Apple Cinnamon Streusel Cake

Fall means several things to me. It means the leaves changing color. It means fall flavors. It also means apple season. Sleeping with a bowl full of fruit near my head has had an interesting effect on me. Weeks ago, it meant making a pear and pecan cream tart. This week, sleeping with apples near my head, slowly becoming overripe, it meant making an apple pie of some sort.

I didn't want to make the typical apple pie. And I am waiting for thanksgiving for my french hostess to make her famous apple crumble. I was searching my favorite baking blog ovenproof when I saw that her recipes with apple included a german apple cake. She also references the king arthur flour website a few times, which I had never looked through. I stumbled on this recipe for a cinnamon-streusel coffee cake, and a little lightbulb went on over my head. I could use the best of both recipes. Make a coffee cake, but instead of a center swirl of cinnamon and sugar, I would have cinnamony and sugary apples. Perfect!


First things first, I mixed the dry ingredients for my filling-brown sugar, cinnamon and cocoa. I used a rich cocoa that I had recently purchased in Paris. I added to this mixture three chopped apples that had seen better days. It's very important to me to rescue fruit and vegetables from being thrown out. I set the apple mixture aside.


I then set to work on forming the cake mixture. I've been going old school recently- mixing ingredients with my BARE HANDS. Here I am creaming the butter and sugar.


After vanilla, baking powder and salt were added, it looked a little something like this:


Then three eggs were added one at a time. The mixture became rather soupy.


Flour was added. In a separate bowl, milk and yogurt were combined. The milk was added to the batter a little bit at a time until it was incorporated.


Once the batter was assembled, I threw together a quick crumbly topping of flour, cinnamon, sugar and melted butter.

Now for the fun part- assembling the cake. I used two well buttered loaf pans. First, I poured in a layer of the cake batter. Then, using a slotted spoon (since the apples had released some of their juices) I spooned the sliced apples on top. This was followed by another layer of cake batter, and then the crumbly topping was sprinkled over it.

the cakes were slid into a hot oven preheated to 350 degrees farenheit (for you american readers) or 176 degrees celcius (beauty and the feast is now european and metric friendly!) The recipe stated that the cake should bake for an hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Perhaps it was my rustic french oven, but it took far longer than an hour to bake, so keep an eye on your cake.


As far as I'm concerned, the wait was worthwhile. Besides filling my sweet french flat with the aroma of cinnamon bread, the cake itself was delightfully moist. The crumbly top toasted and became crunchy, which was a nice foil to the soft cake. Also, after tasting this confection with apples I can't even imagine what it would have been like without them.


*Special thanks to the lovely Sarah Reed for both baking with me, and capturing the photos of my hands.

Chocolate Mousse

There is nothing more decadent than a well prepared chocolate mousse. Wickedly smooth and marshmallowy, when done properly it's a very satisfying indulgence. It's a big crowd pleaser, but I've also found that if I have an abundance of ramekins of this fluffy stuff I start replacing meals with it.

The initial inspiration came from two sources: the first, upon tasting the chocolate mousse at Trattoria del Arte in New York (highly recommended), the second- to concoct something other than chocolate chip cookies with the semi sweet chocolate chips in my closet. It was perfect. I wanted a cool creamy dessert, and I could make it with the contents of my pantry- chocolate, eggs, cream, vanilla extract and sugar.


I liked the look of Tyler Florence's recipe. Simple. Tasty. Thickened with egg yolks instead of gelatin. I wasn't looking to make pudding, after all.

You start by melting the butter and chocolate in a double boiler. I also added a shot of some leftover coffee, because I've found that coffee sharpens and enhances the chocolate flavor.


Now, mixing in a double boiler is a gentle process. You don't want to burn the chocolate by putting the heat up too high, and one of the keys to a good creamy mousse is to get all the lumps out of the chocolate, so be patient. Stir the chocolate until it gets glossy and all the chips have melted through.

Separate three eggs. Remove the chocolate mixture from the heat and allow it to cool before adding the egg yolks. You don't want to cook them. Add them one at a time whisking like crazy or using an electric mixer.


In a separate bowl beat the egg whites with a 1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar. Don't overbeat the whites, you want them to form soft peaks. When they have reached the desirable consistency, beat in 1/4 cup of sugar, and continue beating until stiff peaks form.


Then gently- and I mean gently- add them to the chocolate mixture. Use a spatula to fold them in. The best part of chocolate mousse is it's lightness. It get's its air from the whipped egg whites, and its creaminess from the whipped cream you will be adding next. DO NOT OVERMIX.


The whipped creamy is easy to make. Beat 1/2 cup of very cold heavy cream with an electric mixer gradually adding 2 tablespoons of sugar and a 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract until stiff peaks form.


Add this to the chocolate/egg white mixture. Again. You want to execute this with a delicate hand.


All that's left is to put them into some ceramic ramekins, or martini glasses, or whatever you would like to serve them in and let them chill in the refrigerator for a few hours. If you are feeling extra fancy you can top them with a dollop of whipped cream and some chocolate shavings or berries when you serve them. Personally, all I need is my own ramekin and a spoon... and a double batch!