Thanksgiving is in the air! Food Network and the Cooking Channel are filled with recipes for thanksgiving. Even google’s search page had a thanksgiving doodle by Ina Garten (of Food Network’s Barefoot Contessa fame). Its such a wonderful festive time. After Thanksgiving its time for Christmas! I think this is the best time to be in the US. Everybody is in the festive mood and in the mood to EAT! Loads of cook shows, loads of recipes, loads of calories to put on!
Now, V doesn’t eat any other meat than chicken and sometimes, lamb meat (though prefers it only when it is in a kebab form). So turkey for thanksgiving was out of the question. Even though after watching so many thanksgiving shows I was really keen on trying my hand at one. Alas! Acceptance (like my dad said)- thats a key to a successful marriage – and that’s what I did and made my peace with it.
We are having a pot luck on Friday at V’s friends place in Phoenix, and somehow living 4 hours away doesn’t justify not bringing something to eat and since this is going to be like a Thanksgiving feast but with Indian dishes, I thought of taking a dessert that would be somewhat true to Thanksgiving. Now, its not the traditional pumkin pie, or any other kind of pie- because I don’t know how well it will hold off till the next day (but, to tell you the truth, the actual reason is that I’m still not confident with pie crusts- they are still my nemesis-hopefully soon that would change- fingers crossed!). So, I decided to make an Apple coffee cake with crumble topping instead. The recipe is from the Food network site and its Emeril Lagasse’s. Well, what can I say about that guy, I love the guy and his show Emeril Live! Reading the reviews (its got a five-star rating), I am hoping the recipe won’t disappoint.
Note: I did double the crumble topping because I love the crumbs on top! I also took out a few pieces for us for two reasons- one, so that I know what I am serving is good and two, well it smelled so darn good that it was hard to resist!
APPLE COFFEE CAKE WITH CRUMBLE TOPPING AND BROWN SUGAR GLAZE
Ingredients
For the cake
- 1 stick plus 2 teaspoons unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups peeled, cored and chopped apples
For the crumble topping
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
For the brown sugar glaze
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons water
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish with 2 teaspoons of the butter.
In a large bowl, cream together the remaining stick of butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating after the addition of each. In a separate bowl or on a piece of parchment, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients, alternating with the sour cream and vanilla. Fold in the apples. Pour into the prepared baking dish, spreading out to the edges.
To make the topping, in a bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and butter, and mix until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the topping over the cake and bake until golden brown and set, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes.
To make the glaze, in a bowl, combine the sugar, vanilla, and water and mix until smooth. Drizzle the cake with the glaze and let harden slightly. Serve warm.
