Caramel Apple Coffee Cake
W is currently hooked on In the Night Kitchen, by Maurice Sendak. As such all he ever wants to do is bake “a delicious Mickey cake”, marching around the house singing “milk! milk! milk for the morning cake!”, and “milk in the batter! milk in the batter! we! bake! cake! and nothing’s the matter!”
So rather than turn to the internet or my usual stash, I pulled one of the thousand or so cookbooks off my shelf – Everyday Favourites put out by Canadian Living – and flipped to the first simple cake recipe. One that called for apples, which we have a surplus of. The recipe is called Butterscotch Apple Spice Cake, but I made a few adjustments, and like the idea of caramel apples in cake form.
And have I ever told you about Elizabeth Baird, and how much I adore her? I have since I was a kid and told my grade 3 class I wanted to be the food editor of Canadian Living magazine when I grew up. (When I told her this a couple years ago, she replied “well, I’m not getting any younger.”) As a teenager I wanted to dye my hair that silvery white, like hers. My mom wouldn’t let me.
I don’t often get starstruck. When we ran into Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn at Shrek 2 in Vancouver (literally – their car pulled in beside ours in the parkade, and Mike held the door open for them – it wasn’t until they passed through, in the extreme close quarters of a parkade stairwell with us, that he realized who they were. He had a look of blushed surprise on his face as if something sensitive was stuck in his fly) it was cool, but really no biggie. Same thing with John Cleese (from Monty Python), whom I ran into at the Banff Springs hotel – I had come from doing a cooking demo and was en route to the washroom and ran into him waiting for the elevator. John actually recoiled in horror when he saw me, and I understood why when I got to the washroom and noticed I had chocolate smeared up the side of my face. And a bloody eye. Don’t ask. He probably isn’t going to call me.
Now John Cusack I might get a little flustered over. I could possibly faint.
And Elizabeth Baird. I’ve known her for years now, and I still get all fluttery when I’m around her. A true Canadian food icon, she is. When I grow up, I want to be Elizabeth.
Anyway – the cake:
Caramel Apple Coffee Cake
AuthorJulie
Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 10" tube pan with nonstick spray.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugars until sandy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
In a smaller bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add about a third to the butter mixture and beat on low just until blended. Add half the sour cream, another third of the dry ingredients, the rest of the sour cream, and the rest of the dry ingredients, stirring by hand or beating on low just until combined. Scrape the batter into the pan.
Slice the apples onto the surface, arranging them however you like - they will shrink as they cook, so feel free to place them tightly together. Drizzle with caramel sauce. If you're using the sugar and butter, bring it to a simmer in a small saucepan, then drizzle it overtop.
Bake for 45 minutes, until the cake is springy to the touch.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 10" tube pan with nonstick spray.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugars until sandy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
In a smaller bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add about a third to the butter mixture and beat on low just until blended. Add half the sour cream, another third of the dry ingredients, the rest of the sour cream, and the rest of the dry ingredients, stirring by hand or beating on low just until combined. Scrape the batter into the pan.
Slice the apples onto the surface, arranging them however you like - they will shrink as they cook, so feel free to place them tightly together. Drizzle with caramel sauce. If you're using the sugar and butter, bring it to a simmer in a small saucepan, then drizzle it overtop.
Bake for 45 minutes, until the cake is springy to the touch.
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Cool! I love tea of any kind. Speaking of tea, where did you find the lapsang souchong that you used for one of your pork loin recipes? I can never find in on the shelves of grocery markets, so I’m assuming some fancier store? Anyways, as you didn’t ask a question this time, I’ll go with the familiar “What was for supper tonight” route. Actually, it was one of your recipes – Roasted Chick Peas with Garlic and Chard….we’re addicted to it, and will never eat chick peas another way! Only I substituted the chard with lightly sauteed pea sprout greens (on sale last week at the T&T supermarket), and added some garlicy shrimp (raw shrimp cooked with some olive oil and garlic) into the whole mix to make it into a big supper “salad”. Delicious.
ohhh…nice tea!
would love to try.
thanks as always for your entertaining posts…i too wanted to be elizabeth!
have a good weekend
I am an Elizabeth B. fan, too. I have several Cdn living cookbooks, and am working on the hair.
