Food Fit for Frankenstein or Friends

 Tons of renos being done at our house, so decided it was time to try out some  baking on friends.  Took CHocolate/Espresso Shortbread, rolled it out and made hands. Kind of make sense this time of year....muhhahahaaha. The hands are easy and also cut out witches hats, then dipped the edges in white chocolate. Quite cathartic on a crazy day, when all I can hear from downstairs is hammering, drilling and loud scrunching and squeaking...

 Took the same shortbread and made shortbread in a pan, cut it into squares while still hot then drizzled it with white chocolate. The recipe is an easy one: 1 cup butter, 1 cup powdered sugar,  cups flour, pinch salt. Knead into a ball, roll out and cut into shapes. Bake the shapes for about 11 minutes in a 325 degree oven. If you squish the dough into a parchment lined 8 by 8 inch pan, then bake for about 24 minutes. Just watch closely, cause you may have to add on minutes.

 APPLE CAKE: Nice tender crumb. I just frosted it with a thin butter cream, it is fine on its own or with a streusel topping. 1/2 cup butter, 2 cups sugar, 2 large eggs, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 cups flour, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp baking soda, pinch salt. 4 Granny Smith apples cut into small chunks. This is soooo easy...just combine all together, plop into greased 13 inch pan, and bake at 350 for about 34 minutes give or take a few. Frost, or leave plain. If you want streusel topping add on batter and bake.
STREUSEL TOPPING: 2 tbsp butter melte, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 tbsp flour.  tsp cinnamon, 1 cup chopped pecans.

                                              Yummies for friends in Flannel City...................

Apple Oil Change Cake

 APPLE OIL CHANGE COFEE CAKE.............................tart-sweet buttery thing that is perfec on a gloomy, rainy day like this.

 Ingredients...simple....everyone has them.

 Topping...not with the original recipe......adds a nice hat to the cake.

Was waiting at the dealership for my car to get an oil change, bored , bored, bored. Started rifling through the magazines that abound at these places and came across this recipe. Seems so cliche , but couldn't resist it......Nothing to write on, so grabbed some industrial strength paper towel, a pen, and scribbled it down as fast as possible. Simple ingredients. End result is something buttery, without being buttery, with the tart-sweet of the Granny Smith Apples. More like a coffee cake, than anything else. Added a crumbly  misture to pretty up the top ......IF you wanted this as a dessert, you could add whip cream or ice cream. But this is great, on its own. Does not make a big "cake", which is nice....disappears faster.....

APPLE Oil Change CAKE (2011)

¾ cup flour
¾ tsp baking powder
Pinch salt
4 large apples cut up into small chunks
2 eggs
¾ cup sugar
Splash vanilla
½ cup butter, melted and cooled

1.    Line 9 inch springform pan with foil and spray with veggie oil
2.   Put on cookie sheet
3.   Whisk flour/baking powder/salt
4.   Peel apples and toss in lemon juice, set aside
5.   Beat eggs/sugar/vanilla
6.   Whisk in flour , alternating with melted butter, till smooth and thick batter forms.
7.   Fold in apples to the batter.
8.   Scrape into prepared pan.
9.   TOPPING ( optional): Combine ¼ cup softened butter with a small handful of brown sugar, and a small handful of flour, pinch of cinnamon.  Combine till crumbly and toss over top of batter.
10.Bake about 50 minutes. Check at 35 to see how far along it is. Knife inserted into cake should come out clean.
11. Remove from springform pan when done.