45 | 52 Apple Cardamom Cake

My mom gave me some apples from her garden.
I thought it was only fair to bake them into something delicious. 

And so I did - thanks to this recipe and its very perfect combination of apples, cardamom, and cake.

So snuggle up with a cup of tea and a slice of this goodness and enjoy autumn!

Apple Cardamom Cake

From United States of Cake by Roy Fares (via DN.se)

For the filling:

2 apples, peeled, cored & diced

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 tablespoons sugar

For the cake:

450 g (3 1/3 cups) flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons cardamom

250 g (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) butter, room temperature

380 g (1 3/4 cups) sugar 

4 eggs

1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

250 ml (1 cup) milk

• In a small bowl, combine apple pieces with cinnamon and sugar. Set aside.
• Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F).
• Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and cardamom.
• Beat butter for about 3 minutes. Add sugar and vanilla. Whisk until light and fluffy.
• Add one egg at a time, mix well after each addition. 
• Add flour mix and milk alternatingly.
• Fill half of a prepared bundt cake mold with batter. Sprinkle with apples. Repeat and top with remaining batter.
• Bake for 55-60 minutes. Let cool and dust with powdered sugar, if you wish.

My modifications:

None.

The taste:

Warm, simple, autumnal, flavorful, comforting, honest, moist, delicious.

Do you like cardamom? Any cardamom recipes you would like to share?

6 | 52 Apple Cinnamon Streusel Bars

Quick & easy. But still yummy.

Sometimes that's just what I need. And I'm sure you do, too.

I know, I know... This is the time to present you with a Valetine's Day recipe. 

You'll get it next week - I promise. V-Day will be over then but it will come around again next year. 

And isn't it nicer to surprise your special someone on a different day anyway?

So, for right now: a recipe that couldn't be any quicker & easier. But yummy nonetheless.

Apple Cinnamon Streusel Bars

From GiveRecipe

256 g (2 cups) flour

200 g (1 cup) sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 small or 2 big apples (peeled, cored, and diced)

125 g (4oz) butter, melted

1 egg

powdered sugar for dusting

• Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
• Combine flour, sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl. Add diced apples. Add melted butter and stir to combine. Add egg and combine.
• Put crumbled dough into prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes or until golden brown.
• Dust with powedered sugar, if you wish.

My modifications:

None.

But next time I would reduce the sugar by half, maybe add a bit more apple dices and about 60 g (2 oz) butter. It would be less sweet (obviously) and a bit more moist/less dense. I think I'd like it even better then.

The taste:

Very yummy! Comfort food category, I would say. And you can never go wrong with Streusel. Or apple. Or cinnamon. Right?

But - it was a bit too sweet (any a tiny bit too dense) for my taste - hence my suggestions above.

What's your favorite quick & easy (baking) recipe?

48/52 Banana-Apple-Oatmeal-Muffins

I'm back from a beautiful vacation in sunny California, being thrown right into Christmas.
And snow. Today.

There is no sign of Christmas or even advent in our apartment yet but I hope to change that today. Happy 1. advent, by the way! Hope y'all will do some candle burning today.

So before all the christmas-cookie-baking-and-eating-extravaganza commences, I thought that baking something quick and light and healthy would be good. Oh I know, that's totally not how it works, 1. advent and all. But that's just the way it is this year. I promise you will get to read tons of Christmas recipes right here, just starting next week.

Until then I will (hopefully) enjoy some healthy muffins, take endless trips to the basement to make this apartment look christmassy....

Banana-Apple-Oatmeal-Muffins

Adapted from Jess Jones

250 g (2 1/2 cups) oats

250 g (1 cup) yoghurt (low fat if you like)

2 eggs

150 g (3/4 cup) sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 banana

1 apple

• Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
• Blend all ingredients in your food processor or blender or blend with your immersion blender until oats are smooth.
• Pour batter into muffin tin (greased or sprayed with non-stick cooking spray) or silicone muffin pan. Try to avoid paper liners as the muffins will stick to those.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes.

My modifications:

I used 1 banana and 1 apple instead of 2 bananas. Just felt like doing that. But you can of course use 2 bananas and no apple like the original recipe suggests.

The cinnamon is also my addition.

The taste:

Like solid oatmeal (if that makes sense). I love the taste of apple in them, so I would definately use the apple again. It's a perfect breakfast muffin and it tastes healthy but very good.

What's your favorite healthy snack at the moment?