Apple Cobbler Cupcake

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 tsp lemon extract
2 1/2 cups apples, roughly chopped and loosely packed (I like having the large chunks of apple in the batter, but you can chop the apples more finely if you like a smoother look.)


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and ginger.

Beat butter and sugars in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, sour cream, and lemon extract until blended. Mix in flour mixture. Fold in apples.

Divide batter evenly among the cupcake liners (they will be filled almost all the way to the top).

Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the cupcake clean. Cool about 5 minutes in the pan and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.



Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting

1 cup butter
4 cups powdered sugar
3 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon

Beat butter in an electric mixer until fluffy. Add sugar 1/2 cup at a time until completely mixed. Add the milk 1 tbsp at a time to achieved desired thickness. Mix in vanilla and cinnamon until well combined. Transfer to a piping bag and decorate as desired.


This recipe is also linked on...

Sweet Indulgences Sunday
Everyday Sisters' Sharing Sundays: Cupcakes
Everyday Sisters' Sharing Sundays: Apples
Crazy Sweet Tuesday
Cast Party Wednesday
Sweets for a Saturday
Saturday's Seasonal Inspiration
This Week's Cravings: Apples
It's a Blog Party's Fall Fest Apple Recipes 2011

Julia Child's Chocolate and Almond Cake

Ingredients

4 ounces or squares semisweet chocolate, melted
2 Tbsp rum or coffee
1/2 cup softened butter
2/3 cup granulated sugar to mix with butter
3 egg yolks
3 egg whites
Pinch of salt
1 Tbsp granulated sugar to beat with egg whites
1/3 cup pulverized almonds
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup cake flour, scooped and leveled, turned into a sifter
Icing


Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter and flour the cake pan. Set the chocolate and rum or coffee in a small pan, cover, and place (off heat) in a larger pan of almost simmering water; let melt while you proceed with the recipe. Measure out the rest of the ingredients.

Cream the butter and 2/3 cup of sugar together for several minutes until they form a pale yellow, fluffy mixture. Beat in the egg yolks until well blended.

Beat the egg whites and salt in a separate bowl until soft peaks are formed; sprinkle 1 Tbsp. sugar and beat until stiff peaks are formed.

With a rubber spatula, blend the melted chocolate into the butter and sugar mixture, then stir in the almonds, and almond extract. Immediately stir in one fourth of the beaten egg whites to lighten the batter. Delicately fold in a third of the remaining whites and when partially blended, sift on one third of the flour and continue folding. Alternate rapidly with more egg whites and more flour until all egg whites and flour are incorporated.

Turn the batter into the cake pan, pushing the batter up to its rim with a rubber spatula. Bake in middle level of preheated oven for about 25 ·minutes. Cake is done when it has puffed, and 2 1/2 to 3 inches around the circumference are set so that a needle plunged into that area comes out clean; the center should move slightly if the pan is shaken, and a needle comes out oily.

Allow cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan, and reverse cake on the rack. Allow it to cool for an hour or two; it must be thoroughly cold if it is to be iced.

This recipe is also linked to...

Everyday Sisters' Sharing Sundays: Nuts

Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon

Kitchen Supplies:

9- to 10-inch, fireproof casserole dish , 3 inches deep
Slotted spoon


Ingredients:

6 ounces bacon
1 Tbsp. olive oil or cooking oil
3 pounds lean stewing beef , cut into 2-inch cubes
1 sliced carrot
1 sliced onion
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. flour
3 cups full-bodied, young red wine (Chianti, Beaujolais, Côtes du Rhône, Bordeaux-St. Émilion, or Burgundy)
2 to 3 cups brown beef stock or canned beef bouillon
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
2 cloves mashed garlic
1/2 tsp. thyme
Crumbled bay leaf
Blanched bacon rind
18 to 24 small white onions , brown-braised in stock
1 pound quartered fresh mushrooms , sautéed in butter
Parsley sprigs


Directions:

Remove rind from bacon, and cut bacon into lardons (sticks, 1/4 inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long). Simmer rind and bacon for 10 minutes in 1 1/2 quarts of water. Drain and dry.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Sauté the bacon in the oil over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon. Set casserole aside. Reheat until fat is almost smoking before you sauté the beef.

Dry the stewing beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp. Sauté it, a few pieces at a time, in the hot oil and bacon fat until nicely browned on all sides. Add it to the bacon.

In the same fat, brown the sliced vegetables. Pour out the sautéing fat.

Return the beef and bacon to the casserole and toss with the salt and pepper. Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly with the flour. Set casserole uncovered in middle position of preheated oven for 4 minutes. Toss the meat and return to oven for 4 minutes more. (This browns the flour and covers the meat with a light crust.) Remove casserole, and turn oven down to 325 degrees.

Stir in the wine, and enough stock or bouillon so that the meat is barely covered. Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs, and bacon rind. Bring to simmer on top of the stove. Then cover the casserole and set in lower third of preheated oven. Regulate heat so liquid simmers very slowly for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.

While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms. Set them aside until needed.

When the melt is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan. Wash out the casserole and return the beef and bacon to it. Distribute the cooked onions and mushrooms over the meat.

Skim fat off the sauce. Simmer sauce for a minute or two, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about 2 1/2 cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly. If too thin, boil it down rapidly. If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons of stock or canned bouillon. Taste carefully for seasoning. Pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables. Recipe may be completed in advance to this point.

For immediate serving: Cover the casserole and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times. Serve in its casserole, or arrange the stew on a platter surrounded with potatoes, noodles, or rice, and decorated with parsley.

For later serving: When cold, cover and refrigerate. About 15 to 20 minutes before serving, bring to the simmer, cover, and simmer very slowly for 10 minutes, occasionally basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce.