An Apple a Day

Now that fall is here, and apples are in season, are you eating your apple a day? Well, there are a few ways you can do that, and one of them is this delicious caramel apple cake. The day I saw the recipe in a magazine, I decided I would make it, first chance I got. My husband's birthday is in October, so when I was planning his birthday dinner, I asked if he would like to try it. He was game.

 I made the recipe almost exactly the way it said to, but I didn't have a three-inch cake pan (and I was a bit short on time) so I turned them into muffins instead of a whole cake. I wouldn't make their caramel sauce (much too tedious and its not that good...) I would make this one instead. The addition of orange juice to the batter is great, and the use of baking powder and baking soda makes these muffins puff up very nicely.

The jist of the dessert goes like this: lay some apple pieces in the bottom of each muffin cup, pour in cake batter. While its baking, make the sauce. Pop out muffins, pour sauce on. This is my condensed version. Their version takes 2 1/2 hours, mine, about 30 minutes.

You decide.


Caramel Apple Muffins

1 Recipe Caramel Sauce

For the batter

3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
12 cup sour cream
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 stick unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
4 large apples, peeled, cored and cut into chunks

Preheat the oven to 400. Grease muffin pan.
Combine all cake batter ingredients, except for the apples, in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium high for about 5 minutes, occasionally scraping down the sides. Add apples and fold in.
Divide batter between muffin pans. Bake for 15-25 minutes. Test for doneness.
Meanwhile, prepare caramel sauce.
Allow muffins to cool for 5 minutes. Turn out onto plates or serving platter. Top each muffin with a ladle full of caramel sauce.