Time To Clean Out

Hello everyone, I hope this post finds all of you safe and in good health, although being quarantined with family or friends can be somewhat stressful! As you can see by the picture my son and his girlfriend are making the best of things in their Hillbilly Hot Tub! ( don’t worry its a brand new trash can!) I think that today’s post may inspire you and give you a little assignment, and if it works, you may be able to make something really yummy out of it. What I’m talking about is it’s probably time for most of us to take stock of whats in the refrigerator and either toss out any spoiled goods or hurry up and make something with it! I fell into the later camp. I went deep into the vegetable and fruit bins and found out I was about to have eight apples go bad. Its true (I guess) that one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch. Anyway I found eight apples that I needed to use quickly and of those eight only five were good enough to make a pie with. The other three I decided to use to make applesauce and from that I made, if I may say so myself, a pretty amazing vegan apple sauce cake with cinnamon frosting! My son’s girlfriend is in lockdown with us and she’s a vegan and it was her birthday , so it all worked out for the best.

Next, I looked into the freezer and found one lonely pre-made piecrust that was cracked and looked pretty pathetic, but I was so happy because I didn’t really feel like writing about how to make a pie crust. I know that’s lame of me but hey , I’m about to make a really simple and delicious apple crumb pie, so lets judge me later. I’ll admit I’ve always been a fan of the double crust apple pie, I’m guessing its because I never found an apple crumb topping I really loved, until now. So without further adieu, lets dig in and get started on the first recipe the apple crumb pie.

• For the filling:
• 1 ( preferably not pathetic) pre-made pie crust
• 5-7 apples, peeled, cored and sliced 1/2 inch thick..I like mixing up tart and sweet apples. Right now just use what you got!
• 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/3 cup white sugar , but if you’re in a pinch try brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg ( this will give it that ,”what is that flavor? Zing”)
• Place the apple slices in a bowl and toss them with all the above ingredients until each slice is evenly coated.
• Next try and lay the slices neatly in a stacked circle inside the pie crust. The apples will probably go higher than the edge of the crust but as it cooks it will go down into a dense mass of gooey goodness.
• Set aside and let it sit while you make the crumb topping.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees ( don’t worry we’ll turn it down later!)
• For The Crumb Topping
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (you can use less but I like the spice)
• 1/2 cup butter , cut into pieces will make it easier.
• Place all topping ingredients into a bowl and mix together using a fork or your fingers. Eventually it should resemble coarse bread crumbs. Carefully apply the topping to the apples. The butter makes it easy to mash the topping along the sides so you can fully cover the entire thing.
• Put the apple pie on a lined cookie sheet or you’ll be scraping up cinnamon and sugar from your oven. You have to keep an eye on this pie because the topping has a tendency to brown before the pie is baked. If you think it’s browning to soon just place a piece of foil over the top. If its not brown enough towards the end of cooking, pull the foil off.
• Place in the 450 degree oven for 15 minutes then turn heat down to 350 degrees.
• Bake for an additional 45-50 minutes. Check apples by poking with a fork to make sure they are soft all the way through.
• remove pie and let cool before serving
• EAT IT!

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Next we have the vegan applesauce cake. I don’t usually cook vegan but, it’s not that difficult if you have the right stuff. In place of the eggs I used Red’s Mill Egg Replacer and in place of the butter I used a margarine. I found that the egg replacer does bind things together but it seems to make them a little more dense. That’s not necessarily a bad thing as that tends to mean the cake is a little more moist than usual. This recipe came to me from one of my Aunt’s church group cookbooks. I really like these because usually its mostly the ladies of the church that get together and bring their best recipes and put them into a cookbook as a fund raiser. I love the homespun feel and you just know they’ve been making this for their family for years. I’m going to give non-vegan credit to Marla Russ of the Mount Olive Lutheran Church of Tucson.

• 2cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
• 1 teaspoon ginger , powdered
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 1/2 cup margarine softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs or equivalent in egg replacer
• 1 cup applesauce
• 1cup walnuts chopped (optional)
• Cream together the sugar and margarine and add eggs or egg replacer and beat until throughly combined.
• Mix the remaining dry ingredients together and blend well.
• Add the creamed sugar mixture to the dry mixture alternating with the applesauce until everything is well blended.
• Pour into a greased loaf pan or a shallow 8×8 cake pan.
• Bake at 325 degrees for 60 minutes if a loaf pan or 45 if a cake pan. Check for doneness by sticking a fork or toothpick in the middle and making sure it comes out clean.
• Remove from oven and let cool completely before frosting (if making it as a cake)
• FROSTING
• 1 stick of butter softened, Margarine if going Vegan
• 1 box of powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• a little milk or soy milk to make it smooth
• In a mixing bowl place the butter and vanilla and cinnamon. On slow speed using an electric hand mixer add some powdered sugar, pour a little bit of milk to get the mixture smooth and continue adding powdered sugar until the desired consistency is reached. Taste and add more cinnamon if needed.
• Frost the cooled cake
• This can also be eaten as a bread without the frosting, both are delicious.

So there you have it. Two amazing recipes for the quarantine. I’m sure everyone has something in their fridge they need to cook. If you care to share how you and yours are coping with the way the world is at the moment, please feel free to share it in the comments below. We all could use a little human contact and sharing stories always helps. Keep calm and cook on! Until next time Boone Appétit!