicious apple sauce! 

Which leads me to my new adventure - using apples in cakes. Y'all. Seriously. This is a cake you need to make. I use some brown sugar for a more caramel flavor to the cake and a ton of spices, which I love. But if that isn't enough fall goodness for you, I then top the cake with a Maple Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing. Yep. It's a mouthful, but it is amazing. Let me know if you give this cake a try and how you like it!

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda 

1 Tbsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp clove

1/4 tsp allspice

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups olive oil (vegetable oil works as well; I've just really been enjoying the extra flavor and moisture of olive oil).

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup chopped nuts - walnuts or pecans will work

Another 1/4-1/2 cup nuts for toasting for garnish

3 cups shredded apples - honeycrisp, Granny Smith, gala, Fuji, Macintosh, or pink lady are good options (you have more flexibility here - if you like chunks of apple, just dice these small, or use the large or small shredder depending on the texture you want from your apples. The smaller you shred, the more it will just melt into the cake)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a skillet over medium heat, toast pecans until fragrant; shift them around often so that they don't burn. Allow to cool completely. Combine the flour, sugars, baking soda, salt, and spices into a large bowl. Use a whisk to combine all the ingredients together. If your flour is clumpy, you should seriously consider sifting it into your bowl. If you don't you might end up with flour clumps throughout your batter.

Shred the apple. If you want color and more texture, don't peel your apples. If you don't, then peel them. It's your preference here. I ended up peeling two of my apples and not peeling two of them for a bit of color and texture.

Add the eggs, oil, and vanilla to the dry ingredients. Stir until combined.

Fold in the apples and nuts until mixed.

Spread batter into a prepared 9x13 or bundt pan. Spray it, use crisco and flour, or use parchment paper.

Bake 35-45 minutes until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. If baking cupcakes, bake 15-20 minutes until done. It can have a few moist crumbs, but you don't want the toothpick to be wet.

While the cake cools, prepare the frosting.

8 oz cream cheese

8 oz unsalted butter

4 cups powdered sugar

1-1 1/2 tsp maple extract

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon 

Pinch of nutmeg

Pinch of salt

In a large bowl or stand mixer cream the butter and cream cheese together until light and fluffy with the whisk attachment. As with the flour, you might want to sift your confectioner sugar if its clumpy. Add part of the confection sugar and blend in. Add the remaining confectioner sugar and combine. Add the vanilla and maple extracts and the cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.Whisk until incorporated; scrape down sides, and then mix some more. Turn speed up to high and whip some air into the frosting until it's light and fluffy. Frost the cake, and then top with toasted pecans. Now, enjoy!

Baklava

Bakalava. Flaky patry. Slightly sweetened cinnamon-y nut filling, sweet honey drizzle. There's just not much better than baklava. That's why I decided I wanted to find a good recipe and try making it from scratch. I did a good bit of research and learned quite a bit about this delicacy. While most of us probably think of Greek cuisine, baklava, in fact, originated in the Ottoman Empire, and the word itself is Arabic. The variations found in baklava will indicate where the recipe originated. I won't go into all the history, but which nuts are used, what is used to create the syrup all indicate the region of origin. I finally settled on this recipe: Easy Baklava. I liked the idea of using various nuts, so I went with a mixture of walnuts, pecans, almonds, and hazelnuts. I always imagined baklava was very difficult to make, and I've always heard about how hard it is to work with phyllo dough. Honestly, while this was a bit time consuming (to do it right anyway), it really was rather easy!

Pastry

1 lb mixed nuts, chopped
1 tsp ground cinnamon
16 oz package phyllo dough
1 cup butter, melted

Syrup

1 cup white sugar
1 cup water
1⁄2 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon zest, grated

To ensure a smooth process, make sure you have all of your ingredients prepped and ready to go. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish. Toss together cinnamon and nuts. Unroll phyllo and cut whole stack in half to fit the dish, if needed. The dough I got was already cut for a 9X13. Cover phyllo with a damp cloth while assembling the baklava, to keep it from drying out.

Place two sheets of phyllo in the bottom of the prepared dish. Brush generously with butter. Sprinkle 2 to 3 tablespoons of the nut mixture on top. 

Repeat layers until all ingredients are used, ending with about 6 sheets of phyllo. 

Using a sharp knife, cut baklava into desired shapes. I had a little trouble with this part, I think, because I buttered the top layer before cutting. The phyllo kept sticking to my knife. Lesson learned. :-)

Bake in preheated oven 50 minutes, until golden and crisp. While baklava is baking, combine sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. 

Stir in honey, vanilla and lemon zest, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.

Remove the baklava from the oven and immediately spoon the syrup over it. 

Let cool completely before serving. I ended up adding just a bit extra honey to the baklava before serving. Just added a little bit more oomph to it. Store in an airtight container.

Orange Salad

My family has been making this Orange Salad for special events such as Thanksgiving and Christmas since I was in school. I've had several people ask me about the recipe, so I've decided to blog it so that you can make it with your family and maybe start a new tradition! I'm now passing this one to my teenage daughter. She's made it the past year or two every time we've needed it. The new expert actually made this one in the photos as well. I wish I could give a credit for the recipe, but it was passed down from my grandmother and I have no idea where she got it from - but I've altered nearly every quantity in it since I first made it, so not sure it would matter much. lol

1 large container of Cool Whip
3 ounce box of orange Jello
8 ounce container cottage cheese
2 medium cans of mandarins
1 large can of crushed pineapple
1/2-1 cup of chopped nuts to taste

Pour Cool Whip into large bowl, and add orange jello powder and mix completely.

Add cottage cheese and mix until blended. Drain mandarin oranges and crushed pineapple completely (any juice left with make the salad runny). Mix until blended.

Add nuts and mix until combined. We used pecans in this making of the Orange Salad, courtesy of my mom, but I usually use diced walnuts.

Chill for at least an hour or two before serving.