Supper was browned chicken thighs, baked in BBQ sauce, mini potatoes, boiled a bit then roasted and corn.
The baked sweet potato was not done in time.
That apple cake looks great – must try it soon.
this cake looks delicious!
i likewise have a considerable tea stash, but i do drink a lot of tea so i justify all my different kinds. i would love to try these too.
My son loves In the Night Kitchen! He goes through stages where that’s all we read/watch around the house.
The tea looks great, I would love to try them and share with my mom (who I blame for making me such a tea addict).
after this grueling week of frigid weather and it’s strange effect on my children–they ramped up their critique of dinners and moved beyond “no thanks” to “i really don’t ever want to eat that ever, ever again”–so i decided damn it, i’m making ribs. for me. and i did. and they were delicious.
the german and russian judged sitting at my table were not impressed.
this is (cold) war.
should read judges, not judged.
mmmm…tea. I like going to the local tea shop almost as much as the local chocolate shop(almost) Dinner last night was homemade pizza. I am happy to say the crust turned out really well, sometimes that is a gamble with a 3 year old helping knead the dough. That cake looks delicious!
Jan – I got the lapsang souchong from TNik! http://www.tnik.com
(It is fairly tough to find, but she has them all!)
This was last night’s dinner from “Cooking Light” and it was delicious!
Broiled Tilapia with Thai Cocunt Curry Sauce
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil, divided
2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1 cup chopped green onions
1 teaspoon curry powder
2 teaspoons red curry paste
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
4 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1 (14-ounce) can light coconut milk
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
4 (6-ounce) tilapia fillets
Cooking spray
3 cups hot cooked Basmati rice
4 lime wedges
Directions:
Preheat broiler.
Heat 1/2 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add ginger and garlic; cook 1 minute. Add pepper and onions; cook 1 minute. Stir in curry powder, curry paste, and cumin; cook 1 minute. Add soy sauce, sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and coconut milk; bring to a simmer (do not boil). Remove from heat; stir in cilantro.
Brush fish with 1/2 teaspoon oil; sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Place fish on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Broil 7 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Serve fish with sauce, rice, and lime wedges.
The delicious looking cake is begging for a cuppa tea. Haven’t ever tried matcha tea, or Sasaktoons, I don’t think the Saskatoons are very likely 🙁
Anyway, dinner last night (the best of the week) was Tamale Pie as seen on caviarandcodfish.com. Next time I will alter it a bit by adding a splash of enchilada sauce and some other veggies or some black beans… or both.
The tnik site is lovely. Cheers.
Last weekend I remember discussing the possibility of having family dinner with my BIL, SIL & their kids on Friday night rather than Saturday or Sunday and well we didn’t hear anything. My husband had surgery Tuesday(he’s fine now), add to that a new job, parent-teacher interviews and my week has been anything but quiet and uneventful.
Then my BIL showed up on my doorstep at 4:00pm. So…dinner last night was Chinese food. Chicken fried rice, Ma Po Tofu, Wonton Soup, Mixed Veggies, Almond Soo Gai and chicken balls for the kids.
I loved the cooking class yesterday!! What a wonderful way to spend the afternoon. I can’t wait to try all the recipes. I really loved the Warm Sticky Maple Pudding. Thanks for such a delightful afternoon.
Went out last night, but Wednesday was roasted sweet potatoes and balsamic chicken… yum!
Hi Julie, thanks for keeping up the blog. It is a wonder to me how you find the energy to do all of things you do!
I made the brisket recipe from Friday Night Dinners by Bonnie Stern this past week. I was a total hit! It’s so exciting to find a wonderful new recipe that you know you will use again and again I also recreated the ginger and lemongrass cordial (served over sparkling water) that I recently had at Farm. So lovely!
