FFwD: Marie-Helene's Apple Cake

I don't think it is any big secret here that I just don't enjoy baked fruit all that much.  What I find particularly hilarious about this fact is the flip side of just how silly I am sometimes when it comes to baking vs. what I'll actually eat.

You see, I don't like baked fruit much... but I just adore baking with it.  This puts me in a ridiculous situation at times where I make things that I have absolutely no intention of eating.  This cake falls into that category.

It was so fun to make!  I loved choosing the different kinds of apples and getting them all ready for the cake.  I loved mixing the miniscule amount of batter and seeing how the cake all cake together.  I loved baking it up and watching friends and family enjoy the cake.

I had a bite.  Just so I could say I did.

I'm a total dork.

I really loved making the cake though, so hopefully that counts for something.  I also did really love how the batter baked up and the buttery and sugary flavor of the cake itself - I'm just not into the baked apples.

Again.  I'm a total dork.

For better reviews of this week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe for Marie-Helene's Apple Cake, please visit the FFwD site and check out the LYL post with everyone's links.  I promise, they'll make much more sense than I do.

The only change I did make was to bake my cake in an 8-inch square pan.  There was a sad incident in the kitchen which has caused the demise of my smaller springform pan, (let's just say that when the bottom of a 9-inch pan gets firmly lodged inside another 9-inch pan, neither pan is going to come apart or survive.  It is very very sad) much to my dismay, so I had to get a little creative.  I basically just created two slings of parchment in the square pan and followed the rest of the directions as written.  It worked beautifully with no problems at all.  I still miss my springform though.  

In case you missed it, you can also check out many more recipes from Around My French Table that several of us got together and made for Dorie's birthday this last Sunday.  It was a great roundup and I'm so proud of all my fellow cooks and bakers who are so talented and giving to come together and put together such a beautiful spread to celebrate a truly gracious and lovely lady!

Self-Frosting Pumpkin Nutella Muffins

Sometimes, in the middle of the night, when I'm only half awake, I get these ideas for things that I want to bake.  Often, by morning, I can't remember what it was.  Sometimes it comes to me again, but other times it is imprinted in my brain to the point of obsession.

I openly blame Maria and Katie for my latest episode.

I've had pumpkin on the brain.  And Nutella.  And ways to use both.  That is Maria's fault with her Pumpkin Nutella Bread.

Then, add on the fact that Katie seems to be eerily reading my mind lately and making it so I don't have to figure out how to make a Pumpkin White Hot Chocolate to sub for that infamous Pumpkin Spice Latte that I won't be drinking (no coffee for this girl) and, well, then you can see easily why I have pumpkin on my mind.

I had thought I took care of at least the Nutella issue the other day with these little cakes (Visitandine) I made for Dorie's birthday party, but apparently not.

So, these muffins were born.  The self-frosting technique isn't a new one.  In fact, thanks to Nic at Baking Bites (who I believe was the first to post Donna Hay's Self-Frosting Cupcake recipe about five years ago) this idea took the food blogosphere by storm.  I felt like it deserved a definite revisit.

This recipe came about from some serious tweaking to my favorite Banana Muffin recipe (which, incidentally works with the Nutella on top as well if you aren't a pumpkin fan).  I love this recipe dearly and end up making them about once a week whenever our bananas have outlived their eating out of hand shelf life.  And, yes.  I usually buy enough bananas to make sure that happens!

Self-Frosting Pumpkin Nutella Muffins

1 - 15 oz can pure pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons natural (not Dutch) cocoa powder

12 heaping teaspoons Nutella for topping

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line or spray a 12-cup muffin pan, set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder.  Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, oil, eggs, vanilla and brown sugar.  Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and whisk to combine.

Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups evenly (will be about 3/4 full).  Scoop a heaping teaspoon of Nutella onto the top of each muffin.  Use a toothpick or skewer to swirl the Nutella slightly around the top of the batter.

Bake the cupcakes for 25 to 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Serve warm or at room temperature.  Store in an airtight container.

Dorie's Virtual Surprise Birthday Party!

