Apples | Good Dinner Mrs Mellen

Category: Apples
- Spectacular Fall Desserts
  
  Posted at 10:00 am by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Oct 12th
  In New England, we love to celebrate the fall season. Fantastic morning with warm sunny days, jewel-tone leaves, farm roadside stands bursting with the last of summer’s bounty all signal the change in the seasons. Nature’s premier show is on display for all to enjoy. Fall baking is one of my favorite pastimes, and I especially love to make apple desserts. Going through all my posts, I realized I’m kind of obsessed with apples, cakes, pies, cupcakes, and more. When I’m creating a new cake or pie, the fall inspires me to give nature my all and go wild! Here are a few of the fall favorites that I have posted over the years.
  
  Candied Apple Fudge Bundt Cake
  
  Candied Apple Fudge Bundt Cake
  
  FANTASTIC APPLE PIE
  
  Fantastic Fall Apple Pie
  
  CANDIED APPLE CRUMB CAKE
  
  Candied Apple Crumb Cake
  
  FALL APPLE PIE
  
  FALL APPLE PIE
  
  ENJOY!
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  Posted in Apples, Autumn, Baking, Baking, Cake, Celebrations, Dessert, desserts, Easy recipes, entertaining, Food, Good Dinner Mrs Mellen, Pastry, Pie | Tagged Apple cake, Apple Pie, Cabot Butter, fall desserts, New England
- Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Spicy Pepitas
  
  Posted at 10:54 am by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Nov 30th
  Living in New England, the weather is so unpredictable. We had 6-8 inches of snow on October 30th this year. Early for our Boston suburbs. As soon as the weather changes, I started making batches of soup to freeze. Soup on a wintery day is my favorite meal.
  
  I use to roast whole butternut squash, then peel and cut for this soup. Recently I jokingly said that I was changing my middle name to easy. Now I purchase packaged peeled and cut butternut squash, and the taste of the soup has not been altered.
  
  Roasted vegetables are deliciously flavorful, and roasting butternut squash brings out a nutty flavor. Lately, I have been using pepitas in salads. To add crunch and heat, I tossed the pepitas with spices and toasted them.
  
  Another benefit of this soup is that it is low fat and vegan, very healthy!
  
  1 package(20 oz.) butternut squash
  1 medium yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
  1 celery rib, chopped (about 3/4 cup)
  1 carrot, chopped (about 3/4 cup)
  1 tart granny smith apple, peeled, cored, chopped
  1 tablespoon olive oil
  4 cups vegetable broth
  1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
  1/8 cayenne pepper
  salt and pepper to taste
  Preheat oven to 375. Line one large baking pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Place squash, onion, celery, carrot, and apple on a baking pan. Roast for 30-35 minutes.
  
  Working in batches, purée the vegetables in a blender alternating with the vegetable broth until the mixture is smooth. Pour the puréed vegetable mixture into a large stockpot.
  
  Add cinnamon, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper to the squash soup and heat until hot.
  
  Top with toasted spicy pepitas. (optional)
  
  Spicy Pepitas
  
  1/2 cup of pepitas
  
  1 tablespoon olive oil
  
  1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  
  1/4 hot paprika
  
  1/4 cayenne pepper
  
  1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  
  1/8 black pepper
  
  Place pepitas in a bowl. Add the oil, sea salt, paprika, cayenne pepper, garlic powder and black pepper; toss to combine. Put pepitas in a toaster oven pan and toast for 2 minutes.
  
  Enjoy!
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  Posted in Apples, Food, Healthy, lunch, Soup, vegan | Tagged Butternut Squash Soup, Pepitas
- Applelicious Cupcakes
  
  Posted at 11:59 am by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Sep 13th
  Ah, fall is in the air! Time for fabulous apple desserts to herald the beginning of fall. Fall is my favorite time of year when the leaves start to change with the crisp Autumn air. And fall clothes, need I say more to soft cashmere sweaters, light wool pants, and boots! But I can’t forget about fresh-picked apples right off the tree. It’s perfect for just taking a big juicy bite or using for outrageous apple desserts like the recipe that I am sharing today, half cupcake, half muffin, but totally delicious.
  