I love tea, it’s so warm and comforting…
anyway, dinner last night was spaghetti with asparagus and chicken, easy and simple, but very tasty.
Dinner last night was “Mexican baked Basa,” just some basa fillets with sauteed onions, garlic, peppers and herbs/spices poured overtop, covered and baked. I usually pack in as much spinach as I can fit on top of the other vegetables (my own riff on the recipe), but I was out and really missed it. Oh well, still good and everyone liked it. Dessert, a childhood favourite – warm gingerbread cake with whipped cream!
BTW, I can’t see Basa on my little Monterey Bay Aquarium card that’s supposed to tell me which fish is safe and ecologically friendly to buy, and which to avoid. I see it is from 2005 (oops). Does anyone know anything about Basa? I’m afraid it’s so good it has to be bad, like roughy…
This is my first time leaving a comment on your site, but I’m a long time fan. I’ve just returned from a two week holiday (in beautifully warm & lush Guatemala…the exact opposite of my home town of Winnipeg) and suddenly realized today, in a panic, that I am way behind on reading Dinner With Julie. Oh my!
Last night’s dinner was baked balsamic & honey salmon, sesame spinach and brown basmati rice. Healhty & satisfying.
Love your posts. Keep it up!
Last night’s dinner was curry chicken with basmatic rice. Salad was grilled romaine and sweet onions with caesar dressing.
Delicious.
I love tea! This is my first comment to your site too as I only discovered your site about a week ago. Supper last night were those Thai Thighs that you posted about a couple of days ago now. Very good they were too. So quick and easy. I linked to them in my blog today.
That cake looks great. I will be trying it!
Our best meal this week was. Lightly breaded porkchops, mac n cheese and sugar peas. It was a real chilly and windy day. I melted butter and pressed 3 cloves of garlic into it and simmered for a minute or so until the garlic permeated the butter.
I put the chops into the garlic butter, coated both sides and dipped them into italian seasoned bread crumbs. I baked them at 400 for about 30-35 minutes. It was so good!
Dinner last night was Chinese Buffet
But I am really looking forward to tonight which will be steak, baked potato, ceaser salad & garlic toast mmmmmmmm maybe a glass or two of red wine
What a great idea! All I drink is tea… my stomach doesn’t handle coffee very well. My boyfriend makes me delicious orange pekoe tea in bed every morning (I think his secret is all the love he pours in 😉 )
For dinner last night it was Friday so its Lent! My boyfriend made me a delicious baked salmon fillet covered in a homemade lemon dill spice rub and then served with whole wheat pasta with a sauce made with fresh tomatoes, mushrooms and a tomato pesto.
Did I mention we’re 22 and he’s finishing up 2 degrees? I love a man with as big a passion for cooking as me 🙂
Our best dinner was broiled steelhead trout (looks like salmon) topped with thyme and prosciutto with sweet potato wedges and asparagus on the side. Of course, my incredibly hard-to-feed seven year old daughter insisted on tofu (!) instead of the too-pink trout.
I can’t wait to bake that cake.
Thick potato soup made from the remains of scalloped potatoes, with additions of a tin of baby clams, chunks of broccoli, shredded carrot and green onion. And a salad! Hope I can remember how this soup was created for the next time there’s leftover scalloped potatoes!
In reply to Tina’s question about Basa, here is the link to the updated Seafood Watch Guide:
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_regional.aspx
(Basa is in the yellow zone, meaning that it is a good alternative, but there are choices you can make that are more sustainable. It’s great to know that people are taking what type of fish they eat into consideration from a conservation perspective!!
That cake sounds delicious! That might go on the short list of things to make SOON.
Dinner last night ended up being BBQ Chicken pizza and it was delicious!
Thanks, Britt!
Last night was dinner with friends. We ordered out for Chinese food from a local restaurant operated by the family of one of our students at the College. Super food!