As Dorie is currently still on tour with her new book, several of us decided to be stealthy and put together a super secret project for today, October 24^th, which just so happens to be Dorie’s birthday! We wanted to throw a little surprise birthday party for her while she is out on the road by putting together a party menu from each section of ‘Around My French Table’.  We hope you like what we’ve come up with and that it encourages you to pick up a copy of the book.

We would all just like to wish Dorie a very, very happy birthday and all our best wishes! I know we all appreciate the work, time, care, thought and heart that she puts in to her work. Thank you Dorie!

Nibbles and hors d’oeuvres

Hummus and Cheez-it-ish Crackers, made by Katrina at Baking and Boys

Saint-Germaine-de-Pres Onion Biscuits, made by Jaime at Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats

Savory Cheese and Chive Bread, made by Lynne at Honey Muffin

Tzatziki, made by Jules at Someone's in the Kitchen

Soups

Corn Soup, made by Holly at PheMOMenon

Spiced Squash, Fennel & Pear Soup, made by Steph at A Whisk and A Spoon

Salads, Starters and Small Plates

Tomato-Cheese Tartlets, made by Jessica at My Baking Heart

Spinach and Bacon Quiche, made by Di at Di's Kitchen Notebook

Fresh Tuna, Mozzarella and Basil Pizza, made by Leslie at Lethally Delicious

Pumpkin-Gorgonzola Flan, made by Jessica at Cookbook Habit

Chicken and Duck

Duck Breasts with Fresh Figs, made by Nancy at The Dogs Eat the Crumbs

Roast Chicken for Les Paresseux, made by Susan at Doughmesstic

Curried Chicken, Peppers & Peas en Papillote, made by Marthe at Culinary Delights (not pictured)

Beef,Veal, Pork and Lamb

Bistrot Paul Bert Pepper Steak with Bacon, Mushrooms and Frites, made by Holly at PheMOMenon

Fresh Orange Pork Tenderloin, made by Holly at PheMOMenon

Fish and Shellfish

Mussels and Chorizo with Pasta, made by Spike at Spike Bakes

Almond Flounder Meuniere, made by Monica at SweetBites

Vegetables and Grains

Garlicky Crumb-Coated Broccoli, made by Mary at Popsicles and Sandy Feet

Brown-Sugar Squash and Brussels Sprouts, made by Katya at Second Dinner

Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good, made by Natalia at gatti fili e farina

Desserts

Marie-Helene's Apple Cake, made by Amy at AmyRuth Bakes

Beurre Noisette Visitandine with Nutella and Toasted Hazelnuts, made by Holly at PheMOMenon

Crepes with Strawberries, Bananas and Nutella, made by Linda at A Tender Crumb

Paris-Brest, made by Cristine at Cooking with Cristine

Quatre-Quarts, made by Laurie at Slush

For more from Around My French Table, check out the French Fridays with Dorie site.

For reviews of Baking From My Home To Yours, visit the Tuesdays with Dorie site.

Special thanks to everyone who participated in making this party happen, 

and especially to Laurie for helping put it all together!

ALL RECIPES FOR THIS ROUNDUP CAN BE FOUND IN

AROUND MY FRENCH TABLE, by Dorie Greenspan

Chocolate Chunk Scones

Where oh where have I been.  I can't believe it has been so long since I updated here and frankly, I'm fairly disgusted with myself.  I had so many great ideas and such a flurry of energy going too.  Then, just ppppbbbbllltttt - nothin' - bad day turned into bad week and so on.  Sorry!!

I have no good reason since it's just the way my life is and it's really nothing new.  I just had a funk I guess, and a bit of angst and self-pity followed by a healthy dose of self-loathing for the pity party.  Lame.

I think that is the key problem right there though.  No free time and a complete lack of motivation with myself.  Do you ever just have those times where life gets so overwhelming that you just want to shut it all down and give up on even trying?  Yeah. I told you it was a real pity party.  I didn't feel like sharing my lousy attitude at the time, but I feel like I'm starting to rebound so now I'm back!