  Applelicious Cupcakes
  
  Cream Cheese Filling
  
  1 8 ounces package cream cheese
  
  1/4 cup butter, softened
  
  1/2 cup sugar
  
  1 large egg
  
  2 tablespoon flour
  
  1 teaspoon vanilla
  
  Apple batter
  
  1 cup finely chopped pecans
  
  3 cups flour
  
  1 cup of sugar
  
  1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  
  2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  
  1 teaspoon nutmeg
  
  1 teaspoon baking soda
  
  1 teaspoon salt
  
  1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
  
  3/4 cup canola oil
  
  3/4 cup apple sauce
  
  1 teaspoon vanilla
  
  3 cups peeled Gala apples, finely chopped
  
  Praline Frosting
  
  1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  
  1/4 cup butter
  
  3 tablespoon milk
  
  1teaspoon vanilla
  
  1 cup powdered sugar
  
  Prepare Filling: Beat the first three ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended and smooth. Add egg, flour, and vanilla beat until combined.
  
  Prepare Batter: Preheat oven to 350. Bake finely chopped pecans in a shallow pan 8-10 minutes until toasted. Stir together flour and the next seven ingredients in a large bowl; stir in eggs, and follow with the oil, apple sauce, and vanilla until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in apples and pecans.
  
  Spoon batter into cupcake lined pans, filling half. Then spoon about 1/8 cup of cream cheese filling using all the filling. Top with remaining batter.
  
  Bake 20-25 minutes until a wooden tester comes out clean.
  
  Makes 24 cupcakes
  
  Prepare Praline Frosting: Bring brown sugar, butter, milk to a boil in a 2-qt saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly. Boil one minute. Remove from heat, add vanilla, stir. Gradually whisk powder sugar until smooth. Stir for 3-5 minutes until frosting slightly thickens. Before the frosting is cool, frost cupcakes. Top with chopped pecans and one dried apple chip.
  
  Enjoy!
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  Posted in Apples, Baking, Cake, cupcakes | Tagged apples, cupcakes, fall baking
- Candied Apple Crumb Cake
  
  Posted at 7:51 pm by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Sep 8th
  Fall at it’s best with fresh-picked apples baked in a rich pound cake with a crumb topping and caramel drizzled on top. Richly flavored with just a hint of orange juice, cinnamon, and crisp tart apples. I used Granny Smith Apples in this cake for their tart flavor along with a firm consistency after baking. As gorgeous as this cake looks it is quite easy to make. Delicious, dazzling, easy to duplicate, what could be better.
  
  Candied Apple Crumb Cake
  
  4 cups flour
  
  2 cups of sugar
  
  1/2 teaspoon salt
  
  4 teaspoons baking powder
  
  1 cup oil
  
  1 cup of orange juice
  
  3 large eggs (4 if small)
  
  1 teaspoon vanilla
  
  Apple Filling
  
  4 Granny Smith Apples peeled and sliced
  
  1/2 cup sugar
  
  2 teaspoon cinnamon
  
  Crumb Topping
  
  1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
  
  1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  
  1 cup flour
  
  1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  
  1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  
  Caramel Sauce
  
  1 cup granulated sugar
  
  ½ cup heavy cream
  
  2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  
  1 teaspoon fleur de sel (or another sea salt)
  
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease tube cake pan and set aside. Sift together flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Place in a large mixing bowl making a well.
  
  2. Combine oil, orange juice, eggs, and vanilla. Pour into the center of the well and beat for three minutes.
  
  3. Combine sugar and cinnamon in the small bowl and set aside.
  
  4. Pour a third of the batter into prepared pan, add half sliced apples and half cinnamon-sugar. Cover with half the remaining batter. Top with remaining apples then cinnamon-sugar. Add remaining batter on top.
  
  5. Combine ingredients for crumb topping blending until thoroughly combined. A pastry blender works best to make the crumb topping but you can cut the butter in with two knives.
  
