Rustic Autumn Apple Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Icing

I haven't done very many food posts over here. Know why? Nearly every time I've set out to do a post on a recipe, either the dish doesn't turn out, my photos come out terrible or someone eats it before I get photos! Food blogging just hasn't been my forte, but today I did manage to capture a simple, rustic Fall dessert. Well, not the 'during' photos, but the 'afters' : )
This is so easy, and so yummy I know you'll want to whip this up soon.

Ingredients

Cake:

3 large apples, peeled and coarsely chopped {I used Gala}
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon +
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs 
1 cup of oil 
1/2 cup white sugar 

1/2 cup brown sugar +

2 T. brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla



 


Icing:

1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened 
1 stick of butter, softened 
1 tsp maple extract 
1-2 cups powdered sugar {adjust for your own taste}
1-2 T. cream or milk if needed

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9" cake pan or baking dish. {I used a springform pan}

Peel and chop the apple and toss with 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and 1/4 tsp cinnamon and set aside.
 
Beat together eggs, oil, sugars and vanilla. 

In a separate bowl combine the flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. 

Mix the dry ingredients into the oil and egg mixture. Add the chopped apples {batter will be thick} and pour into prepared pan.

Bake for approximately 50-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

For the icing, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Add the maple extract and 1 cup powdered sugar, {adding more-up to 2 cups- to taste} beating until smooth and creamy. You may add a tablespoon or two of milk or cream at this point if you'd like it a little thinner.

This rustic cake is delicious all by itself. It's dense and very moist and is yummy with coffee or an ice cold glass of milk {as my kids will attest} 
But if you are in the mood for a little icing on top, this creamy, buttery, maple-y icing is to die for!

 

I'm so glad we are welcoming glorious October together, my friends! Thank you so much for being here!

Jeanette 


Joining the fun at these lovely places:

Fall Nesting Party at The Inspired Room 
The Scoop at Confessions of a Plate Addict 
Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life
Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House
Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style 
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm 
Tutorials Tips and Tidbits at StoneGable 
Share Your Cup Thursday at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson 
Treasure Hunt Thursday at From My Front Porch to Yours 
Be Inspired at Common Ground 
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage 
Party Junk at Funky Junk Interiors 

Crescent Roll Cheesecake

This was a poorly planned (ok, totally NOT planned) blog post. I was going to make this dessert for Easter. I bought the ingredients and all, but then we made a different dessert. 

Today, my teenage daughter decided after lunch that she would make it. Yay! to that part. Does anyone else have a teenager that is less than receptive to you blogging about something that involves them?? Boo! to that part. 
So while I didn't get any photos of her putting this together to go in the oven, it's super easy, and there's plenty of "after" photos! 

I got this recipe from Southern Mama's Down Home Cookin'
page on Facebook. Lots of yummy looking things over there!

Here's what you need:

2 cans of refrigerated crescent rolls
2 8oz packages of cream cheese, softened
1-1/2 cups suger (divided)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1 stick of butter, melted

Here's what you do:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray. Unroll and press 1 can crescent rolls into the bottom of your baking dish. Press the seams together.  

In a medium bowl, blend the cream cheese, 1 cup sugar (reserve 1/2 cup for the last step) and 1 tsp vanilla.  Spread the cream cheese mixture over the top of the dough. 

Unroll the second can of crescent rolls and place on top of the cream cheese mixture pressing seams together again. Pour the melted butter over top layer of dough. Mix the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar & cinnamon together. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture generously over the top. 

{*Note: She didn't use the whole 1/2 cup of sugar/cinnamon mixture. It just seemed like alot, so she used a little less. Easy to adjust to your own sweet tooth} 

Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes until bubbly and bottom crust is slightly brown. Cool, slice and enjoy!

    Just out of the oven!

 

  
Try to be patient and let it cool quite a bit. I cut into it a little too soon, and the cream cheese center was still too hot and started pouring out.

Patience...patience...patience...

 

 Okay, enough patience!

 Yum!

It tastes alot like a cream cheese danish, but with a hint of cinnamon. Super quick to put together, and totally delicious. Thanks to Mikayla for making this yummy treat for her family : )

A funny (or maybe not) side note-

While the cheesecake was baking, my youngest daughter said, "With the snow and the smell of cinnamon baking, it feels like Christmas today!"  Nooo!

This is what the weather is like here today!  Weather.com says it's 27 degrees right now, but FEELS LIKE 11 DEGREES! Welcome to Springtime in Colorado.

  

I'm really anxious to get out on the deck and start adding some happy Spring color out there! I know, I just need more of that
patience...patience...patience...

See ya soon!

Jeanette 


Sharing over at:
Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style   
Welcome Home Wednesday at Vintage on a Dime
Power of Pinterest at Fox Hollow Cottage 
and Debbiedoo's 
Share Your Cup Thursday at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
Tutorials Tips and Tidbits at StoneGable 
Creative Inspirations at Embracing Change 
Party Junk at Funky Junk Interiors 

Monkey Bread!

Why is Monkey Bread called Monkey Bread anyway? Hmmm....I forgot to look that up. Well, I do know there are lots of different versions of this yummy concoction, but what they all seem to have in common is EASY and DELICIOUS! What's not to love? 