While drinking wine and deciding on what to order, we nibbled on Rosemary Pecan crisps, brie, and hummus dip with carrots and celery. Dessert was a selection of cookies from One Smart Cookie (peanut butter, almond macaroons, and Chocolava) accompanied by a bunch of grapes. Had to hand out recipes for all the above when people were getting ready to leave. (I’m afraid that I’m getting a reputation for being a great cook… Julie makes it sooo easy!)
The tea selection looks wonderful!
I haven’t been home for dinner very much at all this week, but my favorite was pesto salmon with couscous. soo easy. soo yummie. the pesto was actually mixed with some ginger marmalade which worked out very nicely.
i love tea! send me some!
Your new haircut is VERY Elizabeth B!
What??? You were in Red Deer and I did not know about it?? Oh well… I was in Edmonton for the day anyway…
So much to say about one post – I think we could talk all day about In the Night Kitchen (Oliver loved it, too), apple cakes (who doesn’t love them?) and of course, EB! She is such a wonderful person! Regrettably, as wonderful as you are, I don’t think anyone will ever be able to fill her shoes. I think we all have to realize that she is ‘da bomb’ and just muddle around in our relative mediocrity. Sigh.
Please count me in for the tea giveaway! I also made your Thai chicken thighs for dinner last night. With almond butter (b/c my son is allergic to peanuts), and ground ginger since I had no fresh. Very yummy! Although next time I’ll make a concerted effort to get fresh ginger. (I used to keep fresh ginger in my fridge all the time in TX and it kept forever; since moving here last summer I’ve found it keeps drying out before I have a chance to use it!)
mmmm that tea sounds delicious!! Dinner tonight is for my mom’s bday and for nibblies we are having edamame beans with cracked sea salt, and cheese straws and for dinner – barbequed/baked ribs, schwartzies potatoes, mixed green with white balsamic vinagrette, asparagus, fresh bread and some sort of cake for dessert that my brother is bringing.
What super packaging these teas are in.
Dinner last night was lovely. We went to Olives restaurant to celebrate Downtown Dining Week here in Calgary. In the words of Rachel Ray – Yum oh – and our waiter – yummy! This was his last night serving as he’s off to se asia today (with his girlfriend he said). Oh to be 20ish again. I digress – we had chiken, amazing corn meal encrusted calamari and some kind of yummy pumpkin dessert. We then walked over to 100 Wines by David (an amazing wine store – check it out!!)
Downtown Dining Week is a terrific way for anyone to go and enjoy a restaurant, that normally might be out of their price range.
I’ve grown to appreciate tea more lately too! Love ginger with a twist….
For dinner last night, I opened a jar of spaghetti sauce and it went over whole wheat pasta and broccoli. Too tired to do much else!
thanks for the great recipes….Rose
Wow, a tea sampler would be great! My current favorite is a green tea & tropical fruit blend from Steeps called Divine Temple – it smells like being on a sunny beach.
Supper last night was a beef & veggie stir fry, rice, beef dumplings and home made green onion cakes, all courtesy of my husband (the chief cook). The green onion cakes are great & pretty quick to make.
Wow, I would love to win the tea sampler. I’ve always been more of a “tea grannie” than a coffee drinker.
Dinner last night was roasted chicken pieces with a crispy gluten free herb coating (my partner is celiac), broccoli with lemon/herb sauce and mashed potatoes.
Another first time commenter !!! Discovered your blog about a year ago now, and read it faithfully everyday… and absolutely love it. Now I have to work on the cooking and baking aspect of things. The Caramel Apple Coffe Cake looks absolutely delicous so perhaps I should start there !!!
Supper was a Fajita/Red Pepper Pizza…
The tea looks great, would love to try some 🙂
BTW.. I am soooo happy you decided to keep your blog going!
The
Ooooh! The tea looks DIVINE!!! My best dinner this week was totally random and turned out great. I found some unidentified piece of frozen white fish in my freezer. Put a little oil and butter in the saucepan, added a good sprinkling of mixed herbs, put in the fish, covered it and let it cook away. Added some fresh spinach, some leftover grilled peppers and eggplant (Gull Valley!) from the night before and a dolop of Forage Salsa. YUMMMMMY!!!
Jessica – if you keep your ginger in the freezer it will always be fresh. You don’t even have to peel it. I keep mine in a small tupper ware container. Also it’s easier to grate if frozen.
Hey, we had apple(sauce) cake too… to my distress I couldn’t find one in your archives, Julie, but my old “Food that really Schmecks” (Edna Staebler) came through. With a big turkey dinner. Just ’cause it’s so easy, but my family is impressed… and I love the leftovers. Decaf Earl Grey with the cake, naturally!
Elizabeth Baird is fantastic. I’ve found that the flavour of Canadian Living has changed a bit as her guiding hand is felt, perhaps, less than it was. And as I look for the depth of knowlege coupled with relevance, humour and the primary ingredient, “Delicious”, I turn to Dinner with Julie. Strength to strength!
In honor of such a beautiful sunny Saturday my hubby grilled steak, burgers, and hot dogs for the kiddos. Something for everybody and I didn’t have to make it. That alone makes it the best meal all week!
Those teas look so pretty.
Dinner last night was on the Eurodam cruise ship~~~our final meal before arriving home today. I had a taste of brie in puff pastry, pear soup, salad wrapped in cucumber, filet mignon, and a lobster tail. Dessert was baked alaskan, presented on trays by all the servers and chefs and hailed as “the greatest dessert on the Caribbean”. I’m afraid to get on the scale tomorrow. Although last night was the only time I allowed myself dessert, I have a feeling most of the meals did not stay within my point range of WW!!! Back to reality starting NOW!
ooooh…that tea looks almost too pretty to drink! i love how there are so many to choose from! dinner tonight was pork with a mustard/berry glaze and barley cooked in broth and salsa (new recipe — tasted almost like a spanish couscous).
Dinner last night (or was it late lunch?) was chili and smokies cooked over a wood fire in beautiful Waterton park after a couple of hours of snowshoeing! Beautiful day! I forgot to take mugs….but tea would have been a great addition.
I made your Hoisin chicken lettuce wraps. My family loved them. We now call them “boats” instead of “wraps” since we used romaine hearts. My husband is a big time tea drinker and would love the tea…..funny how there are so many more replies on Free Stuff Fridays hey? 🙂
Dinner last night – Crusted salmon patties from The Complete Canadian Living Cookbook, cilantro pilaf from Bonnie Stern’s Friday Night Suppers and lovely carrots from Lund’s. Yum!
The tea sampler looks great. Which one to choose? Hmmmmm.
Dinner last night: Oven baked chicken, your Barley, Brown and Wild Rice , Chick Pea mixtre. (can’t recall the proper name for it right now)
We are having a pj day today and decided to make those peanutbutter, banana, chocolate chip cookies from a few entries ago…excellent! Our recipe made far less, mind you, as I let the kids put them on the baking sheets with less supervision than was prudent 🙂
Julie,
I am a big fan of your cookbooks (have all three) and I have just discovered your blog. Any chance you’ll be making any appearances in Vancouver in the coming months?
Mmmmmm!!! I LOVE tea!
Dinner last night was an inspired veggie burger with a patty that I made out of sunflower seeds, flour, carrots, tofu and a few other things with fresh greens on top of fresh homemade buns…mmm:D For desert a berry fruit crisp with fennel ice cream!
tummy not up to par…. pancakes.
tea sounds like just what the dr. ordered!
btw… I froze some of the peanut/banana cookies and it is interesting… they really don’t freeze or even get hard just cold. They were wonderful right from the freezer… kindof like a frozen chocolate covered banana — good snack for summer. But kind of defeated the purpose of trying to make me stop eating them.