  6. Sprinkle over cake. Bake 1 hour 30 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
  
  7. Cool for 1 hour before removing from the tube pan.
  
  8. Make caramel sauce: In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat combine the sugar with 1/4 cup cold water and stir to combine. Cook, without stirring, until the sugar has turned a deep amber color about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, warm the cream in a small saucepan. When the caramel is ready, slowly, whisk in the warm cream and continue simmering for another 2-3 minutes until the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat, then whisk in the butter,, and then salt. Slowly drizzle over cake.
  
  Serve with Vanilla ice cream or just plain.
  
  Enjoy!
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  Posted in Apples, Baking, desserts | Tagged Apple cake, caramel sauce, pound cake
- Spectacular Fall Desserts
  
  Posted at 8:38 pm by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Sep 5th
  In New England, we love to celebrate the fall season. Fantastic morning with warm sunny days, jewel-tone leaves, farm roadside stands bursting with the last of summer’s bounty all signal the change in the seasons. Nature’s premier show is on display for all to enjoy. Fall baking is one of my favorite pastimes, and I especially love to make apple desserts. Going through all my posts, I realized I’m kind of obsessed with apples, cakes, pies, cupcakes, and more. When I’m creating a new cake or pie, the fall inspires me to give nature my all and go wild! Here are a few of the fall favorites that I have posted over the years.
  
  Candied Apple Fudge Bundt Cake
  
  Candied Apple Fudge Bundt Cake
  
  FANTASTIC APPLE PIE
  
  Fantastic Fall Apple Pie
  
  CANDIED APPLE CRUMB CAKE
  
  Candied Apple Crumb Cake
  
  FALL APPLE PIE
  
  FALL APPLE PIE
  
  Enjoy!
  
  Gooddinnermrsmellen.com
  
  buzzchomp.com
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  Posted in Apples, Baking, Dessert, desserts, Food, Uncategorized | Tagged Apple cake, Apple Pie, apples, fall baking, fall desserts
- Fall Apple Desserts
  
  Posted at 8:25 pm by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Sep 11th
  Autumn, crisp mornings when dew glistens on burnished crimson leaves and you can taste the ripe apples in the orchards, just waiting to be picked. Apples, caramels, walnuts, and cinnamon flavors my favorite ingredients baked into fabulous desserts!
  
  Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  In New England we are love to celebrate the fall season. Cool morning with warm sunny days, jewel tone leaves, farm roadside stands bursting with the last of summer’s bounty all signal the change in the seasons. Nature’s premier show on display for all to enjoy. Fall baking is one of my favorite past times and I especially love to make apple desserts. Going through all my post I realized I’m kind of obsessed with apples, cakes, pies, cupcakes and more. When I’m creating a new cake or pie the fall just inspires me like nature to give it my all and go wild! Here are a few of my fall favorites that I have posted over the years.
  
  Candied Apple Fudge Bundt Cake
  
  Candied Apple Fudge Bundt Cake
  
  FANTASTIC APPLE PIE
  
  Fantastic Fall Apple Pie
  
  CANDIED APPLE CRUMB CAKE
  
  Candied Apple Crumb Cake
  
  FALL APPLE PIE
  
  FALL APPLE PIE
  
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  Posted in Apples, Cake, desserts, Food, Good Dinner Mrs Mellen | Tagged Apple cake, Apple Pie
- BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND APPLE SOUP
  
  Posted at 9:50 am by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Dec 22nd
  A good bowl of hot soup on a cold winter day, what better way to celebrate the Winter Solstice. Add a crisp salad, fresh bread and a glass of wine perfect for celebrating the changing rotation of the earth. I always felt there was something mystical about a solstice reminding me four times a year that the earth and life are transient, ever-changing and by embracing this fact life is perfectly imperfect.
  
  My recipe for Butternut Squash soup with a touch of apple captures the essence of the winter season with just a touch of aromatic spices that don’t overpower the squash and apple. I use store purchased cut and cleaned butternut squash when I make a small batch of soup; making the work and clean up easier.
  