So here we go- For my version of Monkey Bread you will need a package of frozen dinner rolls. There's 36 in the Rhodes package, but I think I used about 18-20 for this. You could just make two pans with one package of rolls. One to eat, one to give? Just sayin'.
                                                                                                                                                                   

 

 You don't need to totally defrost them before you start, but it's good to let them soften a bit before you begin. 

 

You will need about a half  stick of melted butter. 
One cup of brown sugar (or white sugar, if you prefer) mixed with 1 or 2 tablespoons of cinnamon, depending on how cinnamon-y you'd like yours to be (I like alot of cinnamon). You really can't mess this up!

 

This is where the magic happens (haha)- in my beat-up tube pan! It's so bent and dented that I have to wrap foil around the bottom when I use it AND put it on a baking sheet just in case in leaks! But, it's still hanging in there. Butter the pan, don't forget the center tube!

So now you will take the dough balls and dip each one in the melted butter, then roll it in the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture and place them in the pan like so.

 Once they are covering the bottom of the pan (and you want them pretty snug) sprinkle a little more of the brown sugar over them. You'll probably have a bit left, but we'll use that up in a minute.

  
Set them in a warm place, cover with plastic wrap or a towel, and let rise until they're about double (or a little more) in size. 




There I am, hanging around in my red flannel jammies, waiting for the dough to rise : )

  
Once they've risen, go ahead and sprinkle on the remaining brown sugar cinnamon mixture, if there is any left.
Set your oven to 350 degrees.  Bake for 35-40 minutes, until they look something like this.

  
I let them cool about ten minutes. Then lift the center portion out of the pan and run a butter knife around the bottom to loosen the rolls from all the melted sugar and butter on the bottom. Run the knife around the center tube to make sure it's loosened enough to release when it's turned over onto a plate.

This is the result of tucking all the buttery sugary dough balls snugy together in the pan! When they rise, there's no place to go but "up", creating these tall, easy-to-pull-apart sections. 
 

Maybe this is where the "monkey" part comes in? When your family surrounds you and tries grabbing it apart before you're ready to serve it? 

Now, let me say that if you get to this stage and the whole thing separates and falls apart, don't worry about it! Your "presentation" will be slightly different, but still yummy just the same.

I set the center back into the pan, lay a plate over the top and invert the Monkey Bread onto a plate and then flip it over one more time onto my serving plate. I was all set to use my vintage mixer (for the first time in a looong time) to make the icing.

This was my mom's from the late 50's early 60's! But when I turned it on for a test run it smelled like it was burning. Oh dear. The cord was taped and repaired long ago, but I noticed it is cracked and decayed now to the point where it's just not safe :(  Boo!

  
I guess I'll have to be satisfied to let her sit around and look cute :)

Ok, let's get to that icing. Technically you don't have to ice the Monkey Bread, it's pretty yummy as is. But I'm not one to waste an opportunity to add cream cheese icing!

My cream cheese icing is super easy. I shared it way back here
in one of my first posts, and I'm sure you'll see me share it again plenty in the future : ) My kids and I love this for dipping pretzels...icing carrot cake or zucchini bread...but don't get me started on that!

Beat one package of softened cream cheese with one stick of softened butter and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Add in approximately one cup of powdered sugar-more if you like sweeter. 
 

That's it! Pretty simple, huh? There's two ways to approach the icing thing: You can pull the bread apart and serve the icing individually for dipping (or spreading) OR you can just cover the whole thing with the icing in a messy, delicious heap!

If you decide to ice the whole thing, there's no getting around all the brown sugar cinnamon bits getting into the icing, so don't fret about that. I actually think it looks even yummier this way.




My photos are looking a little weird because it's pretty much impossible (for me) to take nice photos in the glaring light of my kitchen at night. I meant to make this earlier in the day, but just couldn't get to it!

I love making homemade cinnamon rolls also, but this is so much quicker and easier!

Guess what the kids are eating for breakfast today? : )



Hey, I have a fun little thrift store find from today to show you!

I've been without a cake cover/dome for some time. Not a "necessity" but kind of a pain when you're trying to cover a cake without messing up the icing. It's not in my budget to shop for one right now either, but today was my day! I found this large stainless steel one at the thrift shop, and the wonderfully nice lady working there let me have it for 25 cents!



























It's a little scuffed on the top, but I don't care. I brought it home and changed out the black plastic handle for a white porcelain one I had. Cute, functional and CHEAP. I love it!



Go try some Monkey Bread now, and let me know how you like it, ok? 

Have a good day, and I'll see you soon!

Jeanette


Linking up at these fun places! :

The Charm of Home-Home Sweet Home
StoneGable- Tutorials Tips and Tidbits 
Clever Chicks Blog Hop 
The Vintage Farmhouse-Creative Things Thursday 
Thistlewood Farms Holiday Recipe Link Party! 
Six Sisters'-Strut Your Stuff Saturday 
StoneGable-Homespun Christmas: Recipes and Tablescapes 
It's Overflowing-Overflowing With Creativity! 
Alderberry Hill-'Tis the Season 2012 Holiday Recipes 
Creating Christmas at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson