Last night, we experimented with a recipe from my Good Housekeeping Healthy Choices cookbook. The recipe was for tortilla pizza, but we transformed it into a lasagna and it was so wonderfully delicious! My roomie is a veggie (my affectionate term for the vegetarians in my life), so I’m always on the lookout for recipes that we would both like. This one turned out to be the BOMB!
Then, for dessert, I made baked apples with a recipe from the same cookbook in an effort to welcome fall to the rain and sun of this country that knows not the four seasons.
Tonight, I’m having my high school girls over for movies and THIS incredible apple cinnamon cupcake dessert! Doesn’t it look amazing?
Here’s the description from the website:
Shredded apple replaces some of the oil and keeps the cake moist in these cinnamon-spiked cupcakes. There is a generous amount of fluffy marshmallow frosting to mound or pipe on top for a festive look.
via Apple Cupcakes with Cinnamon-Marshmallow Frosting.
We’ll see how it turns out!
****UPDATE****
Here is the result of several hours in a warm kitchen… lots of laughter… and maybe a few foibles. The recipe is posted below the slideshow.
To make the CUPCAKES
- 1 1/2 cups shredded peeled apples
- 1/2 cup diced dried apples (I used a baked apple leftover from yesterday to save on cost)
- 3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar, plus 3/4 cup, divided (I used 1/2 cup loosely packed for less sweet)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
- 3/4 cup cake flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup nonfat buttermilk (I made my own with milk and vinegar)
FROSTING
- 1 cup light brown sugar (I used 1/2 cup)
- 1/4 cup water
- 4 teaspoons dried egg whites (I used 2 egg whites)
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- Pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for garnish
PREPARATION
- To prepare cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 12 (1/2-cup) muffin cups with cupcake liners or coat with cooking spray (I made about 17 cupcakes with this recipe)
- Combine shredded and dried apples in a bowl with 3 tablespoons brown sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. Set aside. Beat oil and the remaining 3/4 cup brown sugar in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until well combined. Beat in eggs one at a time until combined. Add vanilla, increase speed to high and beat for 1 minute.
- Whisk whole-wheat flour, cake flour, baking soda, salt and the remaining 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon in a medium bowl.
- With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and buttermilk to the batter, starting and ending with dry ingredients and scraping the sides of the bowl as needed, until just combined. Stir in the reserved apple mixture until just combined. Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. (The cups will be full.)
- Bake the cupcakes until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean, 20 to 22 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack for at least 1 hour before frosting.
- To prepare frosting: Bring 2 inches of water to a simmer in the bottom of a double boiler. Combine 1 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup water in the top of the double boiler. Heat over the simmering water, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved, 2 to 3 minutes. Add reconstituted egg whites, cream of tartar and pinch of salt. Beat with an electric mixer on high speed until the mixture is glossy and thick, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove the top pan from the heat and continue beating for 1 minute more to cool. Add vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and beat on low just to combine. Spread or pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes and sprinkle cinnamon on top, if desired.
MUSINGS IN THE MIDST 
NOPE, nothing on your blog about sleep out…but yes, i would LOVE to try some of your delicious makings and not just READ about them!! 😉
Adriana… there is nothing on here for sleepout because that was last year 🙂
look here instead: http://foreignheart.blogspot.com/2009/10/night-as-one.html … and yes I should bring some for you to try! 🙂