  INGREDIENTS
  
  1 medium yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
  
  1 celery rib, chopped (about 3/4 cup)
  
  1 carrot, chopped (about 3/4 cup)
  
  2 Tbsp butter
  
  1 package(20 oz.) butternut squash
  
  1 tart granny smith apple, peeled, cored, chopped
  
  3 cups vegetable broth
  
  1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  
  1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
  
  1/8 cayenne
  
  salt and pepper to taste
  
  1. Heat a large thick-bottomed pot on medium-high heat. Melt the butter in the pot and let it foam up and recede. Add the onion, carrot, and celery and sauté for 5 minutes. Lower the heat if the vegetables begin to brown.
  
  2. Add the butternut squash, apple, and broth Bring to boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes or so, until the squash and carrots have softened.
  
  3. Use an immersion blender to purée the soup, or work in batches and purée the soup in a standing blender.
  
  4. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, and cayenne. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  
  Enjoy!
  
  gooddinnermrsmellen.com
  
  buzzchomp.com
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  Posted in Apples, cooking, Food, Good Dinner Mrs Mellen, Healthy, Soup, Vegetarian, Weeknight dinner | Tagged Apple, butternut squash, easy, Soup, vegetarian, winter solstice
- FALL APPLE PIE
  
  Posted at 4:44 pm by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Oct 1st
  Good Dinner Mellen loves pies and one of my favorite pie to bake is an apple. I love the smell of apples, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice baking in the oven; the scent escaping throughout the kitchen. Who can resist a piece of warm apple pie topped with rich vanilla ice cream?
  
  Pastry:
  
  2 1/2 cups flour
  
  1 teaspoon salt
  
  1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
  
  1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
  
  1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water
  
  Measure flour and salt into a bowl. Cut into butter thoroughly with a pastry blender. Sprinkle in the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing with a fork until flour is moistened and dough almost cleans the side of the bowl.
  
  Gather the dough into a ball, then shape, divide the dough in half and shape into 2 flattened rounds.) Chill dough for at least one hour. On a lightly floured board roll each dough rounds 2 inches larger all around than the inverted pie pan. Place pastry on parchment or wax paper-lined baking sheet, and chill.
  
  9 medium-size firm tart apples, cored and thinly sliced. (I used Granny Smith)
  
  2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  
  2/3 cup granulated sugar
  
  2 tablespoon quick tapioca
  
  1/4 teaspoon salt
  
  1 teaspoon cinnamon
  
  1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  
  1/4 teaspoon allspice
  
  1/4 cup boiled apple cider
  
  2 tablespoon butter
  
  Preheat oven to 425 F. Put apple slices mixing bowl sprinkle with lemon juice. Combine sugar, tapioca, salt, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg toss mix well and toss with apples. Place on pastry round in the pie plate. Pour apple mixture into the pie crust and dot with butter. Carefully cover the apples with top pastry, trim the overhang, and crimp the edges to seal. Cut vents in top pie crust to allow steam to escape. Brush crust with milk and sprinkle with sugar for a nice shine. Bake the pie for 20 minutes then lower oven to 375 and bake for another 40 minutes or until pastry is nicely browned and the juices in the center of the pie are bubbling. Let cool slightly on a wire rack before serving. Serve plain or with vanilla ice cream!
  
  Enjoy!
  
  Enjoy!
  
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  Posted in Apples, Baking, Dessert, desserts, Pie | Tagged Apple Pie, fall desserts
- Fantastic Fall Apple Pie
  
  Posted at 4:05 pm by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Sep 23rd
  I have made this apple pie for over 30 years with some changes along the way. A disclaimer this pie is very rich but sometimes you just have to let go and indulge. You can’t each low fat cottage cheese and fruit every day. I just tell myself an extra hot yoga class and this piece of the pie has my name on it.
  