Anyway, I don't really mean to bore you with all the details here about kids and school and work and life and doctors appointments and colds and sick kids and stress and blah blah blah, because, frankly, I'm tired of it all and that's what I come here to try to get away from.

What I DO want to share with you is this recipe for Chocolate Chunk Scones - a surefire way to help yank yourself out of pity party doldrums.  Besides, I'm sincerely hoping that, like me, you can be bribed into forgiveness.  I brought chocolate after all. Heavens knows it works on me! ;)

Slather a little cherry or raspberry jam on your scone for an extra little treat!

I made these scones a while back and they were so heavenly.  Light, fluffy, chocolatey, not too sweet and so melt-in-your-mouth tender - just like a good scone should be as far as I'm concerned.

I upped the ante with my scones by using really good bittersweet chocolate chunks.  The sugar topping was an additional super fun component too though.  I had some Swedish Pearl Sugar I picked up a while back and have been hoarding a bit.  It was so fun to use and the kiddos got a real kick out of it.  They thought it looked like little snowballs on top of the scones.

As far as I'm concerned, baked treats are good all of the time, but there's just something about the Fall weather that really makes me want to have something warm from the oven for breakfast.  These chocolate chunk scones definitely fit the bill!

Chocolate Chunk Scone Recipe

Adapted from the King Arthur Flour website

2 1/2 cups cake flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

3/4 cup heavy cream

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla

9 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chunks

sugar pearls or raw sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Line or lightly grease a baking sheet.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder.  Add the butter pieces and using your fingertips or a pastry cutter blend the butter into the flour until the mixture is unevenly crumbly.

In another bowl whisk together heavy cream, eggs, and vanilla.  Set aside 2 tablespoons of the mixture to use as a wash on the outside of the scones before baking.  Add the rest of the cream-egg-vanilla mixture to the dry ingredients along with the chocolate chunks.  Toss together with your hands or a fork to mix and form a moist dough.

Transfer the sticky dough to a well floured rolling mat or other work surface.  Gently pat and round the dough into a 7-inch circle.  Cut the circle into 8 equal triangle portions using a sharp knife.  Use a spatula to place the scones onto the baking sheet, leaving about 2-inches between triangles on the sheet.  Brush the scones with the reserved egg/cream mixture, then sprinkle heavily with the pearl or raw sugar.

Bake the scones for 22 to 25 minutes, until golden brown.  Remove the pan from the oven and serve them warm.  Keep them stored in an airtight container.

CSN Stores Gift Code Winner

The CSN Stores gift code winner is Natalie!  Woo hoo!!  Thank you to everyone for joining in the fun! You had some seriously great ideas for that wish list!

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French Fridays with Dorie (FFwD): Gougeres

Hooray for Dorie's new book - Around My French Table is here at last!  Which makes today, October 1st the very first day for the new group - French Fridays with Dorie (FFwD)!

Today is the first post for the group and all of October's recipe selections were chosen by Dorie herself, who is currently on tour with her new book (see the schedule here).

The first recipe for the group to make together is appropriately enough the first recipe in the book - gougeres.

These are light little cheese puff rolls made of the same type of dough (pate au choux) like cream puffs.  These really are a lot easier to make than most people tend to think - but the results are so amazing that it's hard to believe.  After all, can anything with a significant amount of gruyere melted in it not be delicious?!

I actually made the recipe twice in the past couple of weeks.  The first time we ate them with soup and the second time we just munched on them before dinner. Both times they were wonderful.  The second time I actually froze half the dough on the baking sheet. It was several days in the freezer before I ended up baking them - they had thawed a little bit before I put them in the oven to bake, but they baked up just as beautifully as the fresh batch did.

My most favorite way that I ate some of these this time was split with a little piece of leftover steak that I had - that was one heck of a little sandwich.

Make sure to visit the new French Fridays with Dorie site and see more gougeres on the Leave Your Link post.

You can also see the gougeres I posted over on Examiner.com last year that we made for a picnic.  They really are a wonderful little finger food and those ones had a little black pepper in them for an extra kick - so good!