Hmmm…last night for dinner. My sister (Nancy G) came over and made sesame sticky chicken, rice, and steamed broccoli. I was feeling rotten as I had recently caught my 3 year old son’s cold (tea is curative for colds, right? Hee hee), so I was feeling very fortunate. Thank goodness for older sisters with a penchant for cooking 🙂
Rather lacklustre dinners of late, owing to super annoying, kick-you-in-the-butt cold. But, am subsisting on amazing meatloaf sandwiches from this killer recipe: rosemary-apple meatloaf. Mmmmm. Meatloaf is one of the finest comfort foods, as far as I’m concerned.
The first cookbook I owned was by Elizabeth!!! Desserts only no less 🙂
The coffee cake looks AMAZING!
Gotta love TNik!! The teas are awesome…mmmm!
Best meal of the week AND dinner were the same: saffron cream sauce (with garlic), shrimp, peas, parsley on spaghettini. I’m ADDICTED!!!!!
Dinner last night was a shared meal with friends — Italian theme and everything was delicious! Lots of wine and laughs too.
Apple desserts are the best – apple crisps are my favorite for a wintery night like tonight.
Best dinner this week was a big Thai dinner party we did last night (prep took all week)! The duck in green curry was divine.
Thanks for the coffee cake recipe! I made it on Saturday and it is almost gone tonight… whoops. Dinner tonight was a whole chicken, roasted with carrots, parsnips, and onions, and shredded off the bone right into the pan once done, with everything being tossed in the chicken drippings. Delish! And about 15 minutes of actual work.
Oooh, I love tea. I try to have a cup every night. I haven’t been too adventurous with the different flavors though.
My best meal of the week was BBQ buffalo steak, BBQ bacon wrapped scallops and grilled mixed peppers.
Delicious.
With the warmer weather we are finally having, we were able to find the BBQ on the deck – it spent most of the winter under 2 feet of snow! Dinner last night was grilled steak, baked potatoes and grilled brocolli cooked in a wok topper – the outdoor version of your roasted brocolli :0) Delish, and made me think that spring might acutally get here one of these days.
Our best meal… sante chicken salad with fresh avocado and peanut lime dressing. Made at home. Delish! Can’t wait to start growing things in my own garden.
I didn’t make anything spectacular myself last week so my best meal would’ve been the Steak Salad I had at Moxie’s. It came with a lovely little loaf of banana bread, which I thought was an odd pairing but was quite delightful!
I bought myself a pack of Maple Green tea last week. I love all things maple and the tea didn’t disappoint. Just a subtle hint of maple – all natural – flavour. I hope I’m not too late for Free Stuff Friday!
Please count me in too for Free Stuff Friday!!
I can’t even remember what we have had for suppers this past week, so obviously nothing fantastic. Yesterday we had chicken caesar salad and garlic bread, which was great as always.
the cake looks fabulous…love apple anything!
the dinner last night: it was my daughter’s 18th bday. She requested roasted vegetables with penne….number cookies (a family tradition-the number (18)birthday in a sugar cookie), and since it was a family party– a spiral sliced ham, tossed green salad….
earlier in the week I roasted asparagus, stringbeans, zucchini, an eggplant, red peppers in olive oil….then while the water was heating for the penne I sauteed garlic, finely chopped onion and a handful of finely chopped white mushrooms in a little olive oil, added a large amount of chicken broth, and fresh thyme, rosemary and slt and pepper…then tossed it all together,the pasta, warmed veggies, and the light sauce, added shredded basil and some grated romano and voila! She was happy! I was suprised it came out so good!
Amazing how many of us tea lovers!
Best dinner this week was slow cooked (in the oven) roast beef (recipe from one of Sandi Richard’s books), mashed potatoes, cauliflower-tomato casserole, and coconut raspberry cake for dessert. Yummy!
Soup dumplings doused with chili sauce!
Love the tea.
Dinner last night was pork tenderloin – an insperation from Everyday Exotic on the Food Network.
Cheers ~ Jenny
I LOVE the apple caramel coffee cake!! mmm… its soooo good!! infact im going to make some more today thanks for posting, this recipes a keeper:)
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