  French Custard Apple Pie
  
  Crust
  
  1 3/4 cup flour
  
  1/4 cup sugar
  
  1 teaspoon cinnamon
  
  1/3 lb of butter
  
  2/3 teaspoon salt
  
  6-7 tablespoon apple cider or water
  
  Filling
  
  6 large Granny Smith or Macintosh apples pared and diced (you can use a combination or just one kind of apple. I like the Granny Smith because they are tart and this is a sweet pie)
  
  1 2/3 cup sour cream
  
  1 egg(2 if small)
  
  1 cup of sugar
  
  1/2 teaspoon salt
  
  2 teaspoon vanilla or 1 tablespoon Brandy
  
  1/3 cup flour
  
  Topping
  
  1/3 cup brown sugar
  
  1/3 cup sugar
  
  1/2 cup flour
  
  1 tablespoon cinnamon
  
  1 cup chopped walnuts
  
  1/2 cup dried cranberries
  
  1 stick butter
  
  Crust: Combine all the ingredients except the apple cider in a food processor, pulse until combined. Add one tablespoon of cider at a time and pulse after each addition. The dough will form a softball. Roll dough out on lightly floured surface 2 inches larger than the pie plate, fit a 10-inch pie plate. This is a soft cookie-like dough so I lightly dust the pie plate with flour before I fit the dough. This will prevent the pie crust from sticking when you cut the pie. Fold and roll pastry under and flute.
  
  Filling: Mix filling ingredients together and fill the pie shell. Bake for 450 10 minutes, then 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Blend topping ingredients together and place on top of the pie. Bake for additional 15 minutes.
  
  Enjoy!
  
  gooddinnermrsmellen.com
  
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  Posted in Apples, Baking, Baking, Food | Tagged Apple Pie, Desserts, fall baking
- Candied Apple Crumb Cake
  
  Posted at 3:56 pm by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Sep 18th
  Fall at it’s best with fresh-picked apples baked in a rich pound cake with a crumb topping and caramel drizzled on top. Richly flavored with just a hint of orange juice, cinnamon, and crisp tart apples. I used Granny Smith Apples in this cake for their tart flavor along with a firm consistency after baking. As gorgeous as this cake looks it is quite easy to make. Delicious, dazzling, easy to duplicate, what could be better.
  
  Candied Apple Crumb Cake
  
  4 cups flour
  
  2 cups of sugar
  
  1/2 teaspoon salt
  
  4 teaspoons baking powder
  
  1 cup oil
  
  1 cup of orange juice
  
  3 large eggs (4 if small)
  
  1 teaspoon vanilla
  
  Apple Filling
  
  4 Granny Smith Apples peeled and sliced
  
  1/2 cup sugar
  
  2 teaspoon cinnamon
  
  Crumb Topping
  
  1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
  
  1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  
  1 cup flour
  
  1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  
  1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  
  Caramel Sauce
  
  1 cup granulated sugar
  
  ½ cup heavy cream
  
  2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  
  1 teaspoon fleur de sel (or another sea salt)
  
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease tube cake pan and set aside. Sift together flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Place in a large mixing bowl making a well.
  
  2. Combine oil, orange juice, eggs, and vanilla. Pour into the center of the well and beat for three minutes.
  
  3. Combine sugar and cinnamon in the small bowl and set aside.
  
  4. Pour a third of the batter into prepared pan, add half sliced apples and half cinnamon-sugar. Cover with half the remaining batter. Top with remaining apples then cinnamon-sugar. Add remaining batter on top.
  
  5. Combine ingredients for crumb topping blending until thoroughly combined. A pastry blender works best to make the crumb topping but you can cut the butter in with two knives.
  
  6. Sprinkle over cake. Bake 1 hour 30 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
  
  7. Cool for 1 hour before removing from the tube pan.
  
  8. Make caramel sauce: In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat combine the sugar with 1/4 cup cold water and stir to combine. Cook, without stirring, until the sugar has turned a deep amber color about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, warm the cream in a small saucepan. When the caramel is ready, slowly, whisk in the warm cream and continue simmering for another 2-3 minutes until the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat, then whisk in the butter,, and then salt. Slowly drizzle over cake.
  
  Serve with Vanilla ice cream or just plain.
  
  Enjoy!
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  Posted in Apples, Baking, Cake, Dessert, Food, Good Dinner Mrs Mellen | Tagged apples, cake, caramel, fall baking
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